Safety Too Much?

In several conversations with working people from many blue collar sectors, I wonder if we are going to safety rule ourselves right out of work in the west. How are companies going to compete?

How are the actual working people going to comply?

I am all for safety and have an excellent safety safety record, so I feel I can sound off on this, but the draconian rules are crossing the line into ridiculous. If you go to a drilling rig you have to produce your safety tickets, if you come back the next day, you have to produce them again. You can't climb up a ladder without a safety harness.

I recently heard of a story where four men were fired over a safety violation. Their crime? They drove a company truck off a worksite to smoke outside the fence, but neglected to put on safety belts for the trip. Now there's a compelling reason to deprive someone of a living. What about the couch that fell out of someone's truck on the Taylor hill landing in the middle of the road. One person stopped to move the couch and someone coming up the hill rear ended her. At the incident report later she was asked if she filled out her JSA (Job Safety Assessment) before attempting to move the couch.

Everyone wants to go home at the end of the workday healthy but the aforementioned are some of the issues working people have to put up with. A lot of the new safety rules are wonderous improvements from the past but some of the ridiculous ones should either be cut back or at least give people an appeal process.
How can you use your God given common sense to work safely if you're watching over your shoulder, wondering if you're going to be fired for doing something wrong?