Back to Basics – Swiss cheese can be dangerous!

One of my sons is a classically trained, manual machinist. If there is ever a need to clamp down big pieces of metal, spin them at 1000 RPM, and then press sharp things into the work, he is your guy. Of course, working in this environment for any length of time there are bound to be stories of near misses and other not-so-fun things for a parent to hear. Want to know how much respect a metal lathe has for us humans? Ask a machinist. Want to see the damage a part makes to the wall on the other side of the shop when it escapes the confines of a CNC machine? Ask a machinist.

Safety is cool!

Having been around the safety world for a long time, I’ve watched all the gross videos, attended the condescending training classes, and taken the tests with the obvious rubber stamped questions. Yet, despite any perceived attitude, I have always listened and adopted the safety advice and procedures both personally and professionally.

I once told a Safety person that the last thing I wanted to show them on a Monday morning was a DIY injury that could have been prevented had I followed their advice from a company safety briefing. “Did It to Yourself,” was something I never wanted to hear.

The world turns and the holes try to line up

My son recently had a particularly close call and of course he had to relay the story to me. Blessings and fingers all accounted for, he started with, “There I was on the last piece of the day…”

It is well known that most incidents and accidents are rarely a result of just one thing. It often takes more than one failure along the way to allow the incident to occur. Superficially the “cause” may be obvious, but with just a little digging you can find out what really led to the problem… sometimes many days prior.

As he related the story to me, I would interrupt and ask questions like: “What happened before that?” (Ah the joys of the 5 Why's approach!) We worked our way back literally 3 months where the problem actually began. With the Swiss cheese visual, he remarked, “Gee Dad, you are right. This near miss is a result of several things that we are causing ourselves. Tomorrow starts a new approach to the use of this machine.” Music to my ears.

What’s brewing in your world?

Do you work around anything that is looking to kill or maim you? Got any Doing It to Yourself projects at home? Are the holes lining up for an incident? Order a ham and Swiss and ponder what is trying to bite you and then do something about it. Maybe switch to Cheddar?