Safety, A Work In Progress

Good Morning Team,

I walked into a work in progress the other day. The work being done involved getting a level mark around the perimeter of the room so that wall angle for a suspended ceiling could be installed. The laser level had been set atop a ladder and was projecting a red beam of light on the surface that one of my technicians was using to transfer pencil lines to the wall.

All well and good except he was standing on a kitchen chair while doing it! Fact is, he really didn’t understand what the stunned look of dismay on my face was about when he first noticed me entering the room. When I asked why he was on a chair his first response was telling me about the actual work I just described instead of the real reason I had asked the question.

I won’t name any names, but once I reminded him that chairs are not a substitute for a ladder at any time, he began to understand. Unfortunately, my dismay continued a little longer when he indicated that he didn’t even have another ladder to work from since the laser was atop his. Wait…did I just hear that someone, from my own team even, would do something unsafe, just because they didn’t have the equipment needed?

If I am being honest though, I guess I am more than a little surprised that he would actually work in an unsafe manner during this project as he knew I was around, but really, if you only do the right thing because you may get caught when not, are you practicing the best safety at all? We might think that it’s much easier to ignore those basic safety tenets and just try and get the job done at times, but I remind you, it’s not a question of if, but when an accident will happen.

Before you get to thinking that I really thought we had reached the pinnacle of safety, at least in my own team, and we would need no further reminding about truly basic safety actions, let me dispel that notion now. I get it, it takes constant thought, reminding, updating, action and planning to remain safe. In other words, safety is a work in progress as well. So, as boring as it may sound, you can expect me to continue repeating the basics to you regularly. It’s one way to make sure that we are all on the same page and as safe as we can be.

Have a great week and stay safe.

PS: Have a safety topic you would like covered or maybe a safety incident of your own you would like me to share? Send me the details. I can keep you anonymous if you like. 

Sincerely,

Ray Moore – Dir. of Facilities Services