Numbers!

Good Morning Team,

It’s the beginning of the workweek for most of us and as we prepare to meet the challenges ahead, I hope that you will continue to keep safety first and foremost in your planning as well as your actions. While I will be dialing down into details a little more in the coming weeks, Cassie, our Human Resources Manager, recently shared with me the numbers surrounding our current and past years accident/injury rates that I wanted you to know about now.  I am very pleased to say that we are doing quite well, with recordable incidents down significantly at this point in 2018 compared to where we were at in the years 2014  through 2017. Congratulations!

Good numbers here are indicative of where we need to be, but vigilance is key to the continued trend seen. It is no time to “rest on our laurels” so to speak. Let’s not forget that this isn’t just about numbers on a spreadsheet or the medical costs and possible insurance rate increases either. Every injury, no matter if it is recordable or not, causes real pain and suffering and depending on the severity of that injury, may negatively affect the injured employee for a very long time. The actual cost to the employee injured could very well be incalculable. It is then of utmost importance to each of us to always be cognizant of safety.

Awareness always provides an advantage, but it can work against us if we don’t then act on it. Consider the statements often heard when accidents are being investigated: “It was only going to take a second” or “I didn’t think it would happen to me.” This proves that awareness was there, but unfortunately, action was apparently sacrificed to fate or luck. If your thought process and then actions regarding safety ends at anything less than doing it as safely as possible, then it becomes a case of not if, but when, you will be injured. Don’t give up safety for speed as in the first statement. Does anyone have an example of when it would be okay? How about the second statement? Do any of you reading this really think you are Luke Cage? (Some of you may have to look that reference up. J)

Whatever you are doing safely out there, keep it up as it’s working! However, if you know of something that maybe another is doing that could be done safer, don’t wait to make a suggestion or show them the way. If you are taking shortcuts in your own safety actions, stop and ask yourself why? If you can come up with a reasonable answer for sidestepping that requirement, then I would really like to hear it. If you have questions about doing something safely then ask before proceeding. Your supervisor, property manager, district or regional managers can all be counted on to have or get the answers needed.

The numbers prove we’re doing something right and that is great news, but let’s not forget that it takes continued focus and commitment in working safely to maintain them.

Have a very safe and productive week.

Sincerely,

Raymond D Moore
Director of Facilities Services