I often ask the teams I work with have they ever thought about what their “Why” reason is for staying safe at work? For a lot of people it is family. For others it might be their treasured pets, playing sport, being able to volunteer to assist others or maybe to travel and explore. I ask the teams to take the time to consider what impact a serious injury would have on their “Why” reason if they were seriously injured at work? This is not something most of us like to think about but I think its important that we do. I ask them to stop for a moment and consider how many times a day you or one of your teams do something unsafe at work, something that could result in an injury.
The moment that can affect someone for the rest of their life. Regardless of the circumstances, we can all find ourselves the victim of our own decisions. Sadly, when any worker makes a poor decision when they are in a hurry to take a short cut, or not follow safe work procedures, others can become a victim, too. The impact of a workplace injury on any worker’s family can be significant. Workers and their families often have to deal with physical and psychological changes as well as vocational and economic impacts following an incident.
Safety can only take a moment. It often only takes a moment to think about and plan how to do the task at hand safely. Assess your surroundings, wear the proper clothing, use appropriate protective equipment, apply safe work procedures and raise hazards. Ensuring teams are comfortable to stop work if the situation is unsafe and implement controls or raise their concerns with management so they can be addressed before an incident occurs.
All in all, wouldn’t you agree that no matter what someone’s “Why” reason is for staying safe at work, we all need to do whatever it takes to keep ourselves safe so we can continue to do work that we all enjoy and that provides a good income? After all, what more important a goal is there than to go home every day in the same condition as you came to work, both mentally and physically.
You and your “Why” reason, no matter what that is, deserves nothing less.
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