Dead-End Jobs

"Safety is not an intellectual exercise to keep us in work. It is a matter of life and death. It is the sum of our contributions to safety management that determines whether the people we work with live or die” – Sir Brian Appleton after Piper Alpha

When I speak with workers in any field about safety, the most common reaction i used to get was that of my taking time out of their productive day to preach. Hmmm...Why is it always the perception of preaching when I am trying to save their life? If we go buy a new car, the back up camera and those side curtain airbags are pretty cool options. Heck! Throw in a set of winter tires, and we have a deal. What about cooking? I sure like those silicone oven mitts! Way better than the old ones. I have a house alarm to protect me. I feel better knowing we are safe at night. I don't drink and drive. Just as happy to have a designated driver or cab it.But then when we go to work, that all changes.

Sure I wore my seat belt on my way to work, but I don't need the steel toed boots. I will only be doing a bit of work in the warehouse today. I am not going to bother anchoring on the roof today. I have my harness on, but am only doing a few shingle repairs. Why do I need my seat belt on in the forklift? I have to get in and out of it over and over. It takes too much time. Forget the earplugs. I can barely hear anyway! I haven't worn them for the last 10 years and am not about to start now. I won't be able to hear anything around me if I have them in.

Sounds oh so familiar, and all the more frustrating. I left a good job to focus o safety not because of the money, but because it is important. I believe in everyone going home safe at the end of the day. Why do so many people consider safety outside of work, but buck the system while at work? The intentions of Health & Safety Professionals are not to make life difficult for people, but to extend their life. We want what is best for everyone involved. From the employer, to the worker to their families. For all of the people who said "It will not happen to me" remember what Captain EJ Smith once said!

“When any one asks me how I can best describe my experiences of nearly forty years at sea I merely say uneventful. Of course, there have been Winter gales and storms and fog and the like, but in all my experience I have never been in an accident of any sort worth speaking about. I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea, a brig, the crew of which was taken off in a small boat in charge of my third officer. I never saw a wreck and have never been wrecked, nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort.
“I will say that I cannot imagine any condition which could cause a ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that."

Captain Smith was the captain of the Titanic. That "Unsinkable Ship" took 1517 lives with it on its maiden voyage. None of them woke up that day thinking they were going to die at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

If we all took the time to realize that Health and Safety Specialists are not the enemy, and are only looking out everyone's well being, we could be strides ahead of where we are today.

If this post helps one person change their perceptions of safety, then I have accomplished a positive for the day. I hope you like and recommend this article to all of your contacts!