Week 9 Safety Topic – Get Committed…I did!

Ask yourself this question: Am I committed to safety? Let’s say Dirty Harry followed up with the question, ‘Well, are you punk?’ What would you say? Hopefully you don’t have to think about this too long. The immediate answer should YES, but some people are not committed to safety and I cannot understand their thinking.

Cold Hard Facts: People die and suffer disabling injuries on the job every single day in this country. This impacts millions of families every year. Men and women become single parents, widows or widowers; children lose a parent; or parents bury a child just because someone is trying to earn a living. What’s wrong with this picture?

Is it accidents? No, true accidents are very rare. There are many reasons why people get hurt or killed on the job most of them are tied to attitude. It may be the attitude of the worker, the supervisor, or the manager but someone on the team is not committed if employees continue to get hurt. Somebody is letting their guard down and that hurts everybody!

What is the problem? Some workers do not receive the proper training. Others are cutting corners, multi-tasking, or not focusing on the task at hand. Some use unsafe tools or equipment others are in a hurry to get a job done (maybe the supervisor is rushing the job or maybe they want to get out of the cold or hot environment). Others have ‘done it a thousand times’ and get complacent. Many tasks are difficult and workers can become frustrated and use the wrong tool for the job. During outages workers may become fatigued and this too can lead to injury.

By the numbers: On the job, a worker suffers a disabling injury every 8 seconds! Every 103 minutes another worker dies! At home, a disabling injury occurs every 5 seconds and a fatality occurs every 19 minutes! Falls are still the leading cause of deaths in the home followed by fires, burns and liquid poisonings.

So what is a person to do? A few suggestions: Speak up when you see an unsafe act or condition. Keep your Mind and Eyes on Task; Stay out of the Line of Fire (Keep track of both hands and both feet); Use 3-points of contact to Maintain your balance, traction and grip. Remind yourself to Focus on safety when you are feeling Frustrated, Tired, or in Rushed and be careful so you Do not become Complacent.

Bottom line: Get committed to Safety, and Stay in the Game!