Week 11 - Do it right!

Safety means doing it RIGHT!
Attached is a checklist for those who have trouble following safety policies. I have listed a few reasons for working safely (although we should all have our own list) under the heading Reasons to work safely. Most of you won't need this check sheet, but for those of you who do, you will see a few of the more common reasons people give for cutting corners under the Reasons for cutting corners heading. To those of you following the rules...thanks! To the rest of you...Step up! If you simply cannot work safely complete the paperwork with the appropriate approvals and sumbit it to the safety office for final approval. Why? Because even if your family is willing to let you cut corners we are not!
Stand up and Speak out for Safety! Every week employees bring up safety issues and that makes our workplaces safer! A worker came into my office today to clarify our fall protection policy regarding scissor lifts (we require a harness and lanyard anytime your are in a manlift, man basket or scissor lift, period). Why? I have seen too many people getting up on the mid-rails and top rails of these lifts in my career, so the fall protection is required to protect these folks (and it is habit-forming too).
Take ownership! Please intervene if you seen something isn't right in the field. I am grateful to those of you who are willing to stop a co-worker and ask things like: 'hey, have you applied your lock to the disconnect'; 'dude, where's your face shield'; or, 'say do you guys have an extinguisher handy?' You may never know how many mishaps you have prevented simply by speaking up, but the impact is greater than we know!
Get involved...co-worker safety is your business! We all have the chance to make a positive impact everyday. And this applies off the job as well. Whether you do or not is strictly up to you. I'll speak up when I see something unsafe...won't you do the same.
A chain is only as strong as the weakest link! Finally, we must all keep an eye on contractors since they do not know our operation like we do. Contract empolyees may not have as much training as our employees so we must be careful when working with and around them.
Safety is Doing things Right! It is also the right thing to do!