I have some questions about workplace safety etiquette. It's a somewhat complex situation, so please bear with. Grab a hot beverage, maybe a snack- it's not short.
I am working as a machinist/tech assistant in a research and development shop while I get my degree in industrial engineering. The facility I work at is basically R&D lab rental, with several client corporations taking advantage of the expensive and difficult to develop/maintain facilities. Part of my job is to maintain and operate the machine shop, and to train the clients on the equipment relevant to their experiments.
This is my first job as a civilian that is actually in my chosen career field. I came from the nuclear Navy and I get that my safety and compliance standards are probably so far north of anal-retentive that it borders on mental illness. I try to not be 'that guy' about enforcing safety and policy, but it often feels like I am a voice in the wilderness when trying to keep people up on basic lab and shop safety compliance. I feel that the conflict resolution tactics I learned in the Navy may not be appreciated at a civilian company. The only things I feel I can do are say "hey, don't do that thing", which has been ineffective, or kick things up to the director of client relations, which feels like running to my boss because I can't manage client relations effectively myself.
My questions for the community, those of you who have perhaps gone from military to civilian industries or those who have long experience in civilian industrial safety, are thus:
-Is it normal for different companies using the same facility to follow radically different safety procedures?
-In the Navy, there was constant reinforcement of the idea that every single individual is responsible for maintaining safe behavior among themselves and their colleagues. In the civilian world, it seems like there is a 'safety guy' and the point is not comply with safety regulations but not get caught by the 'safety guy', thereby generating unproductive meetings and paperwork.
-Early in my military career, it was impressed upon me that regulations see no rank (in theory, at least). Some of the civilians I work with believe "he can do that, he's the CEO/department head/etc and the rules are different for him" get you out of pretty much any rule. Is this normal for civilian industrial spaces?
-I am a student worker dealing with executives and PhDs, and frequently they push back on production time vs safety and compliance. Is it normal for people in these kinds of positions to have executive authority over those kinds of decisions? For example, in the shipyard there was the joint testing council, and getting anything significant changed required a lot checking and concurrence between leaders and engineers. Here, the production schedules change with much less consideration.
I understand that every organization needs to strike a balance between obsessing over safety and compliance, and actually getting anything done. I know that my new workplace may put that balance point at a much less restrictive place than the nuclear Navy. If the norms are different, then, well, I'll have to learn how to live with that. I appreciate any advice anyone is able to give.
I am working as a machinist/tech assistant in a research and development shop while I get my degree in industrial engineering. The facility I work at is basically R&D lab rental, with several client corporations taking advantage of the expensive and difficult to develop/maintain facilities. Part of my job is to maintain and operate the machine shop, and to train the clients on the equipment relevant to their experiments.
This is my first job as a civilian that is actually in my chosen career field. I came from the nuclear Navy and I get that my safety and compliance standards are probably so far north of anal-retentive that it borders on mental illness. I try to not be 'that guy' about enforcing safety and policy, but it often feels like I am a voice in the wilderness when trying to keep people up on basic lab and shop safety compliance. I feel that the conflict resolution tactics I learned in the Navy may not be appreciated at a civilian company. The only things I feel I can do are say "hey, don't do that thing", which has been ineffective, or kick things up to the director of client relations, which feels like running to my boss because I can't manage client relations effectively myself.
My questions for the community, those of you who have perhaps gone from military to civilian industries or those who have long experience in civilian industrial safety, are thus:
-Is it normal for different companies using the same facility to follow radically different safety procedures?
-In the Navy, there was constant reinforcement of the idea that every single individual is responsible for maintaining safe behavior among themselves and their colleagues. In the civilian world, it seems like there is a 'safety guy' and the point is not comply with safety regulations but not get caught by the 'safety guy', thereby generating unproductive meetings and paperwork.
-Early in my military career, it was impressed upon me that regulations see no rank (in theory, at least). Some of the civilians I work with believe "he can do that, he's the CEO/department head/etc and the rules are different for him" get you out of pretty much any rule. Is this normal for civilian industrial spaces?
-I am a student worker dealing with executives and PhDs, and frequently they push back on production time vs safety and compliance. Is it normal for people in these kinds of positions to have executive authority over those kinds of decisions? For example, in the shipyard there was the joint testing council, and getting anything significant changed required a lot checking and concurrence between leaders and engineers. Here, the production schedules change with much less consideration.
I understand that every organization needs to strike a balance between obsessing over safety and compliance, and actually getting anything done. I know that my new workplace may put that balance point at a much less restrictive place than the nuclear Navy. If the norms are different, then, well, I'll have to learn how to live with that. I appreciate any advice anyone is able to give.