CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
A recent industry report has found that a vast majority of both minor, critical and fatal worksite injuries in Australia are directly related to someone saying ‘she’ll be right’ in the face of danger.
As defined by the Small-Sized Suburban Construction Contractors Union (SSSCCU) defines ‘work accident’, ‘workplace accident’, ‘occupational accident’, or ‘accident at work’ as a “discrete occurrence in the course of work” leading to physical or mental occupational injury.
While many incidents are results of oversight or inattentiveness, it is believed that even with these examples, the term ‘she’ll be right’ has been applied to the task prior to the injury.
The report found over 95% of asbestos related illness were directly linked to a dodgy foreman saying ‘she’ll be right’ or ‘don’t be a pussy’ – and 89% of all falls from height come from tradesmen she’ll-be-righting a questionable ladder.
“It’s not just corner-cutting” says SSSCCCU spokeswoman Sally McShorten.
“We have even seen examples of people using ‘she’ll be right’ to justify blatantly dangerous acts like putting forklifts into trucks with forklifts”
“Or throwing left over glass panes from two stories up into the back of a ute”
Other injury-causing terms of reference were found to be ‘what’ve you gone soft or something?” or “mate I don’t care if you went to uni, this how we get things done”
