Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You say nothing and decide to conduct the tests yourself in the future.
You think to yourself, "If I report Adam, I will just be seen as a troublemaker. He will deny that he is fudging the tests and he will treat me badly afterwards. I think that I will just redo his tests myself to be sure that everything is safe.
"Besides, he has been doing this for years and nothing has happened. The equipment here is new. It is not that likely that anything will go wrong if I am away for a few days."
As time goes on, you notice that this is not the only area in which Adam is ignoring safety procedures. You see that he is doing other things that are dangerous not only to himself, but also to other people in the plant. For example, you have seen him smoking in a non-smoking area. Smoking is banned because there are explosive gases.
You finally decide to report Adam to the supervisor. However, the supervisor is almost as upset with you as she is with Adam.
"How long have you been watching this happen and saying nothing?" she demands angrily. "Don't you know that by keeping quiet you put us all at risk?"
Adam is disciplined, but it is clear that the supervisor doesn't respect your judgment. It will take a long time to regain her trust.
"You have to be very careful about safety issues," says Barbara Zimmerman. She is a journeyman pipe and steamfitter.
"There was one occasion when I had to report someone who was fudging reports and signing his name saying he had done inspections that he had not done."