Some people think calling something a “safety concern” is a magic phrase to get their way.

So, what would you do if someone used this phrase to push their personal agenda?

Would you take their words seriously and act accordingly?

Or would you turn it around on them in a way they didn’t expect?

In today’s story, one employee’s request for a parking block turns into a lesson about being careful what you wish for.

Here’s what happened.

A safety concern? I agree.

I coordinate with contract workers to fix/maintain buildings and properties my company owns.

Basically, an employee says, “Hey, this is broken,” and I bring in the correct people to fix the problem.

Safety is of the HIGHEST importance for my company.

Because of this, people try to use/abuse this culture.

There are many examples of this, but I’ll give you a more recent one.

An older employee came to me and explained that his favorite parking spot (Under a big shade tree) doesn’t have a parking block (concrete block that your front tires hit).

Today, he was parking, drove WAY too far forward, and the front of his car went into the grass (about a 3-inch drop).

He used quick thinking to turn the situation around.

He asked if I could get one put in.

I told him, “I don’t see a problem with installing one. I don’t know how long it will take, but I will work on it.”

Then he flashes a little grin, and says kinda snarky, “I think it’s a safety concern 😏”.

He thinks by invoking that phrase, things will magically happen faster

I smile back at him and say, “I agree. It is a safety concern. And because of that, we are going to have to block off that area until it can be fixed.”

Realizing what just happened, the employee tried to smooth it over.

Realizing he just lost his favorite parking spot, he says, “Well, I don’t think..”

I cut him off and said, “No, we have to. You said it’s a safety concern, and we can’t continue to use the spot if it’s a safety concern.”

His smile changes to a “you got me to smile.”

The guy shouldn’t have tried to push his luck.

Let’s see how the fine folks over at Reddit relate to this story.

Here’s a similar example, but in the medical industry.

This person has a great point.

That would be interesting.

Exactly! This person is not wrong.

Bet he didn’t see that coming.

It serves him right because there were probably more important issues that needed to be addressed first.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.