Safety at work and home
Ok, so this isn't exactly a Christmas-themed blog post, but it's something few of us think enough about. I tell new employees repeatedly: "Nothing this company ever did is worth getting killed or hurt for. Any employee at any time can say that what we are doing is unsafe and we should think about it again."
There is no "command-z undo key" for a broken leg or a finger that met up with a power saw. Safety is first in line, and always must be considered. At work, and at home. If something is dangerous, stop doing it and make it safer.
We have a rule here that "No woman walks to her car in the dark alone" and that's not just to prevent muggings but also to prevent slips and falls on icy pavement. We have a lot of other rules, such as nobody goes up a ladder if nobody else is in the warehouse, and nobody uses the power saw alone, either.
Night before last, Steve Petrick stayed late enough to get caught in rush hour, so he stayed longer, started working on something, and stayed even longer. Then, after locking the door on his way out, he slipped on the icy steps and while he was not injured (other than his pride and some bruises) he did spend an hour in 20°F weather (and in a freezing raid) searching the juniper bush for his keyring. The point is that if he had hit his head or broken a bone, he'd have laid in sub-freezing temperatures for 12 hours until somebody discovered his ice-covered body when opening their office the next morning. And at this time of year, it could have been hours longer than that. We now have a new rule that nobody stays late alone if there is an ice storm in progress.
Christmas is always a time for fires (candles, fireplaces, frayed wiring on decorations), accidents (too much egg nog, or just too much nog), and suicides (from lonely depressed people). It's worth a few minutes a day to make sure you don't spend the next year regretting a lack of being careful. Check the wiring before stringing the lights, make sure somebody around you is NOT having nog, and maybe even call a lonely friend with no local family and invite him to Christmas dinner. If your lonely friend is in another town, just call him and chat for a while. Nobody should be alone at Christmas.
There is no "command-z undo key" for a broken leg or a finger that met up with a power saw. Safety is first in line, and always must be considered. At work, and at home. If something is dangerous, stop doing it and make it safer.
We have a rule here that "No woman walks to her car in the dark alone" and that's not just to prevent muggings but also to prevent slips and falls on icy pavement. We have a lot of other rules, such as nobody goes up a ladder if nobody else is in the warehouse, and nobody uses the power saw alone, either.
Night before last, Steve Petrick stayed late enough to get caught in rush hour, so he stayed longer, started working on something, and stayed even longer. Then, after locking the door on his way out, he slipped on the icy steps and while he was not injured (other than his pride and some bruises) he did spend an hour in 20°F weather (and in a freezing raid) searching the juniper bush for his keyring. The point is that if he had hit his head or broken a bone, he'd have laid in sub-freezing temperatures for 12 hours until somebody discovered his ice-covered body when opening their office the next morning. And at this time of year, it could have been hours longer than that. We now have a new rule that nobody stays late alone if there is an ice storm in progress.
Christmas is always a time for fires (candles, fireplaces, frayed wiring on decorations), accidents (too much egg nog, or just too much nog), and suicides (from lonely depressed people). It's worth a few minutes a day to make sure you don't spend the next year regretting a lack of being careful. Check the wiring before stringing the lights, make sure somebody around you is NOT having nog, and maybe even call a lonely friend with no local family and invite him to Christmas dinner. If your lonely friend is in another town, just call him and chat for a while. Nobody should be alone at Christmas.
posted by Federation Commander at 1:28 PM
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