Hello, everyone.
This is Enta.
Do you know what “migi-ashi” means?
This is the order of the inspection colors for wires, which is commonly used at general contractor job sites and similar locations.
Green → Yellow → Red → White
We'll change the inspection color in that order.
Depending on the company, they may also add blue to this.
Still, I guess you could say this has become a mere formality—just a hollow gesture.
It's kind of like, "I'll just wrap it up when that week or month rolls around," I guess.
We often tell our Vietnamese staff to check and verify things before using them, but it’s not always easy.
So, whenever I notice something that looks like a "bad wire," I try to throw it away as soon as possible.
On the other hand, there are times when the general contractor seems to be okay with it as long as it’s marked as “inspected,” so...
I heard that the other day, at a certain worksite, they were told to clean up because a safety inspection was coming, so they did.
I was trying to arrange things in a way that would be easy to understand, but apparently I got all kinds of comments, like that it looked messy, lol.
When you think about it that way, it seems that safety is no longer for the benefit of the construction company’s workers, but rather for the sake of safety patrols, to satisfy safety managers, and has become a way for site supervisors to demonstrate their commitment to the company.
It feels like it's just going through the motions—that it's become a mere formality.
Well, part of it is that we should have been more thorough from the start, but since tidying up and organizing involve subjective judgment, if the person in charge says it’s safe, then it’s safe—and there’s no end to the nitpicking you could do about that.
This is because safety is based on "what-if" scenarios, and discussions proceed entirely on the basis of speculation.
Sure, there have been cases like this in the past, but people are even pointing out situations that are absolutely impossible, lol.
It’s a fond memory of when I was scolded for “lacking safety awareness” after talking back to him lol (at a joint venture involving a certain major general contractor).
As a subcontractor, we can’t afford to let our employees get injured, so we take every possible safety precaution, and the employees themselves are careful because they don’t want to get hurt either.
With that in mind, I’d like to work on-site with the minimum necessary safety equipment but with the highest level of safety awareness.
That said, safety standards vary so much from company to company that I just want them to cut it out already, lol.
A while back, someone sarcastically said, “The safest thing is not to do any construction at all!” and I thought, “That really takes the cake” lol.
However, we must thoroughly educate our staff on safety awareness and safe construction practices, while at the same time ensuring that a safe working environment is in place.
In particular, I want to approach my work with a constant sense of curiosity about safety—is this safe? Is it good? Is it bad?
See you later.
