I’ve often wondered if a lot of the pushback against OSHA regulations and workplace safety…

come down to a matter of perspective.

When I was an apprentice electrician I worked for a company that predominately dealt in hospitals.

So after only a few days on the job I was helping wire up what would become rooms with things like MRI machines and autoclaves and the like. Now I didn’t work with them directly obviously but I did work around them.

And I saw people flipping breakers wearing welding masks and using broomsticks to touch them.

Why?

Because these things would, if you didn’t respect them, kill you then set you on fire then start your heart again just to kill you a second time.

A slight exaggeration but it instilled in me a real fear of working with such things. And a respect for rules and regulations because we all wanted to go home, and the job was secondary.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

Even perspective is relative. There's a saying that sort of applies...

"Familiarity breeds contempt".

When it comes to safety though, those work in hazardous fields often forget this saying.

The safety regulations often have to get around this concept and why repetition on recertification often happens yearly.

Having worked with hazardous materials for over a decade this becomes very obvious. I had to be recertified in over a dozen areas yearly even though much of it was very similar.