Safe and Sound

Not only leaves fall

2011-07-26T16:26:00.001-07:00

This fall I was thinking what can I write about so I thought fall, fall "I got it Fall" I remember when I was a child my mother was what you could say "some what over protective". I remember riding my new bicycle around and around in my back yard to the point there were little dirt ruts surrounding the parameter, on a humorous note she actually expected me to ride my skate board there as well. I longed for the chance to ride in the street and feel the smooth road under my wheels. I imagined I could go places like easyrider. Well that never happened I was driving a car in the street before a bike. What my mom didn't know was only 1% of child injuries occur in streets or highways.

I actually developed a daredevil attitude (sorry Billy) partly because of her over protectiveness. But maybe it also played a part in me working in safety because she never failed to warn me about being burned, swimming too soon after eating, running with scissors and many other warnings. Children need us to protect them from being hurt. There is nothing more sad then seeing a child hurt and it is a million times worse when you know they were hurt because we didn't protect them. Unintentional death is the leading cause of death in children under 15 and it saddens me to say 99% of those tragic losses of could have been prevented but were not.

The leading cause of injury for children 1 and under is falling from one level (roofs of cars, changing tables, counter tops down, dropped when bathing) to a lower level.

2-4 year olds tend to fall down stairs out of high chairs and out of windows. This usualy happens when little ones are scampering through the house on their walker and that broom mom had on the floor to stop Junior only slowed him down. Another is when mom "or Dad" feeds the toddler in a high chair and continues working on the dishes or talking on the phone. Apartment windows a another culprit because many people cant modify windows because their lease wont allow them to.

The next area where children get injured is on the playground but those injuries are in children from 5 – 9 years of age. You would think play grounds would be safer because they are designed for children. The truth is most of those kids are hurt through lack of adult supervision. Other contributing factors in this are poor playground maintenance or children playing on equipment not appropriate for their age.

Continuing to the next group is 10 -15 and the main injury culprit is sports injuries and the injuries mostly happen to boys. Most of these are due to well meaning football dads with visions of their pride and joy getting that football scholarship or dare they even dream "The NFL". To see thier sons waving from the end zone at the super bowl "Hi Dad!" so they push them a little harder and they have our little chat with their coach and he pushes a little harder and then they wind up with a son with knee pain at 14. Additionally we need to take a close look at those weekend coaches and ask if and how they were/are qualified to teach our kids safely.

Now that I have painted such a bleak picture what do you do?

1.Never for any reason leave a infant unattended even for literally ½ a second on a changing table, in a high chair and never set them on the roof of a car keep them low to the ground and in your hand. Expect your angel to be very slippery when bathing.

2.Supervision supervision supervision is the only way to protect a toddler. Use bouncers not walkers and child gates at the top of steps as a mater of fact even if its only one step. Secure your windows. Use quality high chairs and use those straps even if little Suzie throws a ring tail hissy fit and for goodness sake stay focused on the task at hand the dishes will wait…

3."You have to just knuckle down and check out the play ground" look at the equipment check for protruding nails, splinters, loose bolts, pinch points for little fingers. Even those padded play grounds are not safe children can receive nasty head injuries and some time transients sleep in them and leave all kinds of horrible things in tunnels and slides. Remember S. A. F. E. (Supervision, Age-appropriate, Falls to surface, and Equipment maintenance.)

4.Sports "Whew" there is so much to cover but remember the basics; He/She are just children and although they are young they can get hurt easer then adults so support and encourage safe training and let the coach do the coaching. Ask the tough questions like "What qualifies you to be a coach?"

In closing there are many websites on children safety surf get in the know to be a better parent they deserve it and remember you will make a difference so make it a good one.

Where's the Beef?

2011-06-15T09:26:00.001-07:00

While I was a young boy there was a restaurant chain (I won't say the name but let's just say it rhymes with Mindy's). They had a commercial where two old ladies were staying in front of the counter holding open hamburger saying where's the beef you see the hamburger at a large hamburger bun and a silver dollar size patty.

Today in the safety business I often wonder where's the beef I say this because all too often we focus on the bun. For this instance the bun would be ability because good safety performance depends on several things and by far the largest contributor is the individual. For the individual to work safe there or at least two things he must have;

1. The knowledge and training skill otherwise known as the ability to work safe.

2. The motivation to use the ability

You must have both you cannot function with just one. You may be able to see some success through constant monitoring, auditing or oversight. This generally will force compliance but when you turn your back it up to the individual to follow through and maintain. I have been conducting safety perception assessments and audits for now on seven years. I find through this extensive research that most individuals who are injured know how to do the job safely and more often than not know the policies that their company has regarding the activity that they were injured performing. But for some reason they chose not to follow them or use the skills in the way that they were taught. Why, why would somebody knowingly not follow policy or procedure?

Human beings are amazing; we can constantly evaluate our situation and make adjustments accordingly based on the conditions we face at that moment some of which are obvious, such as weather lighting conditions or time of day. However others are not so simple so we also have the ability to perceive and those perceptions also drive our actions. The dangers thing is that perceptions are not based on fact they are based on things such as emotions, visual cues from others, the imprints our experiences with others that has been left on us. These are just a few of the things which affect their perceptions. I'll use the following scenario as an example: Side note this is a true story…

Picture this, you're driving down the road in your car, you're listening to your favorite music at a safe level, you're just picked up your coffee from your favorite coffee shop to drink when you get to the office. You're paying attention to your surroundings and are traveling at the proper speed. You have the proper distance between yours and the car in front of you. You're happy your mood is good you feel healthy in other words everything is fine.

Then suddenly some idiot cuts you off which jolts you out of your perfect morning. You slam on your brakes your adrenaline rushes and now that same moron just gave you his middle finger as he is cutting in and out traffic. The person behind you is blasting on the horn angry that you slammed on your brakes upsetting them. You look over at your passenger seat and you see your coffee cup is spilled all over your new car seat.

Well most of us have been there in some form or another and we know that after the above events our good day just became significantly harder to maintain. Do you think considering what had just happened that now your safety performance might change? I believe so because now you're an angry driver extremely frustrated at the other idiots on the road, you're thinking about how you're going to get that stain out of your car seat, you're muttering to yourself angry and now you know you have to stop and wipe off the car seat so you probably will be late for work. Your attitude toward safety has been affected on multiple levels. One of those levels is subconsciously, but consciously you're change in behavior is noticed by you. Your language has turned to "let's say inappropriate for minors". But unconsciously you haven't noticed that you are not watching your speed or your distance between the cars in front of you. Here's the critical point of my argument; you still know the laws, you still know how to drive a car, you still know the hazards and your ability is intact.

Now you look in your rearview mirror you notice much to the chagrin there are flashing red and blue lights behind. "Oh my God, Now I'm getting a ticket". Yes, because in your distracted state you did not realize you were exceeding the speed limit. "Wow, this day is really starting to suck and say to yourself, I should've stayed in bed".

I didn't want the ticket on my driving record so I opted for a remedial driver's education course. The cities answer is more training. Now if you remember, I said my ability never changed I did not become stupider or less knowledgeable. It was my motivation and my perception which drove and influenced the behavior which caused the incident in this case. (That incident being, me getting a ticket for driving too fast). My incentive for participating in the training was not to gain knowledge it was to eliminate a ticket from my driving record. In this class there were several others, some of which had taken this very same class many, many times. I would say as much as 99% of the people who were there all had the ability. Now getting a ticket and being inconvenienced by being forced to attend a training class in itself may contribute in a very small degree to affecting motivation, but ultimately is perceived as unnecessary training at that for the most part causes a begrudging compliance that will be short-lived.

Look at your own safety programs and ask yourself of those how many have a root cause of knowledge. And of those were your corrective actions addressing ability or motivation. My statistics show that around 80% of the incidents are not related to the ability of the individual they are related to their motivation and the resulting behavior. There are many external influences that will affect motivation. Some of these influences can be actual or perceived priorities like the boss says take your time, but his body language behavior demonstrate there is really no time to be taking, in fact he is in a hurry. The resulting perception is that, if my boss is in a hurry, I had better darn sure be in a hurry.

It's a terrible thing when we expend the limited resources were allocated on actions that bring no value or improve the safety culture. But some of us are conditioned to develop corrective actions based on improving ability. The problem we face is because we have become so accustomed to addressing ability that were really not sure how to address motivation. The addressability often we stick up signs, show gory pictures, threaten people with their jobs and even offer them money. These things work on some but not on the majority. We might even see some improvement but those advances are generally short lived. Now the million dollar question is:

"How do we inspire people to live safe and place their personal safety and the safety of others in the same level as were some of the places their own personal ethics or values?".

"How do we create a place where people work safe because not doing so is considered out of the question or otherwise just simply wrong? A place where if someone is asked to work unsafe or pushed into a corner to where they feel like they must, they feel insulted as if someone asked them to participate in a bank robbery or a mugging. Their response may be "what are you crazy? Hell no I won't do it, that's just stupid"

I want to encourage you from this point onward to look at Motivation -vs- Ability see Motivations as the meat in the Ability bun. If you want to learn more on this subject there are several good books on the market, one I prefer and recommend is one that really addresses the subject in a which is manner easy-to-understand, this is a book written by the VitalSmarts ™ group called "Influencer" while I have nothing more than a consumer relationship with the group I do endorse the product whole heartedly.

So the next time you're faced with developing corrective actions, ask yourself when you have the proposal on your desk…."Where's the Beef?"

“I Really Don't Care For People!!”

2011-05-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

There I said it….

You’re probably thinking “Well That’s Not Very Nice” but before passing judgment, that's how I feel “At Times” towards “Some people” now how I act is entirely different. Some may say that’s hypocritical.

I don't see it as hypocritical to suppress a bad personality fault or to dominate a base instinct in order to be an accepted member of society.

But you must agree, some people are just really hard to like, either they are belligerent or their personality just grates against ours.

Sometimes people's ethics and morals make it difficult for us not to judge them.

If I don't like them I don't want to listen to them, nevertheless I still have to work with them, meet with them, do business with them and socialize with them.

So here is the problem “I don’t care but I need to” It would be deceitful to fain care, so I must really genuinely care.

Therefore I must find ways to develop and show honest affection for individuals.

Now “Honest” that’s the hard part. Bear in mind what I said earlier when I said “I Really Don't Care For People”, so I must get myself where to the point where I do care if I'm going to be genuine.

Emotional Investment is the primer that breaks the code to genuine care.

What is “Emotional Investment”?

Emotional Investment is the act of investing in another person through the exchange of personal and emotionally connected experiences, activities etc…This act of investing requires deliberate effort and preparation.

So what do we do?

Well it’s not rocket science; you have to get to know the person, but you don't go right in and start asking lots of questions. Because you don't want them to feel like they're being interrogated. I find it's best to open up things about myself; I share with them my life, and my joys. I have discovered that offering up personal information that is emotionally connected shows the person I really want to get to know them. Its quid pro quo - you give, they give etc. Here are a few pointers.

Pick a time that is comfortable for them, maybe at their workstation or on a break.

Don't force the issue as it may take a few tries to get a response.

Make sure your body is not positioned above them. Like standing up while they're sitting down.

Make sure nothing is between you and them like a desk or table.

Make sure your body language is open, hands in view empty and arms open not crossed.

If they come to you and speak to you, stop what you're doing turn towards them and listen. Don't continue to face your computer because it sends the message that you don't have time to listen.

If there on the phone, don't wait around come back later.

Eye contact is important, but don't get into a staring contest.

When it’s your turn to talk compare your life to theirs by using some of their own words, doing this shows you were listening.

For obvious reasons never talk about others good or bad it's gossiping.

If something seems unbelievable and you suspected to be untrue don't challenge it give them the benefit of the doubt. We have all that interesting lives and many of us have had remarkable experiences that are hard to believe.

Tilting the head and nodding is a good indicator that you're listening.

Lastly remember it's likely that they've already picked up on the vibe that you not really fond of them, so they may come off as a bit skeptical.

So while making it safe all the while remain patient and understanding.

Here is just some of the type of questions you might want to ask:

I grew up in Oklahoma; I remember one time fishing with my grandfather, before he passed away we got very close I still miss him terribly. Where is your hometown?

I guess that's why like to fish so much, it reminds me of my time with him. Do you have any hobbies?

I guess the great thing about this process is that it doesn't require a lot of effort, it just requires action.

Remember that most of the negative perceptions we have about people are very wrong. That's because perceptions are seldom based on truth. Often they are based on rumors, misunderstandings.

The way others have treated us affects our perceptions, because we place those feelings others have imprinted on us on people undeserving of such judgment.

So the next time you “Just Don't Care”, remember:

Everybody has somebody who has or does love them, everybody is worthy of friendship, everybody deserves a chance.

Thats Just How I Roll

2011-03-04T07:02:00.001-08:00

My methodology basically combines what is taught by John Kotter on Change and Dan Peterson on Behavior Based Safety. I have studied their work for several years and have learned a great deal from their teachings. I prefer to initially develop the following components (somewhat) separately then blend them:

Change: Any major change is a multi-step process which includes but is not limited to; establishing need/urgency, developing a coalition with authority, having a clear vision, communicating that vision, empowering action generating wins, consolidating and reviving the inevitable lull when the initial change surge passes and lastly anchoring the change in the culture..

Safety: “The New Paradigm” (NP) in Behavior Based Safety is, where we accept that there are some new axioms in safety management. The old principal attempted to boil down incidents to one single factor, but rather then that the new axiom proposes that a single incident can identify many weak points in the entire management system. Additionally the NP embraces that hard to grasp “perception” or “feelings” both of which largely affect the workers decision to follow the rules, push back or otherwise exhibit the safe behavior by choice when he/she hits that crucial moment or that familiar Y in the road.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): This component is often over looked but a good CSR program offers many benefits which are too numerous to detail in this message. However where it relates to a safe culture, improving perceptions or reputations that take decades to build up can be ruined in hours through incidents such as corruption scandals or environmental accidents. These can also draw unwanted attention from regulators, courts, governments and media. Building a genuine culture of 'doing the right thing' within a corporation can offset these risks.

I propose that a heart centered safety program, where teams emotionally invest in each other to generate a caring culture, interdependent on every member. A culture which fosters an environment where leadership actively seeks ways to understand their workforce. One where everyone accepts there role in every incident. All members share the vision of living a safe lifestyle by incorporating safety into their own value stream. When this happens you will see significant improvements in relationships vertically in the organization. This will positively impact safety performance, quality, operational efficiency and human resource retention and recruitment.

HSE Pro

2011-02-13T08:47:00.001-08:00

Occupational health and safety must be managed by the leadership. Expected outcomes from goals promoting desired behaviors and the collaborative development and management of any supporting HSE Systems must have the ownership, endorsement and buy in from all levels of management. Line management and senior management must ensure accountability is concurrent and when gaps occur or are discovered they are addressed quickly.

Occupational health and safety (HSE) personnel must function as facilitators and subject matter experts were they consult / advise leadership throughout the organization. Some additional services that can be provided, just to name a few are; cause analysis investigations, monitoring and measuring of the organizational safety culture.

If real results can be affected by looking at root causes, then the HSE professional must know how to go deeper than just the surface contributing factors. Analysis of superficial findings will not deliver enough information to allow for an effective corrective action.

If unplanned events or incidents are caused by a management system gap, the HSE professional must be able to help identify these gaps and facilitate leadership in closing them. The HSE professional must stay up to date and current on new tools which will help him/her prevent their organization from repeatedly making the same mistakes. However, some of the tried and true tools are still useful but may require sharpening or upgrading. To do this the HSE professional must be well read and networked with colleagues in various industries.

I personally find the ever evolving face of safety exciting. I believe it's mostly because safety deals with people and people are always changing. Their objectives, their goals, their desires and even their ethics and morals are always on the move. Saving lives and improving the quality of life at the worksite is always the right thing and doing the right thing is never easy, if it were everyone would do it….

The Silent Transformation a new paradigm for change in behavior based safety

2011-01-10T12:05:00.001-08:00

When I first started in the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) field I was a very dogmatic person. I saw everything as black or white and my actions reflected that point of view. I acted as a police officer on patrol would, by pulling people over giving tickets and setting up stakeouts. When I was busy doing paperwork or inspecting equipment in a remote location, I was sure people were breaking the law. After a period of time I began to develop a policeman’s attitude. That is not to say that all law enforcement officers have bad attitudes, it’s just that being exposed to the least desirable behaviors of society will eventually cause you to become more pessimistic, defensive or guarded. Like them I got to a point of continuous disappointment and I did not trust people to do the right thing without being forced.

This attitude was an unexpected outcome, as it was contrary to my original motivation to enter the field. Before starting in OHS I was a combat medic, and then became an interdenominational minister, where my personal calling was revealed towards improving the quality of people’s lives or helping them finding salvation. OHS seemed to fit well with my passions.

It was at this waypoint in my career when I contemplated leaving OHS. But first I decided to sit down and do a root cause analysis in order to figure out how I had found myself so dissatisfied. It was then I realized I was using my head and not my strongest attribute, my heart, to lead me. Because I do genuinely care about people and their families my behavior wasn’t fulfilling that need in my life of service. I now am an advocate of heart centered safety, where we emotionally invest in each other to generate a caring culture, interdependent on every member. I want to foster an environment where leadership actively seeks out ways to understand their workforce and where everyone accepts there role in every incident, with the vision of living a safe lifestyle by incorporating safety into the value stream.

Today’s statistics as compared to 2003 - 2005 statistics for Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities (IIF), has improved. However during recent years the up and down cycle of injuries indicates that we are stuck on a plateau. The obvious questions that we’re facing are; what did we do to get here? And if that doesn’t work anymore, what can we do to get to an injury free world? Can we actually live injury free? These questions are thought provoking, and realistic.

I believe we must influence the silent transformation that is happening in the workplace and at home. This “revolution” is in part the consequence resulting from the blending of the generations, from the Boomers through the Y generation, each one the improved product of the former. Thus the priorities and the paradigms that drive people are shifting.

It is my belief that we can actually work and live the rest of our lives without getting hurt or hurting someone else.

“This is no war of chieftains or of princes, of dynasties or national ambition; it is a war of peoples and of causes. There are vast numbers, not only in this island but in every land, who will render faithful service in this war but whose names will never be known, whose deeds will never be recorded. This is a war of the Unknown Warriors; but let all strive without failing in faith or in duty, and the dark curse of Hitler will be lifted from our age." Winston Churchill BBC Broadcast, London, 14 July 1940.

As safety revolutionaries our interactions with people about safety must be frequent. It is important to acts as a minister would about promoting faith in his/her religion. We have to speak to people habitually about safety, and what it means to us personally. We want to avoid the standard rhetoric. Instead we must paint a portrait of what safety or a safe lifestyle looks like. Explain the real cost (i.e. if you lose your life someone else will have to raise your son or daughter and hold your spouse); the brutal reality is that it is up to us if we live safe.

Things that we say mean very little if they’re not supported by the things that we do.

I know it is possible to work in an environment where nobody ever gets hurt. Just like when we get married we don’t say I love you and will stay married to you “probably”. We say I love you and I will love you forever. Yes we know statistically in the United States there is a great chance that we will end up in a divorce. However if both people are truly committed to the relationship and guard their emotional investment, “death do us part” becomes a real possibility. The same principle is true for an incident and injury free lifestyle.

Let’s look at basically how does a married couple stay together? The ultra-short answer is; its love and commitment demonstrated by actions to ensure communication that promotes an emotional investment. Some of these actions are compassion, intimacy and attention to each other needs and occasional give and take.

Now let’s continue by matching it up to the actions needed at the work sites. Supervisors and leaders must care, truly care for their people. They must keep communication lines open and be willing to listen to their subordinates. Compassion is demonstrated by asking about their lives, or other interests. Ask about their loved ones; know about their problems; take an interest in them and their happiness. Pay attention to them by listening to them, and asking them what they really think, and don’t disregard it as so much noise or complaining. Behind all of the noise there are real perceptions.

The intimacy here obviously is different in a marriage, but the similarity is in knowing them; what makes them tick, what motivates them is the intimacy I’m referring to.

If something goes wrong and a breakdown occurs, (like an incident), we have to take the approach that the incident can be used as a breakthrough. Just like in a marriage and we have a "big fight" but at the end of the fight if we do the right things we have a breakthrough. The resulting breakthrough brings us closer and establishes or builds on our mutual understanding of each other’s needs. But if we obstinately stand our ground and shake our fist and point our finger, there is no breakthrough but more friction. Learn from the incident and take an honest look at what happened, mutually accepting accountability for the part or parts each contributed to the breakdown. When we do this, we find ourselves at a breakthrough point just like in a marriage.

If a couple has one person in the relationship that oppresses and prevents the other from communicating their doubts or fears then the relationship is stifled. At the work site everybody has to be able to communicate their fears and doubts without retribution or scorn from coworkers. The supervisor has to facilitate an atmosphere where openness and frank comments are welcome. Of course there will be those individuals who complain no matter what, but rest assure is worthy hearing their complaints rather than suppressing communication.

Having generational awareness helps us to see the openings that make the paradigm change happen and most importantly makes it stick.

“Younger and older employees are reevaluating their workplace realities against the backdrop of changing real life demands. Gen Y workers are growing up, becoming more pragmatic and their expectations are evolving. Gen X workers—in their peak personally and professionally—are feeling more invested in maintaining their employment situation than in changing it. Baby Boomers find themselves the standard bearers of the corporate culture, legacy and history. They want recognition for their contributions on the job but are feeling the pressure of the economic downturn that could destroy retirement plans as the clock ticks down”. Randstad’s 2008 World of Work

The need for a change to a flat organization from the hierarchical one is a result partly from the generational paradigm shift. In order to stay competitive, business today must be ready to act fast; additionally they must reside outside the box because just thinking outside is not enough

“Eliminate politics, by giving everybody the same message. Keep a flat organization in which all issues are discussed openly. Insist on clear and direct communication. Prevent competing missions or objectives. Eliminate rivalry between different parts of the organization. Empower teams to do their own things“.Bill Gates Microsoft

How does all of this relate to safety? One of the advantages of a hierarchical organization is that Management Systems are usually well developed and the rank and file is established enough to implement the decisions made therein. However in order to ensure compliance this requires significant monitoring, measuring and enforcement. It is required because the audience / benefactors usually provide begrudging compliance. Just like when someone speeds when there is no police officer around. In order to overcome this we must introduce living safe into our value stream. I will explain, most people will not steal, kill or otherwise be dishonest because doing so goes against their values, personal code of conduct or ethics. To change we must see working safe and living safe as more than a goal. It must be instilled in us as a core value and a moral responsibility. We do it not because it’s our job. We do it because it’s the right thing to do.

If we truly value safety we will carry it home to our family so we can establish this value into our loved ones. This way they can benefit from our value of safety by building a safety culture at home. Teaching our children to be safe is a gift that they can pass on to their children. We must pass on safety as a value and include it into our own code of ethics.

Whether it is at home, play or work, remember: it’s because we do our jobs and live our lives not for ourselves but our beloved ones; because they are the ones who will suffer if something happens to us. They’re the ones who will have to bury their father or mother.

Some may argue the point and say “Accidents will happen; statistics prove that people will get hurt you just can’t prevent it. You can lower exposure but people will still get hurt even if it’s caused by a natural phenomenon people will get hurt”. I say to them the human condition is great but one aspect that makes us different is that we have the ability to project ourselves and base our actions on what we perceive is needed to meet the conditions we expect to encounter. So, as a result, if we expect to fail we do fail.

“You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.” Ronald Reagan 40th president of US (1911 - 2004)

The men I have quoted all have or had what all great leaders have in common, they were not great because they were pragmatic - they were great because they had vision; they could see through the fog caused by the logic of experts, and history statistics’. They had an unobstructed view of possibilities and they recognized that failure was not an option.

Self Defense for Safety

2010-12-30T09:40:00.001-08:00

It wasn't a New Years resolution it just happened but I recently started taking Krav Maga. Just like some of my friends you are probably asking yourself "What is Krav Maga?" Well Krav Maga is the official self-defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces, and has been taught to hundreds of law enforcement agencies and thousands of civilians in the United States. Krav Maga is a simple, effective system that emphasizes instinctive movements, practical techniques, and realistic training scenarios. Oh yes, and lots of kicks to the groin, there is a saying "No groin No Krav".

Now why does a guy who lives for safety want to take a martial art that could hurt someone? My answer is; I don't want to hurt anyone, I just don't want them to hurt me or anyone I happen to be with. There are predators all over and they simply do not care. Additionally the self-defense training is very physical and a great workout. You really walk away, wiped out. So this year I suggest being prepared is also important. Because being safe is about mitigating risk and a good self-defense mitigates the risk of being a victim.

These classes are great for all; men, women and even kids because Kid's krav programs are good at providing students with skills and experiences that help them to learn how to be street smart, avoid being a victim and focus on respect, discipline, teamwork, goal setting. You can find out more by clicking the link http://www.kravmaga.com/

TOP 5 TOY HAZARDS

2010-12-01T13:51:00.001-08:00

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission the top 5 toy hazards are:

Scooters and other Riding Toys – Riding toys, skateboards and in-line skates go fast and falls could be deadly. Helmets and safety gear should be worn at all times and be sized to fit.
Small Balls and other Toys with Small Parts – For children younger than age three, avoid toys with small parts, which can cause choking.
Balloons - Children under eight yrs. can choke or suffocate on un-inflated or broken balloons. Keep un-inflated balloons from children. Discard broken balloons at once.
Magnets – For children under age six, avoid building or play sets with small magnets. If magnets or pieces with magnets are swallowed, serious injuries and/or death can occur.
Chargers and Adapters – Charging batteries should be supervised by adults. Chargers and adapters can pose thermal burn hazards to children.

More Info at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09040.html

Change Notes

2010-08-22T10:51:00.001-07:00

During mergers understanding and then addressing your peoples own bottom line, i.e. their faith, family and security is essential. Sometimes just taking the time to answer questions “honestly” is all it takes to help them move towards accepting change.

Beware of those who are emotionally paralyzed by change they tend to recruit the undecided and sabotage success. Remember Misery Loves Company.

Beware of those who are happy with the status quoi because they see change as a threat to their domain and may take a Sun Tzu approach to attack and sabotage success, because they are afraid they will fail in the new way.

Change is a scary thing for those it has been thrust upon. Respect the anxieties it creates and have empathy for those dealing with them and then the decisions made will be more compassionate.

Tiger's Lunch

2010-04-19T10:25:00.001-07:00

Just like a Tiger in a cage all energy sources are "Hazards" they all have the potential to cause harm. A Tiger is still a Tiger inside or outside of the cage.

The difference is the Tiger is controlled inside of the cage, if the Tiger is released unplanned and uncontrolled and nothing happens it would be considered a near miss/hit.

On the other hand, the results/impact of the unplanned Tiger release will be determined by whether there is an accelerator (me) or a decelerator (a moat between us) present, if the moat is not wide enough or too shallow then I would have a bad day and the Tiger a nice lunch.

An unsafe condition would be the cage was found unlocked but the Tiger never noticed so he was not released although his potential for release was very high.

Of course the idiot who didn't lock the cage was an unsafe act.

But rather then stopping there why was the cage left unlocked was the Tiger keeper being rushed by his Tiger supervisor or could it have been the Tiger's owner wouldn't buy him a new lock.

I say too often we stop at the tiger keepers unsafe act and fail to get to the root of the problem by looking at the "why". So our corrective action is to remind the Tiger keeper of what he already knows and if the Tiger gets out and eats me we fire him and blame me (the lunch) for not recognizing that a Tiger was dangerous in the first place.

What Is It to Be Honorable

2010-03-06T17:58:00.001-08:00

What Is It to Be Honorable

Prowess:

To seek excellence in all endeavors is expected of an honorable person, martial and otherwise, seeking strength to be used in the service of justice, rather than in personal aggrandizement.

Justice:

Seek always the path of 'right', unencumbered by bias or personal interest. Recognize that the sword of justice can be a terrible thing, so it must be tempered by humanity and mercy. If the 'right' you see rings agrees with others, and you seek it out without bending to the temptation for expediency, then you will earn renown beyond measure

Loyalty:

Be known for unwavering commitment to the people and ideals you choose to live by. There are many places where compromise is expected; loyalty is not amongst them

Defense:

An honorable person is required defend those who depended upon them. Seek always to defend you're your faith, your family, your nation and those to whom you believe worthy of loyalty

Courage:

Being honorable often means choosing the more difficult path, the personally expensive one. Be prepared to make personal sacrifices in service of the precepts and people you value. At the same time, seek wisdom to see that stupidity and courage are cousins. Courage also means taking the side of truth in all matters, rather than seeking the expedient lie. Seek the truth whenever possible, but remember to temper justice with mercy, or the pure truth can bring grief

Faith:

An honorable person must have faith in God and his word, for this faith creates roots and gives hope against the despair that human failings create.

Humility:

Value first the contributions of others; do not boast of your own accomplishments, let others do this for you. Tell the deeds of others before your own, according them the renown rightfully earned through virtuous deeds. In this way being an honorable person is well done and glorified, helping not only the gentle spoken of but also all who show themselves as a true man

Largesse:

Be generous in so far as your resources allow; largesse (generosity) used in this way counters gluttony. It also makes the path of mercy easier to discern when a difficult decision of justice is required

Nobility:

Seek great stature of character by holding to the virtues and duties of honor, realizing that though all the ideals cannot be reached, the quality of striving towards them ennobles the spirit, growing the character from dust towards the heavens. A good person's nobility also has the tendency to influence others, offering a compelling example of what can be done in the service of rightness.

Franchise:

Seek to emulate everything I have spoken of as sincerely as possible, not for the reason of personal gain but because it is right. Do not restrict your exploration to a small world, but seek to infuse every aspect of your life with these qualities. Should you succeed in even a tiny measure then you will be well remembered for your quality and virtue.

Safety Crew - Home

2010-02-01T11:25:00.000-08:00

Safety Crew - Home

Perceptions Sank the Titanic

2009-12-22T11:20:00.001-08:00

"The Titanic" these words bring many thoughts to mind all of which are tied immortally to an avoidable tragic loss of life. This one event changed the world and raised the bar for public safety like no other.

Why did it happen, how could it happen and how do we make sure it never happens again? It was the hope of everyone that the ensuing investigation would bring to light the chain of actions that led to the catastrophic event.

I propose the most important contributor was overlooked and as a result not addressed in the resulting corrective actions. Additionally this contributor is often still overlooked today, some that do see it still do not know what to do with it. It is "Human Behavior Based on Perspective" a root cause analysis is primarily entrenched in cause and effect now this view in itself is not bad but the cause is habitually seen as systems, equipment or leaderships decisions/actions.

But what if you back up the time line a little more and look at what perceptions were the influencers acting on, what pressures were they under, were they external or internal how did they come to that perspective? Now ask yourself knowing the answers to those questions, what would the corrective actions look like now? I expect much different, but what would they be? How do you develop a "Corrective Action" for a "Perception"? We will look at this on my next Blog.

All roads lead to “Wal-Mart”

2009-12-02T13:36:00.001-08:00

It's funny, whenever I get in the car and with out a plan where I am going or if I am just talking away with out completely paying attention to my route or the purpose of my journey, it seems I end up where I usually go. Wall-Mart. Activity plans are similar if we don't focus on the plan and get distracted by the noise of the journey we end up exactly where we usually go. It's our default destination.

"BUT" The Difference Between Desire and Motivation PART 2

2009-11-19T19:41:00.001-08:00

I want quit, I want to quit, I want to quit, even if I say it a million times it will not change a thing, it's the action that matters. In the eighties when I quit the first time it was because, I was becoming a minister and I felt convicted I thought it looked bad to be preacher and smoke. Moving on later on in my life I went into the military but I didn't maintain a connection to my faith, so I drifted off the path God had set me on and begin to smoke again.

Recently, when looking back realized what I had done to be successful in the short term I realized; I changed my routine, I communicated my commitment and I sought the support I needed to maintain my commitment. On the other hand the mistakes that I made which led to me falling off the wagon was just the opposite; I failed to maintain the changes in my life, I became comfortable with my success so I disconnected or avoided my support, so when I slipped I didn't immediately reset and start over.

In 2007 I had a heart attack and of course it required a lifestyle change and because of my family's desire for me to live I had the built in support. In both cases I had the skills I needed which was, to simply stop. To sum all this up to difference between desire and motivation is a change in routine, gathering support, humility and action.

When you're faced with a need for change or you hear a good idea, take that all too uncommon first step, and give it a try, because desire alone will get you zilch.

Doing this will help you keep your buts where they belong…… Behind You.

"BUT" The Difference Between Desire and Motivation PART 1

2009-11-15T13:39:00.001-08:00

Yes I want to do it, sure it's a great Idea, that's really what we should do, I know I need to do it, we should make a plan "but".

"BUT", now that's a word that sure can kill an idea, ruin an apology or wipe out a complement. I am sorry and I know I was wrong "but" or I like your dress "but". How come we say we want something but when it comes down to our actions they often are in conflict? I believe it is the difference between desire and motivation. This blog isn't a quit smoking add, but in order to explain I want to use my own quit smoking experience to elaborate on my earlier statement. So I'll explain using my own experience, but first I need to give you some history.

Except for recently and a 3 year stint in the late 80's I have smoked for about 28 years. I wanted to quit for about half of that. I tried and failed too many times to even count. Jumping ahead, I have now quit and it was obviously the fact that I had a heart attack in 2007 that contributed significantly to my success. Well obviously you don't want to do like I did, and wait until you almost die, in order to quit.

Last year I took a class called "The Influencer" which is based on a book of the same name by Vital Smarts. During that class we were asked to pick something we wanted to influence in or outside of our life. I decided to reverse engineer how I was successful (so far) at quitting smoking.

I thought to myself, what is different this time from all the other failed attempts, and what is similar to, when I quit for three years in the late 80's? Now I know It was the motivation. While that seems obvious, it goes much deeper. Often we presume in this case that motivation is a synonym for desire, but the reality is they are very different. I almost always had the desire to quit but desire alone never manifested itself as action, until the proper motivation was present each time I didn't quit.

….To be continued

Next Time I will talk about the desire and motivational similarities were in the 80's and now?

“Pro Bono Publico” A Preemptive Strike Against Heartache.

2009-11-11T18:39:00.001-08:00

Pro bono publico (usually shortened to pro bono) is a phrase derived from Latin meaning "for the public good". The term is generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms. Pro bono service, unlike traditional volunteerism, uses the specific skills of professionals to provide services to those who are unable to afford them.

Why would someone want to just give it away? I remember an old saying, "They won't buy the cow if the milk is given away free". Really, I originally heard this quote referring to a "much different" subject matter but let's not get into that here.

Of the small businesses started in 1992 only 29% were still around in 2002 that's an average of 7.1 percent per year.

"Last year's failure rate is a sharp increase over past years. In 2004, the SBA loan failure rate was 2.4%, but it has increased each year since, rising to 8.4% in 2007, according to Coleman's calculations. The 2008 failure rate of nearly 12% covers the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30. In that year, the SBA's 7(a) and 504 programs approved 78,324 loans, totaling $18.2 billion."

"The numbers are brutal, but it validates what we already know," said the report's editor and publisher, Robert Coleman. "In towns, we see established businesses going under every day, and [I've heard] bankers say their small business portfolios have become a disaster." (money.cnn.com)

In the spirit of community service, we owe it to our local small businesses to embrace them and offer assistance where we can. They are struggling to compete with the major chains. This has contributed to safety taking a back seat, for some it is through expediency, financial hardship or simply through ignorance of the fiduciary responsibility they have to their employees. What I advocate is, every able HSE professional should seek out opportunities that promote a safe lifestyle. We must look for ways that demonstrate our commitment to a safe lifestyle; one method is to offer our services "Pro Bono" at least for a time, in order to let the small business owner recognize the significance that safe work practices has in their success. In order for them to see how critical safety is to their businesses' longevity, the following are a few of the things we can do to support them:

Free safety audits
Assistance developing policy
Management System development
Basic Safety training
Assistance in choosing the correct PPE
Risk analysis
Incident investigation
Corrective action development
Culture Facilitation
Safety Meetings
Etc…

Before you start check with your companies, just to make sure you are aware of your employers own conflict of interest policies.

Feel free to email the safety crew at im4hse@yahoo.com with your questions and for information on how to get started.

Some of your personal benefits will be:

A raise in your social stock within your community
Experience and Skills
References to your services
A demonstration of your personal commitment to potential paying clients
Networking and business contacts (they will feel obliged to help you get paid business)
After they see the benefit they may very well want your services regularly

There are many more reasons but the greatest one is people's loved ones don't get hurt, because you are making a preemptive strike against heartache.

See Through The Fog Caused by The Logic of Experts, and History’s Statistics.

2009-11-09T11:01:00.001-08:00

In 786AD a foreman was walking on a jobsite in Aachen Germany, While walking he stopped to talk to three separate men the first man was very pessimistic and sad he seemed over whelmed by his job. When the foreman asked what he did the man replied with a long list of responsibilities, the simplest of which was that he had to lay over 500,000 brick and if any brick wasn't right the whole project would collapse he was sure the due o the complexity the project was doomed to fail.

When the foreman walked up to the second man, he could see that he was very busy and the man barely looked up, he was oblivious to his surrounding and those people working around him. The foreman saw this man's work was ahead of schedule, but the walls he was erecting didn't have the support they needed to keep them from falling over. This was because the other workers couldn't keep up with him. The foreman saw the others were frustrated and when asked they said they continually try to warn him but he refuses to listen and when he does respond he just tells them to catch up. "He just doesn't understand that we have a job which requires more time then his" Said the coworker

When the foreman approached the third man, he greeted him, his spirits were evidently high. His work was on time and his walls were supported. The other workers felt that they were working on one job rather then many smaller projects. The foreman was pleased and he wanted to repeat the same success at all the worksites, so he asked the man what was different and the man said:

"I don't know what's different, but I know when I was recruited for this project I was told that I was chosen to be part of something great. I was told Charlemagne was building the Palatine Chapel. I could not believe my fortune; I was one of the few people in the world who gets to be part of something greater then himself. I get to build something that will be a blessing to families, a place for, marriages, christenings, coronations, and a place where souls can come for comfort. So I guess our secret is that there is no secret, we all recognize this awesome responsibility is a great blessing. We are making the world a better place. I know at times we have problems but we keep ourselves focused on the vision and it gets us through those rough patches"

Sometimes in the fervor of our day to day activities we loose site of the vision (Nobody Gets Hurt) and when it happens we may become despondent. When this happens to me, I remember a quote from Sir Winston Churchill, one that he made during Britton's darkest hour, when devastation surrounded him and many saw eminent defeat on the horizon. But Churchill saw what other great leaders saw when they themselves were in dire situations. He saw because he had vision; his vision caused him to see through the fog caused by the logic of experts, and history's statistics. What he saw was an unobstructed view of possibilities, he recognized that failure was not an option and he said:

"Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense"

Winston Churchill (British Orator, Author and Prime Minister during World War II. 1874-1965)

Safe House

2009-10-28T09:13:00.001-07:00

About 2.5 million children are injured or killed by hazards in the home each year. The good news is that many of these incidents can be prevented by using simple child safety devices on the market today.

Safety Latches and Locks for cabinets and drawers in kitchens, bathrooms, and other areas to help prevent poisonings and other injuries. Typical cost of a safety latch or lock: less than $2.

Safety Gates help prevent falls down stairs and keep children away from dangerous areas. Look for safety gates that children cannot dislodge easily, but that adults can open and close without difficulty. For the top of stairs, gates that screw to the wall are more secure than "pressure gates." Typical cost of a safety gate: $13 to $40.

Door Knob Covers and Door Locks help prevent children from entering rooms and other areas with possible dangers. Door knob covers and door locks can help keep children away from places with hazards, including swimming pools. Typical cost of a door knob cover: $1 and door lock: $5 and up.

Anti-Scald Devices should be used for faucets and shower heads to regulate water temperature and help prevent burns. Also, set your water heater temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to help prevent burns from hot water. Typical cost of an anti-scald device: $6 to $30.

Smoke Detectors should be placed on every level of your home and near bedrooms to alert you to fires. If detectors are battery-operated, change batteries at least once a year or consider using 10-year batteries. Typical cost of a smoke detector: less than $10.

Window Guards and Safety Netting help prevent falls from windows, balconies, decks, and landings. Typical cost of a window guard or safety netting: $8 to $16.

Corner and Edge Bumpers help prevent injuries from falls against sharp edges of furniture and fireplaces. Typical cost of a corner and edge bumper: $1 and up.

Outlet Covers and Outlet Plates help prevent electrocution. Typical cost of an outlet cover: less than $2.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detector outside bedrooms help prevent CO poisoning. Typical cost of a carbon monoxide (CO) detector: $30 to $70.

Window Blind Cords should be cut; use Safety Tassels and Inner Cord Stops to help prevent children from strangling in blind cord loops. When buying new miniblinds, verticals, and draperies, ask for safety features to prevent child strangulation.

Door Stops and Door Holders help prevent injuries to fingers and hands. Typical cost of a door stop and door holder: less than $4.

Cordless Phones make it easier to continuously watch young children, especially when they're in bathtubs, swimming pools, or other potentially dangerous areas. Typical cost of a cordless phone: $30 and up.

Blind Leading Blind

2009-10-01T11:49:00.001-07:00

For many years equestrians have been using blinders on horses. Blinders are used to keep the horse focused on the task at hand and prevent it from being distracted by activities surrounding them. Unlike humans who can mentally lock on to a target or a task and only see what is in front of them.

Now, if a horse without blinders sees a snake he may bolt, spook and possibly injure the rider or its self. On the worksite or at home many incidents occur not because people don't care or are dare devils it is actually because they are trying to do a good job but in doing so they are so intently focused on the operational task that they place mental blinders on themselves and miss seeing the proverbial "snake" coiled up next to them. HSE professionals must appreciate operations but turn the workers focus to their safety. The task is, not to get hurt or hurt anyone else - while we do what we get paid for.

The Silent Transformation

2009-08-06T11:15:00.001-07:00

I have wanted to write a book for some time now, recently I recognized that, if I don't start it now it isn't likely to happen. I have been working on a paper called; "The Silent Transformation" Which is a new paradigm for change in behavior based safety this book will be about how to put the heart back into worksite safety. It will be done by applying this New Paradigm based on one of civilizations oldest principal "Sincerely Caring About One Another". To do this successfully and I propose there are 7 influences considered necessary; these influences must encircle the worksite and be unvarying and most of all dependable. The greatest challenge is that these influences must be universal in the organization (top to bottom). Those influencers are, in no specific order of importance:

1. Gen-Aware; We must have generational awareness we must understand the various nuances of each particular generation specifically, boomers, Gen X and Y, as they relate to the worksite, each other, what are their drivers and how to get the best out of each.

2. Loyalty; Leaders and workers must support and be loyal to the body/company which provides for their needs by supplying both with a income, that is providing the company is loyal to them.

3. Relationship: Leaders and workers must actively seek a relationship of mutual emotional investment. We all must be somewhat vulnerable to one another so each of us watch out and protect our emotional investment.

4. Demonstrate: We can't just talk, we must do, and we must act deliberately in order to be visible showing all, that we are committed to the culture and the program.

5. Encourage: Each must encourage and edify the other and promote the common welfare of each other. Don't just pull someone up, get down and lift them up. Additionally each must hold the other accountable and discourage any undesired or unsafe behavior by communicating the real loss they would suffer and the culture will experience if they were hurt.

6. Heart to Heart; Where as emotional investment is the main catalyst for the transformation the heart or love must not be seen as disgraceful or unfitting at the worksite. While the word "Love" may not necessarily used, it is its manifestation in authentic, sincere consideration for each others needs.

7. Values; All of the influences above and ones own core values must marry. All values must be evident in all interactions on and off the job. Just as though you are a son, daughter, or sister, no matter what you're doing. All must remember they are an influence on the culture at all times.

You’ve Probably Said

2009-06-08T23:29:00.001-07:00

You've probably said "Why won't people just follow policy and do the right thing".

Sometimes I get discouraged, as I am sure many of you do, because in our field as in the ministry you're faced with hypocrisy and mis-informed safety doctrine. Often it is just people who simply don't get it. I do what I do for a living, but what I do to live, helps others live. Sometimes the burden is heavy because you know the ramifications if you don't get it right, people suffer, children cry and peoples lives are destroyed.

I carry an old photo of my wife, my two sons and me on the 4th of July, with our home town in the background. How I use the photos is best explained by the vision I put with mine:

"I must remember my mission, because it is a noble mission. Although I may never realize its full completion it is the trying that changes me. I must learn by heart the things that I do affect the ones I love. I must always be a source of pride for my family and honor for my sons. I will lead by example by developing relationships, renewing hope in my mission, seeking opportunities to share my vision, take action on injustices, and follow through on my promises. I must never think I am alone because I am many."

When my Grandfather was on his death bed and he was hanging on, suffering because, I wouldn't let go. I remembered what he had told me years before. "Del doing the right thing is never the easiest because if it were easy everyone would be doing it". On that day, the worst thing I ever have done was the right thing, I told him it was ok for him to go and I would be ok….then he died soon after.

Influencer

2009-05-15T20:59:00.001-07:00

Ever since I was a child I have always been responsible for other people. I was the oldest of five children and since my mother was divorced I had to take care of them. In my life those saddest times also coincided with my most selfish times. I remember one time when I was 9 I had a neighbor whose mother had a high fever while she was pregnant with him so he was born mentally handicapped. His outward appearance seemed normal so some insensitive people just called him stupid. My mother allowed me to be his friend but only through the fence. Johnny my friend was intellectually around 8 years old but physically he was 22 about 180 lbs and very strong. We would talk and hang out under a tree which over looked both yards. He and I would share toys and play ball over the fence. One day the school bully followed me off the bus and beat me up. I was walking up my driveway crying and angry with a busted and bloody lip and a black eye. Johnny who always waited for me after school was leaning on his side of the fence, suddenly he came running down to where I was and asked me what had happened. Of course I was angry and I didn't have a big brother to go to, so I told him "Greg beat me up for no reason" and then I proceeded to tell Johnny the whole story. I knew I was intellectually ahead of Johnny, and I am ashamed of what I did next. I wanted him to get angry at Greg so he would go punch him and make him sorry. My shameful manipulation of Johnny worked because he was visibly upset and angry because some bully beat up his best friend and he saw his only recourse as payback and of course that is what I had hoped for. Pauline Johnny's mom called my mother and said Johnny had left in a huff and said he was going to make Greg sorry he beat up his best friend. Now, being 9, I was happy Greg was going to get what he deserved. My mother who was also my conscious saw it in my eyes so she explained that Johnny may hurt Greg (who was 11) so bad that he could be killed. I never realized there was any chance of that happening all I wanted was Greg to get what he gave me. I was terrified and ashamed that I used Johnny, he was such a kind friend. I knew Johnny needed me to protect him from himself. My mother, Pauline and myself found Johnny walking near the school with furrowed brows and two clinched fists, but fortunately Greg hated school and would never hang anywhere near it after it was closed. I couldn't believe what I had done. I was seeing a person I abused and who loved me and wanted to protect me. I prayed God would forgive me. I wasn't too late; I had the rare chance of reversing things. I caught up with Johnny and I asked him to stop and let me talk to him. We sat on the curb while Pauline and my mother stood off at a distance allowing us our privacy. I told Johnny how I was glad he protected me like a big brother and how it made me feel to have him care so much. I reminded Johnny that he was special and his strength was much greater then Greggs and if he hit him he could hurt him so bad that my best friend could wind up in jail which would be worse then me getting beat up every day. I also confessed to Johnny what I had done, I told him I was a terrible friend and I didn't deserve his trust. Johnny paused and looked me in the eye and just said friends forgive and you're my friend. On that bitter sweet day I learned that the things I say, especially to those who care about me will cause a reaction. It is up to me to make sure I never forget the power of influence.

The Cathedral

2009-05-15T20:33:00.001-07:00

In 786AD a foreman was walking on a jobsite in Aachen Germany, While walking he stopped to talk to three separate men the first man was very pessimistic and sad he seemed over whelmed by his job. When the foreman asked what he did the man replied with a long list of responsibilities the simplest of which was that he had to lie over 500,000 brick and if any brick wasn't right the whole project would collapse he was sure the due o the complexity the project was doomed to fail.

When the foreman walked up to the second man he could see that he was very busy and the man barely looked up, he was oblivious to his surrounding and those people working around him. The foreman saw his work was ahead of schedule but the walls he was erecting were so far ahead they didn't have the support they needed to keep them from falling over because the other workers couldn't keep up with him. The foreman saw the others were frustrated and when asked they said they continually try to warn him but he refuses to listen and when he does respond he just tells them to catch up. The man just doesn't understand that they had a more complex job which required more time then his job.

When the foreman approached, the third man greeted him his sprits were noticeably high. His work was on time and his walls were supported. The other workers felt like they were working on one job rather then many smaller projects. When one was behind they all pulled together to help them keep up and everyone appreciated the importance of the other's task. The foreman was pleased and he wanted to repeat the same success every where. He asked the man what was different. The man said I don't know what's different but when I was recruited for this project I was told that I was chosen to be part of the greatest project, Charlemagne was building the Palatine Chapel I could believe my fortune I was one of the few people in the world who gets to create something greater then himself. I get to build something that people will be blessed by families will gather at. Marriages, christenings, coronations and souls will be saved. So I guess our secret is there is no secret we all recognize the awesome responsibility is also a great blessing. We are making the world a better place. Now I know at times we have problems but we keep focused on the vision and the inconvenience and pain pales in comparison.

2009-02-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

When I first started in the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) field I was a very dogmatic person. I saw everything as black or white and my actions reflected that point of view. I acted as a police officer on patrol would, by pulling people over giving tickets and setting up stakeouts. When I was busy doing paperwork or inspecting equipment in a remote location, I was sure people were breaking the law. After a period of time I began to develop a policeman’s attitude. That is not to say that all law enforcement officers have bad attitudes, it’s just that being exposed to the underbelly of society will eventually cause you to become more pessimistic or guarded. Like them I got to a point of continuous disappointment and I did not trust people to do the right thing without being forced.

This attitude was an unexpected outcome, as it was contrary to my original motivation to enter the field. Because before starting in OHS I was a combat medic then a interdenominational minister, where my personal calling is to save or improve the quality of people’s lives, OHS seemed to fit well with my passions.

It was at this waypoint in my career when I contemplated leaving OHS.. But first I decided to sit down and do a root cause analysis in order to figure out how I had found myself so dissatisfied. It was then I realized I was using my head and not my strongest attribute my heart to lead me. Because I do genuinely care about people and their families, my behavior wasn’t fulfilling that need in my life of service. I now am an advocate of heart centered safety, where we emotionally invest in each other to generate a caring culture, interdependent on every member. I want to foster an environment where leadership actively seeks out ways to understand their workforce and where everyone accepts there role in every incident, with the vision of living a safe lifestyle by incorporating safety into the value stream.

Celebrate The New Year

2008-12-30T08:36:00.000-08:00

Well the Holidays are almost over all that is left is the new years celebration which unfortunately often includes people drinking and driving. I know you hear all the time "Don’t Drink & Drive" or my favorite is "Drink Responsibly". I admit that I myself have and do at times enjoy a beer or a cocktail on a rare occasion but I do not be operate a vehicle even after one drink.

I know alcohol offers almost no benefits other then red wine for the heart. In my experience I have never seen any real social benefits, other then getting a laugh at the guy who has had too much to drink expense. For the most part alcohol has been a detriment to society. Most of the ugliness and cruelty in our lives are some how connected to alcohol or drugs.

It is my desire that all of my friends and family have a good life and that they do not add to their challenges by tossing alcohol into the mix. I hope you all have a safe and happy new year and remember that the best way to celebrate the new year is to be sober, thankful and show those you value most that you love them.

If you go out please be careful and stay alert while you may be sober but the other driver may be drunk.

To understand the impact drunk drivers have on the lives of our loved ones click here

There is a silent transformation taking place

2008-12-04T12:33:00.000-08:00

Today’s statistics as compared to 2003 - 2005 statistics for Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities (IIF), has improved, however during recent years the up and down cycle of injuries indicates that we are stuck on a plateau. The obvious question that were faced with is; what did we do to get here, and if that doesn’t work any more what can we do to get to an injury free world, and can we actually live injury free? These questions are thought provoking, but are they realistic.

I propose that there is a silent transformation taking place in the workplace and home. This revolution is in part the effect from the blending of the generations from the Boomers through to the Y generation, each one the improved product of the former. Thus the priorities and the paradigms that drive people are shifting.

It is my position/belief that we can actually work and live the rest of your lives without getting hurt or hurting someone else.

“This is no war of chieftains or of princes, of dynasties or national ambition; it is a war of peoples and of causes. There are vast numbers, not only in this island but in every land, who will render faithful service in this war but whose names will never be known, whose deeds will never be recorded. This is a war of the Unknown Warriors; but let all strive without failing in faith or in duty, and the dark curse of Hitler will be lifted from our age."
Winston Churchill BBC Broadcast, London, 14 July 1940.

As safety revolutionaries our interactions with people about safety must be often, we have to act as a minister would about promoting faith in their religion. We have to speak to people habitually about safety, and what it means to us personally. We want to avoid the standard rhetoric and paint a portrait of what safety or a safe lifestyle looks like. Explain the real cost (i.e. if you lose your life someone else will have to raise your son or daughter and hold your spouse) the brutal reality is it is up to us if we live safe.

Things that we say mean very little if they’re not supported by the things that we do.

I know it is possible to work in an environment where nobody ever gets hurt. Just like when we get married we don’t say I love you and will stay married to you probably. We say I love you and I will love you forever. Yes wee know statistically especially in the United States there is a great chance that we will end up in a divorce. However if both people are truly committed to the relationship then, death do us part will becomes a likely. The same principle is true for an incident and injury free lifestyle.

How does a marriage stay together and people stay committed? The quick answer is; its love and commitment demonstrated by actions to ensure communication that promotes an emotional investment, compassion, intimacy and attention to each others needs and occasional give and take.

Supervisors and leaders must care, truly care for their people. They must keep communication lines open and be willing to hear and listen to their subordinates. Compassion is demonstrated by asking about their lives, or other interests. Ask about their loved ones; know about their problems, we have to take an interest in them and their happiness. To pay attention to them is to listen to them, ask them what they really think, and don’t disregard it as so much noise or complaining. Because behind all of the noise are real perceptions.

The intimacy here obviously is different in a marriage, but the similarity is in knowing them; what makes them tick, what motivates them is the intimacy I’m referring to.

If something goes wrong and a breakdown occurs, (like an incident), we have to take the approach that the incident can be used as a breakthrough. Just like in a marriage and we have a "big fight" but at the end of the fight we have a breakthrough. The resulting breakthrough brings us closer and establishes mutual understanding of each other’s needs. But if we obstinately stand our ground and shake our fist or point our finger, there is no breakthrough but more friction. Learn from the incident and take an honest look at what happened, mutually accept accountability for the part or parts each contributed to the breakdown. When we do this, we find ourselves at a breakthrough point just like in a marriage.

If a couple has one person in the relationship that oppresses and prevents the other from communicating their doubts or fears then the relationship is stifled. On the work site everybody has to be able to communicate their fears and doubts without retribution or scorn from coworkers. The supervisor has to facilitate an atmosphere where openness and frank comments are welcome. Of course there will be those individuals who complain no matter what, but rest assure is worth hearing their complaints rather then suppressing communication.

Having generational awareness helps us see the openings that make the paradigm change happen and most importantly make it stick.

“Younger and older employees are reevaluating their workplace realities against the backdrop of changing real life demands. Gen Y workers are growing up, becoming more pragmatic and their expectations are evolving. Gen X workers—in their peak personally and professionally—are feeling more invested in maintaining their employment situation than in changing it. Baby Boomers find themselves the standard bearers of the corporate culture, legacy and history. They want recognition for their contributions on the job but are feeling the pressure of the economic downturn that could destroy retirement plans as the clock ticks down”.
Source Randstad’s 2008 World of Work

The need for a change to a flat organization from the hierarchical one is a result partly from the generational paradigm shift. In order to stay competitive, business today must be ready to act fast; additionally they must reside outside the box because just thinking out side is not enough.

“Eliminate politics, by giving everybody the same message. Keep a flat organization in which all issues are discussed openly. Insist on clear and direct communication. Prevent competing missions or objectives Eliminate rivalry between different parts of the organization. Empower teams to do their own things“.
Bill Gates Microsoft

How does all of this relate to safety? One of the advantages of a hierarchical organization is Management Systems are usually well developed and the rank and file is established enough to implement the decisions made therein. However in order to ensure compliance this requires significant monitoring, measuring and enforcement. It is required because the audience / benefactors usually provide begrudging compliance. Just like when someone speeds when there are not any police around. To overcome this we must introduce living IIF free into our value stream. To explain, most people will not steal, kill or otherwise be dishonest because doing so goes against their values, personal code of conduct or ethics. To change we must see working safe and living safe as more than a goal it must be instilled in us as a core value and a moral responsibility. We do it not because it’s our job we do it because it’s the right thing to do.

If we truly value safety we will carry it home to our family so we can establish this value into our loved ones. This way they can benefit from our value of safety by building a safety culture at home. Teaching our children to be safe is a gift that they can pass on to their children and so on. Just like the Knights of old did with chivalry, we must pass on safety as a value and include it into our code of ethics.

Whether it is at home, play or work. Remember it’s because we do our jobs or live our lives not for ourselves but our loved ones, because they are the ones who will suffer if something happened to us. They’re the ones who have to bury their father or mother.

Some may argue the point and say “Accidents will happen; statistics prove that people will get hurt you just can’t prevent it. You can lower exposure but people will still get hurt even if it’s only a natural phenomenon people will get hurt”. I say to them the human condition is great but one aspect that makes us different is that we have the ability to project ourselves and base our actions on what we perceive is needed to meet the conditions we expect to encounter. So as a result if we expect to fail we do fail.

“You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”
Ronald Reagan 40th president of US (1911 - 2004)

These great leaders had what all great leaders have in common, they were not great because they were pragmatic - they were great because they had vision they could see through the fog caused by the logic of experts, and history’s statistics. They had an unobstructed view of possibility and they recognized that failure was not an option.

"Out of the dark ages came chivalry, Out of epidemics came cures, out of hopelessness came hope, Out of slavery came freedom and out of industry will come an Incident, Injury and Fatality free lifestyle".
Del Forbes 2008

Crucial Conversations

2008-10-11T15:13:00.001-07:00

I recently finished a great book “crucial conversations” by Stephen Covey for anyone looking for a book that lays out how to have conversations that are sensitive and salvage discussions that have gone awry. The approach works, I know this because I have already began using some of the techniques with great success. I really like the pragmatic and logical way the method is taught. I even found myself laughing at a few humorous stories. This is a must read, really you must read it.

2008-09-19T07:06:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I get discouraged, as I am sure many of you do in the safety profession, because in our field as in the ministry you’re faced with hypocrisy and mis-informed doctrine. Often it is just people who simply don’t get it. I do what I do for a living, but what I do to live, helps others live. Sometimes the burden is heavy because you know the ramifications if you don’t get it right, people suffer, children cry and peoples lives are destroyed. I have a program where I ask people to bring in a snapshot of the thing or things they love most. Mine is an old group photo of my wife, my two sons and me on the 4th of July, with our home town in the background. How I use the photos is best explained by the vision I put with mine:

i must remember my mission
because it is a noble mission
although i may never realize
it full completion it is the trying
that changes me. i must learn
by heart the things that i do affect
the ones i love. i must always be
a source of pride for my family
and honor for my sons. i will
lead by example by developing
relationships, renewing hope in my
mission, seeking opportunities to
share my vision, take action on
injustices, and follow through
on my promises.

i must never think i am
alone because i am many.

Perception Assessment

2008-08-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

A network contact asked me the question what is a perception audit. So I thought I would blog it just in the event someone could use it.

First of all obviously there’s more to it than just a simple paragraph can explain, but I’ll try anyway. The first rule of thumb is to realize that people don’t want to get hurt, however they still manage to do so. You probably have asked yourself why somebody would do something against policy knowing that they may get hurt.

The basic truth is people’s actions are driven by their perceptions. I will elaborate, leaders communicate to their subordinates in many ways other than verbally or written. You may have heard the old saying actions speak louder than words. There’s a lot to be said about that sentence, because it’s true.

In your own life have you ever been told not to do one thing, but saw the person doing the very thing they told you not to do? We have all experienced this and it puts us in a dilemma because our ears tell us one thing and our eyes tell us another.

Perception assessments question workers to get feedback in order to identify hypocritical behaviors of leaders. For example; the corporate executives may say everybody’s safety is the most important thing, but then there actions do something that says the contrary. An example could be they require everyone to wear PPE but they buy the cheapest and lowest quality they can, or when they show up on the job site, they don’t bother to wear all their PPE or follow simple safety rules.

Also supervisors who don’t see their employees as people with lives, families, worries, Joys, faith, love, and sadness, send a message that they truly only care about business. The resulting perception is “They tell me work safe but they really don’t give a heck about me as a human” so when you, “the safety man” tell them you care, they really don’t believe you.

Think about this, if someone you know who truly cares about you tells you something it means more to you, because you know their hearts in the right place. Although you may think your job is to keep the workplace safe, the reality is your job is to convince the leaders not to say one thing and then do another.

The real job is change management, because what you’re doing is trying to change people’s behaviors and organizations culture.

The bottom line is, no matter what policy procedures you have in your management system, people no matter where they’re from will break the rules. But if you can capture their hearts their minds will follow.

For more click here

It’s Never to Late to Change

2008-07-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I love the field of safety is that I see it as a higher calling and it is the best way to positively impact the world around me. I am always learning, thanks to my new supervisor’s recent coaching, my understanding of safety specifically the role it plays in a changing world has been broadened.

Ultimately what were really talking about is change and change management. The way I see it is we “safety professionals” are really in the business of change. We strive to change behaviors within cultures not just crunch stats and force compliance. We must be the voice for our charges and cause change from the top down but in order to do this we must act on the basic change principals.

I highly recommend a couple of books both by John Kotter (Our Iceberg is Melting & Leading Change) these books are very good and the latter lays out a plan for change that is clear and concise.

Safety Crew (Relationship)

2008-02-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

Welcome Safety Crew Members

Just like the lifeguards standing watch over a pool of swimmers. A Safety Crew member stands watch over a sea of concern where Billions are swimming ignorant to the rip tide of dangers surrounding them. It is our calling to throw the life ring of safety to those swimmers and promote safety as a value, first in our lives then in theirs.

1 of 5

Relationship:

a. What are you trying to achieve?
(Simply what is your ultimate goal “Live Safe”)

b. Does what your doing bring value to your goal.

c. Are you committed?

Commitment will require dedication to the principal.
Dogged Persistence in speech and action.
Faith in the just cause.
No Hippocrates

d. Do you have Leadership Support?

Some times in the absence of leadership we must be the leader.
Visible Leadership
Visual leadership

People are unique to any other animal we have a spirit even if a person does not believe in God they realize that the human spirit is a powerful force to be reckoned with it will persevere in hopeless situations. The Human sprit is an element that is often overlooked where it relates to HSE. Machines give back no more then they are designed to produce and pushing them to go beyond their design limitations often has devastating results. But Humans have no limitations other then physical and our sprit takes beyond that (ie space flight). We must tap into that source “The Human Sprit”

When it is all boiled down, We humans have one driver it is emotion and it manifests itself as complex combinations of emotions such as:

Acceptance, Agitation, Alarm, Amusement, Anger, Angst, Annoyance, Anticipation, Apprehension, Apathy, Arrogance, Awe, Anxiety , Bitterness, Boredom, Calmness, Cautiousness, Comfort, Contentment, Confidence, Courage, Depression, Determination, Disappointment, Discontentment, Disgust, Desire, Delight, Elation or Euphoria, Embarrassment, Ennui, Envy, Ecstasy, Fear, Friendship, Frustration, Glee, Gladness, Gratitude, Grief, Guilt, Hate, Happiness, Homesickness, Honor, Hope, Horror, Humility, Impatience, Inadequacy, Irritability, Inspiration, Joy, Jealousy, Kindness, Loneliness, Love, Lust, Limerence, Melancholy, Modesty, Nervousness, Negativity, Nostalgia, Pain, Paranoia, Patience, Peace, Phobia, Pity, Pride, Rage, Regret, Remorse, Resentment, Sadness, Schadenfreude, Self-pity, Shame, Shyness, Sorrow, Shock, Suffering, Surprise, Suspense, Thrill, Timid, Torment, Unhappiness, Vulnerability, Worry, Yearning and Zest

Those emotional manifestations are baisicl driven by our primal emotions "Passions”.

1. Love
2. Happiness
3. Anger
4. Sadness
5. Fear

Of those we push for Love to be Happy. You’re probably thinking “LOVE”, but think about it. We have experienced love from birth and we continually pursue it. We function because of it, it is why we do what we do and it is the driving force for who we are. The absence of love brings misery and dysfunctional behaviors we can even be threats to our selves and society.

So here it goes a new safety concept based on an old biblical teaching “Love Thy Neighbor”.

√ Tap in to Love use it as the driver for your common goal.
√ No you don’t have to have hand holding sessions or warm fuzzy Love fest meetings. But you must be sincere and truly care.
√ You can still reprimand to correct behaviors.
√ Love is a bond to reinforce shared values
√ Care… really care about others and their family get to know them.
√ Think is the work you assigning what you would ask your child or grandchild to do.
√ How can I make it safe enough for my loved ones?

Now be prepared to make the Emotional Investment?

The LTI Affect

2007-12-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

I know you have heard it a 1000 times on the news a number of people were killed in a car pile up, explosion or in the home each year for various reasons. We shake our heads and say how sad, we feel sorry for them then go back to our daily chores never giving it another thought. But….What if that ten car pile up included ten people we know or worse ten people we loved. Then the news suddenly means so much more. I realize we cant fall apart emotionally every time some unfortunate soul looses their life because we are not emotionally vested in them all (thank God) but we can work off our desensitization and focus on the “what if it was someone I loved”. Doing this may help us all adjust our lives a small amount. I know in my family after my wife broke her ankle we took an extra look at how we view our safety. If you do the same you can’t help but impact your lives positively. In my work I work with statistics and one of the terms I use is “Lost Time Incident” or LTI which means:

“A work-related incident (injury or illness) to an employee in which a physician or licensed health care professional recommends days away from work due to the incident.”

I recently started calling it the “LTI Affect” similar to the butterfly effect but more of a negative tone where effect leans towards hope Affect has impact. Why bother changing around words and tweaking acronyms. Because you have to change your point of view sometimes. Remember if we keep doing the same thing and expect different results then we are well…. “Stupid”.

I am proud that my employer has realized that the heart is the key to a successful safety culture. Where as they are continuing to develop programs and change their perspective to promote safety as a core value.

The efforts are bearing fruit because recently an employee suggested LTI be changed to “Lives Totally Impacted” I like that idea because it accurately reflects what occurs due to an LTI since many lives are affected when someone gets hurt.

Take a minute look at your own life ask yourself how many people would be impacted if you lost your own life…… I did my own numbers and I counted over 50 people and I wasn’t even counting my financial contributions to charity and to the local economy or the lives I hope to impact through my work or other efforts like this blog.

During my heart attack I had a small taste of the “LTI Affect” when several of my family members used their vacation time or spent their hard earned money to visit me while I was in the hospital. Not to mention the catastrophic changes and terror my wife had to endure during that time.

Let’s face it we owe it to our family to work, live and be safe if we wont buckle that seat belt for ourselves we must buckle it for our wives, husbands, children, mothers, fathers etc...

Fall Facts

2007-11-14T10:16:00.000-08:00

This fall I was thinking what can I write about so I thought fall, fall “I got it Fall” I remember when I was a child my mother was what you could say “some what over protective”. I remember riding my new bicycle around and around in my back yard to the point there were little dirt ruts surrounding the parameter, on a humorous note she actually expected me to ride my skate board there as well. I longed for the chance to ride in the street and feel the smooth road under my wheels. I imagined I could go places like easyrider. Well that never happened I was driving a car in the street before a bike. What my mom didn’t know was only 1% of child injuries occur in streets or highways.

I actually developed a daredevil attitude (sorry Billy) partly because of her over protectiveness. But maybe it also played a part in me working in safety because she never failed to warn me about being burned, swimming to soon after eating, running with scissors and many other warnings. Children by need us to protect them from being hurt. There is nothing more sad then seeing a child hurt and it is a million times worse when you know they were hurt because we didn’t protect them. Unintentional death is the leading cause of death in children under 15 and it saddens me to say most of those tragic losses of life are preventable.

The leading cause of injury for children 1 and under is falling from one level (roofs of cars, changing tables, counter tops down, dropped when bathing) to a lower level.

2-4 year olds tend to fall down stairs out of high chairs and out of windows. This usualy happens when little ones are scampering through the house on their walker and that broom mom had on the floor to stop Junior only slowed him down. Another is when mom “or Dad” feeds the toddler in a high chair and continues working on the dishes or talking on the phone. Furthernapartment windows a another culprit because many people cant modify windows because their lease wont allow them to.

The next area where children get injured is on the playground but those injuries are in children from 5 – 9 years of age. You would think play grounds would be safer because they are designed for children. The truth is most of those kids are hurt through lack of adult supervision. Other contributing factors in this are poor playground maintenance or children playing on equipment not appropriate for their age.

Continuing to the next group is 10 -15 and the main injury culprit is sports injuries and the injuries mostly happen to boys. Most of these are due to well meaning football dads (myself included) with visions of their pride and joy getting that football scholarship or dare they even dream “The NFL”. We all see our sons waving from the end zone at the super bowl “Hi Dad!” so we push them a little harder and we have our little chat with their coach and he pushes a little harder and then we wind up with a son with knee pain at 14. Additionally we need to take a close look at those weekend coaches and asses if they are qualified to teach our kids safely.

Now that I have painted such a bleak picture what do you do?

Never for any reason leave a infant unattended even for literally ½ a second on a changing table, in a high chair and never set them on the roof of a car keep them low to the ground and in your hand. Expect your angel to be very slippery when bathing.
Supervision supervision supervision is the only way to protect a toddler. Use bouncers not walkers and child gates at the top of steps as a mater of fact even if its only one step. Secure your windows. Use quality high chairs and use those straps even if little Suzie throws a ring tail hissy fit and for goodness sake stay focused on the task at hand the dishes will wait…
“You have to just knuckle down and check out the play ground” look at the equipment check for protruding nails, splinters, loose bolts, pinch points for little fingers. Even those padded play grounds are not safe children can receive nasty head injuries and some time transients sleep in them and leave all kinds of horrible things in tunnels and slides. Remember S. A. F. E. (Supervision, Age-appropriate, Falls to surface, and Equipment maintenance.)
Sports “Whew” there is so much to cover but remember the basics.

He/She are just children and although they are young they can get hurt easer then adults so support and encourage safe training and let the coach do the coaching. Ask the tough questions like “What qualifies you to be a coach?”

In closing there are many websites on children safety surf get in the know to be a better parent they deserve it and remember you will make a difference so make it a good one.

FYI

2007-08-28T07:42:00.001-07:00

I have recently returned from China, while there I felt as if I had been transported back 20 years in the safety arena. There safety approach is similar to the our (US) approach 20 years ago. China's industrial and economical advancements are amazing however their industrial safety is lacking severely. I hope that safety value atmosphere improves soon. The attitude seems to be job first and safety for appearances only.

BBQ Safety

2007-03-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

Safe House

2007-03-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

The home is a place of warmth, a place to come out of the rain a place comprised of laughter basted with joy seasoned with a few tears and baked with love. But all too often the home has the potential to become place were tragedy terror and heart ache rear their ugly heads. It is the intention of this blogger book is to shed light on the areas where we fail to do every thing we can to protect the contents of the chest where we store our greatest treasures, our home. I will travel room to room highlighting areas where we can find the dangers and show you how to look for hidden hazards and introduce you to new concepts and let you in on a few dark secrets. Readers beware because knowledge is power and if you know the truth you are morally obliged to act. If you don’t know…well ignorance is bliss and besides you might just be one of the lucky ones.

In the past the oil field had a history of danger and stories of death are renowned. I remember when I first went off shore I was petrified. I basically had no choice because in the town where I lived there wasn't any good jobs and the oil field offered good wages and that was what I needed if I was going to be able to support my family. On my first day when I stepped out on the deck and after watching all the gruesome safety videos I was scared senseless and of course I couldn't’t show it because I was also afraid of being pegged as a coward and I really needed the job. There were a lot of things going on all around me, noises and equipment all moving it appeared to be chaos I thought how does a person survive in this environment. Heavy bundles of 30 foot long sections of pipe were being swung in by the crane. People walking on pipe, wrapping cables and chains around pipes and dragging them up this long ramp where several men wrestled and man handled the pipe on to the top of another pipe. This went on all day non stop I didn't know what to do, or how to do it, I was a clueless worm. (Worm is what they called the new guys) I could go on and tell you all my oil field stories but I digress. I am only telling you this story because it relates to the safe house. The oil field has managed to turn itself around. Daily thousands upon thousands of people work with potentially dangerous machinery in deadly environments and taming natural forces. All the while having statistics to prove the oil field is now safer then the home. This is where my experiences are from. Remember I am not a safety engineer nor the brainiest in the Safety arena. I am a simple man who by writing this book hopes to change and save a few lives. I want to show where you can bring into your home some of the same tools used in industry to protect employees and prevent loss. I realize the methods are not completely transferable but the values are, and because the loss that is suffered is to our loved ones so it is even more important. I am going to apply these techniques to areas such as Home Appliance, Baby Proofing, Safer Parties, Emergency preparedness, hazard identification, hazard management, root cause analysis, corrective actions, Automobile Safety, Teenagers, domestic abuse, sexual predators, Internet. I hope to explain the methods and demonstrate how we can apply those methods without uprooting our routine and disrupting our families lives. I will be posting this and when complete I will seek to publish it, this is an opportunity for you to observe a book in progress and to even provide feedback so I can tailor it and answer questions. If you have questions feel free to ask and I will answer all real questions but any nonconstructive criticisms will not be posted.

Del

Share the LOVE

2007-01-11T05:24:00.000-08:00

My apologies for not adding to my blogg for a while but recently my family suffered the loss of my wife’s father this was a trying time for my family and especially my wife. She has recovered from the loss well and as she said in so many words life goes on and so will she. I am a fortunate man to have such a courageous wife.
This time has caused me to reflect even more how precious life is and how important it is to do everything we can do to protect it. That has been the motivation for my blog and it will continue to be so. I invite you to post comments and welcome your questions.

In my work I often hear how safety is a pain, makes the job take longer, safety equipment is uncomfortable or it looks dorkey. I agree it can cause a job to take longer and sometimes it can be a pain in the backside. But think, it will take longer for you to do anything in a wheel chair, or being paralyzed where you cant leave a bed and how cool will we look in an adult diaper thin how much fun you will have when your wife or husband has to wipe your but or wipe the drool off your face all because you wanted to get the job done faster, be comfortable and look cool. We must always remember the possibilities. You might be even able to sue or get some money from an injury but when you fall off a chair changing a light bulb, fall in the tub or slip going down the stairs and strike your head or break your neck, “This can be your reality”.

Once time while riding with my uncle he told me to buckle up and I said “If I’m meant to die then I’m meant to die” his reply was “what if your not meant to die and you survive but only you break your neck” I swallowed my pride and buckled up. I was 15 then and that’s when safety was first introduced to me.

I know, like anyone else I do loose focus but my wife always reminds me and says “Mr Safety!!” I voluntarily set my self up as a safety minister so she makes sure I walk the walk not just talk the talk. So Thanks Nabob I love you to, because she says it to me by her actions every time she corrects me when I’m unsafe.

So now show someone you care and share the LOVE

Happy Birthday / Toy Hazards

2006-12-07T10:10:00.000-08:00

One of the happiest days for a child is the day when their birthday is celebrated or when their parent gives them a toy. How horrifying would it be to loose your child because of the gift you gave them out of love. According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia the leading cause of toy-related deaths is choking, usually on latex balloons.” I remember when I was a child we sometimes played with latex balloons, once they were deflated we found it fun to put them in our mouths chew on them and pretend we were blowing bubbles. I realize now how lucky we were, because if the balloon went into my airway I would most likely not be here today. The elasticity of the balloon makes it impossible to force out the balloon using the normal treatment for choking. This is because the balloon expands and retracts when air is forced against it. Another point to note is that boys are statistically (60%) more likely to receive toy related injuries. It is very important that you review the information provided by the following links. Before selecting your Christmas presents. "Your children’s lives may depend on it"

Injury Statistics and Incidence Rates
Identifying High-Risk Situations
Prevention

“Make a Difference”

"I also want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Safe New Year"

It's a value not a job

2006-11-18T21:40:00.000-08:00

I’ve just completed a safety leadership workshop that I conducted in India. An interesting discovery was made after asking the attendees to provide the number of people affected if they were to lose their life doing their job. Out of a total of 65 people that were present there were a total of 1201 people affected; this was an average of twenty people per person attending. The focus was that using “safety being your number one job” as a motto would not build a safety culture. Instead we should take the view that safety is a value.

Let me explain, most people will not steal, kill or otherwise be an dishonest person because doing so would go against their values, code of conduct or ethics. We must see working safe or living safe as more than a goal it should be instilled in us as a value, We do it do it not because its our job we do it because it’s the right thing to do. If we categorize it as a job responsibility or an employment goal that categorization is not enough because when we leave the job we in most cases will leave safety at work. If we value it we will bring it home to our family so we can establish this value into our loved ones. This way they can benefit from our value of safety by building a safety culture. Teaching our children to be safe is a gift that they can pass on to their children and so on. Just like the Knights of old did with chivalry, we must pass on safety as a value and include it into our code of ethics. Whether it is at home, play or work. Remember it’s because we do our jobs or live our lives not for ourselves but our loved ones, because they are the ones who will suffer if something happened to us. They’re the ones who have to bury their father or mother.

Myself I realized that if something ever happened to me over 30 people would be affected. So in all the things that I do I strive to live where safety is one of my values. I cannot emphasize this enough.

You may wonder what can I do to make what I do safe. Well the first step is to identify what you want to do and then the steps that it will take to do that particular task. Next you must look at those steps individually to identify the dangers/hazards of each step. After you have identified the hazards and dangers think of the things you can do to eliminate or at least reduce those hazards/ dangers.

I.e. you’re getting ready to use your weed eater. You think how could I get hurt or hurt someone else?

Bits of line, small rocks, grass or dirt can be flung and possibly hit some one or myself in the face or all eyes.
I could hit my leg, foot or other body part with a line.

Now to prevent me hitting someone else or myself in the eyes or face with debris I will wear safety glasses and keep other people away while I weed eat. I will also make sure I have long heavy pants and leather shoes or boots to protect my feet. You repeat this process until all the hazards are eliminated. Most injuries happen at home unfortunately this is the same place where your family lives. However if you build a safety culture in your home you can prevent, reduce part even eliminate almost all the hazards. If you live safe the worst thing that can happen is no one gets hurt…

“Make a Difference”
Del

RABIES

2006-11-10T19:17:00.000-08:00

Rabies is primarily a disease of the central nervous system. Animals with rabies can appear aggressive (“furious rabies") or normal or meek ("dumb rabies"). Animals with furious rabies often exhibit aggressive or unusually excited behavior; they may excessively salivate and attack other animals or humans. Dumb rabies may be more difficult to detect; animals may seem tame, wounded, or dazed. These animals have been described as acting "drunken," disoriented, or suffering from some paralysis. There are instances in which animals exhibit no signs of disease prior to death. The behavior of an animal, however, is not a reliable indicator of whether it has rabies. While a species of animal may usually be thought of to exhibit specific signs of disease, any species of animal may exhibit any, all, or no signs of rabies at the time of examination. Signs of disease in dogs include behavior changes, agitation and reflex excitability. With the furious form, animals become markedly aggressive, biting objects, other animals, or man. Salivation can be profuse; throat muscles may become paralyzed with resultant voice changes. In the dumb form, the excitability phase is short or absent, and paralysis, which begins with the head and neck and moves toward the extremities, is the most common sign. Cats generally show the furious type, followed in a few days by posterior paralysis. Livestock primarily demonstrate bellowing, posterior paralysis and become uncoordinated.

Human Rabies

Rabies is almost always a fatal infection. A progressive illness of approximately 2-21 days follows an incubation period. The incubation period may be weeks to months long.

A prodromal phase, lasting about 2-10 days, is characterized by pain and numbness/tingling at the site of the bite (present in 50-80% of cases) and nonspecific complaints such as fatigue, headache, and fever.

Behavioral changes may also be apparent, including apprehension, anxiety, agitation, irritability, insomnia and depression.

The prodromal phase is followed by the neuralgic phase during which the following can occur: disorientation and hallucinations; paralysis; episodes of terror and excitement; hydrophobia; hyperventilation; hyper salivation; and seizures. Coma and death invariably follow these symptoms.

The disease usually lasts from two to six days; patients very rarely survive (death is usually due to respiratory paralysis). f. Once symptoms have begun, drugs or treatments do not improve the patient's condition.

Reservoirs

Although all species of mammals are susceptible to rabies virus infection, only a few species are important for maintaining the disease in nature. In the United States, raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes are the major reservoirs in ground animals, with bats being the major non-ground animal reservoir. In developing countries, dogs remain the principal problem. Any of these strains can be passed to other animals and humans through exposure to contaminated saliva. Small rodents and lagomorphs (e.g., squirrels, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rats, mice, wild rabbits and hares) have not been known to transmit rabies to humans and are almost never found to be infected with rabies. The exception is rodents and lagomorphs (specifically rabbits) caged outdoors, since these cages allow exposure to rabid animals but provide enough protection so that smaller animals survive and then go on to develop the disease. Larger rodents (ground hogs, beavers, etc.) in the wild are diagnosed with rabies each year.

Modes of Transmission

Rabies is spread through the virus-laden saliva of an infected animal through a bite, scratch, or contact with mucous membranes or a fresh break in the skin. Bites by some animals, such as bats, can inflict injury so minor that it goes undetected. Also, indirect exposure to saliva of a rabid animal can occur through contact with a pet that has had recent contact with a rabid animal. Skin break or mucous membrane exposure to nervous tissue (brain, spinal cord) of an infected animal may also pose a risk of transmission. After thousands of years of reports on rabies, no direct person-to-person transmission has been documented. However, there have been cases documented after corneal transplants from infected individuals. Airborne transmission (for example, in a cave with a multitude of bats or in a laboratory with rabies virus or specimens) has occurred. Rabies is not transmitted through contact with blood, urine, skunk spray, or feces of an infected animal. Merely touching a rabid animal does not constitute an exposure.

Human Rabies

In the United States over the past century, the number of human deaths attributed to rabies has declined from 100 or more each year to an average of 1 to 2 each year. The decline is due to pet vaccination and animal control programs begun in the 1940s that have practically eliminated the domestic dog as a reservoir of rabies, and to the development of effective human rabies vaccine and immune globulin.

From 1999 to 2001, 36 human rabies deaths in the United States were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with 27 of those associated with bat variants. Seven of these deaths are believed to have been caused by contact with rabid animals (mostly dogs) outside the United States.

Worldwide, an estimated 35,000-40,000 human rabies deaths occur each year. The vast majority of these deaths occur in developing countries.

Excerpt from: North Carolina Communicable Disease Control Manual 4/7/2004 N.C. Division of Public Health (Rabies)

Teens and seat belts?

2006-11-07T01:22:00.000-08:00

Every 13 minutes, someone is killed on America's roads. And, every 9 seconds, someone is injured in a motor vehicle crash. However seat belts can reduce the risk of death or injury due to an automobile collision by 45 to 60 percent, making it the single most effective means to reduce the risk of death in a crash. The death rate for teenage drivers in traffic crashes is four times as high as the rate for older drivers. Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for children ages 5 to 14, partly due to improper restraining or no restraint in vehicles.

In the United States, properly installed child safety seats have been proven to reduce the risk of death by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers. In 2003, motor vehicle crashes killed an estimated 1.18 million people around the world. Globally, 180,000 children under the age of 15 die every year in motor vehicle crashes.

Globally, traffic injuries cost $520 billion annually. What is the biggest danger facing a teenager today? Drugs? Alcohol? A sexually transmitted disease? It is actually the vehicle sitting in your driveway. According to the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which recently announced a nationwide safety belt campaign, teens and young adults are the group least likely to buckle up and most likely to die in traffic accidents. The single greatest risk of death for those between ages 15 and 20 is a traffic accident and one of the key contributing factors is unbuckled seat belts. Even with safe driving educational campaigns and wide ranging seat belt law enforcement efforts, more than half of all motor vehicle fatalities involve either an unrestrained driver or passenger. If seat belts save lives, why don't more people buckle up? According to a just-released nationwide polling of high school students conducted by Volkswagen of America, Inc., peer pressure, lack of comfort and a feeling of invincibility are the leading reasons American teenagers cite for their tendency towards non-use of safety belts. What can you do to contribute to your family’s safety while traveling in a car?

Start by being a role model.
• Always buckle up and make sure everyone you ride with or who rides with you buckles up.
• Encourage standard enforcement of seat belt laws.
• Make sure younger children are properly secured in car seats. All children are safer in the back seat.
• Urge your family and friends to wear seat belts whenever they travel in the car, even for short trips around town.
• Remember, air bags work best when used in conjunction with seat belts.

“Make a Difference”

Butterfly Effect

2006-11-05T05:13:00.000-08:00

The chaos theory attempts to explain the fact that complex and unpredictable results can and will occur in systems that are sensitive to their initial conditions. A common example of this is known as the “Butterfly Effect”. It states that, in theory, the flutter of a butterfly's wings in China could, in fact, affect weather patterns in New York City, thousands of miles away. In other words, it is possible that a very small occurrence can produce unpredictable and sometimes drastic results by triggering a series of increasingly significant events.

Now, using the same theory it’s possible for small positive changes to result in a massive positive change. Everyone will make a difference in this world either good or bad; all you have to do is to choose which one you want to make.

Safety with cylinders

2006-11-04T06:29:00.000-08:00

When using fuel and oxygen tanks they should be fastened securely upright to a wall or a post or a portable cart. An oxygen tank is especially dangerous for the reason that the oxygen is at a pressure of 21 MPa (3000 lbf/in² = 200 atmospheres) when full, and if the tank falls over and its valve strikes something and is knocked off, the tank will become an extremely deadly flying missile propelled by the compressed oxygen. For this reason, never move an oxygen tank around without its valve cap screwed in place.

On your oxyacetylene torch system there will be three types of valves, the tank valve, the regulator valve, and the torch valve. There will be one of them for each gas. The gas in the tanks or cylinders is at high pressure. Oxygen cylinders are generally filled to something like 2200 psi. The regulator converts the high pressure gas to a low pressure stream suitable for welding. Never attempt to directly use high-pressure gas.

Never lay an acetylene tank on its side while being used. An acetylene tank contains acetone in which the acetylene is dissolved. If the tank was laid down while being transported, it must be set upright, valve on top, and given enough time (>30 min) for the acetone to settle back into the sorbent. If these precautions are not followed, acetone may be drawn into the gas lines, thus creating a space in the top of the acetylene tank devoid of sorbent (kapok, bunting, or acetone). If this void space becomes large enough, the gaseous acetylene in the void may explosively decompose inside the tank causing damage to life and/or property.

Never lay a propane or other liquefied gas tank on its side while being used, as in the tank the gas is liquefied by pressure, and this liquid would start to come out through the valve. If it was laid down while being transported, it must be set upright, valve on top. If an oxygen or hydrogen cylinder is laid on its side, secure it so that it cannot roll around.