Motion To Repair
I work at a hospital but not with patients directly anymore. In addition to my tasks, I have some administrative compliance and technical tasks for a clinical trial added to my workload, and the Dr. Big Boss in charge is a department head and important.
Dr. Big Boss relayed a message to me:
Dr. Big Boss: “The motion-activated lights in the surgical room turn off because we don’t move. We requested a repair, but they said everything was to specifications; find a solution.”
Ooh fun.
First, I call building management:
Building Management: “An executive set a KPI for energy efficiency; lights turn on when motion is detected, therefore there is no malfunction!”
Okay, game on. I work Compliance, so I do my thing. The next morning, a repair crew is removing the sensors.
Dr. Big Boss: “How did you get that to happen? Even with my position, I couldn’t get them to budge? The executives were going on about their KPIs.”
Me: “I called the safety committee and said we were out of compliance.”
Dr. Big Boss: “What? You got us in trouble?”
Me: “Sort of. I simply stated that during surgery, the lights going off was a hazard. What if something happened? What if someone cut themselves? So, the safety committee called Legal, and they said liability was unacceptable.”
Dr. Big Boss: “What, so is that how that turned into a fast repair? Legal also said they wanted to talk to me later today but then cancelled without saying why.”
Me: “Legal said Safety had to do a risk mitigation, Safety therefore had a forty-eight-hour turnaround, and they were twenty-four hours in. They told Building Management that it was too high a priority, and gave emergency funds authorization for materials and labor.”
Dr. Big Boss: “So Executive is probably not happy.”
Me: “Legal already thanked me for reporting and mitigating such a potential liability! The safety committee says you’re cleared of everything.”
Later, the executive with Building Management, who burnt up a chunk of their budget and the energy saving plan was under review, said to me:
Building Management: “Hey, are you some kind of lawyer or something? You’re a bit scary. Who turns their boss in for non-compliance to get work orders completed?”
Me: “No, I’m not a lawyer. I just fill out the compliance forms and sit through safety inspections four times a year for twenty years.”
A year or two later, Dr. Big Boss says to me:
Dr. Big Boss: “The freezer room lights are out, and work requests are being labeled low priority. Can you do your thing and look into it?”
My work request:
Work Request: “The lights in the freezer room are out, and if a freezer starts to defrost, nobody can see the water on the floor. This may constitute a slip hazard; do we need a formal risk assessment?”
The next day, the lights are being repaired. The worker from Business Management says:
Worker: “Boss said scary lawyer guy is back, fix this ASAP.”
Me: “Still not a lawyer.”
My coworkers are safe, and the boss was happy until he retired. The Business Management executive eventually moved on, too.
