I don't blog much about work. It would probably bore people even more than what I regularly post. However, here's a quick note about something that came up today at work.

In the IT Division, in which I work, we apparently have what is considered a high number of ergonomics injuries. The numbers didn't seem high to me, but apparently they seem high to the Department of Energy. As a result, we spend an exorbitant amount training people to stop doing stupid things. Amazingly enough, despite how much people are trained, they continue doing stupid things. My guess is people who aren't as closely watched by the government as the organization I work for also do stupid things. My friends I've spoken with in the private sector say they typically never get lectured about safety. Their injuries likely just get brushed under rugs. The stockholders don't really care.

As it happens, I'm in the first group of a new program in IT. Originally, it was called Workers Observing Workers. "Workers snitching on workers," I pejoratively said. Apparently, WOW didn't go over well. So, Friday, while I was out of the office, I received an email telling me that today I had "WWW - Training." I found that odd; at the risk of sounding arrogant, I'm not sure there's anyone at the Lab I figure would be qualified to train me on the World Wide Web. I was mistaken.

Observing became watching. Workers Watching Workers was the training I was to attend. I'm not sure which sounds less evil or invasive to me, but for whatever reason, I think I prefer observing over watching. No matter.

The presentation started today, and the program is now Workers Helping Workers. With under 2 hours of training, I am apparently now qualified to observewatchhelp my fellow employees. The goal? See if they exhibit poor ergonomic practices, and if so, suggest they do better. As of today, one-fourth of the division is trained to do so. Over the next two years, everyone will be trained.

Going into the presentation, my first question was, "What are my obligations under this program?" That was answered quickly. We have absolutely no responsibility to assist our fellow workers. I figure I can treat this as a punishment system. If I spot someone working with poor posture or bent wrists or staring at a monitor that is sitting too low, I can decide whether I like that person or not. If not, I can gleefully sit back, comfortable that great pain awaits. If so, I can jump into to save them from the eternal physical hell they've started to create for themselves.

The second thought to go through my mind was what led me to blog about this. What liability does jumping into help and advising expose me to? If I instruct a coworker how to do something better, but based on my training, it's entirely wrong and that person suffers great injury, am I not partly liable?

What about my employer? Now that I've been trained and sent off to do this, surely any corrective actions I suggest are performed by me acting as an agent of my employer. Do they really want 120 ergonomics "experts" running around dispensing advice?

Note that we're not snitching on workers, after all. We're observing and then "helping." We're not only empowered to do so, we're being nudged to do so. With less than 2 hours of training. With effects we were told could be debilitating.

I guess it's all good if it keeps the lawyers working.