Better to be Safe Than Sorry

There are many reasons to be thinking about safety while you work. The bottom line is that one mistake could cause injury or loss of life. 

Keep safety in your mind while you work because so much depends on it. 

For example, you would like to continue supporting yourself and your family comfortably. A continuing wage makes life easier for us all, and injury may put an end to all this. 

Perhaps you want to send your kids to college. Perhaps you are looking forward to an enjoyable retirement, full of travel and leisure. 

It’s not only your life, your family, your goals and dreams. It’s also the safety of your fellow workers. Some of them are your friends. They have the same opportunities ahead of them that you do. 

Here are some things to keep in mind, which will help you to be more safety-conscious: 

– Wear all the right Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for your job. Safety is more important than image. 

– Follow the rules, and remind other people to do so as well. 

– Housekeeping is the key to any safety program. Clean up your mess. A spill that is not mopped up can make someone slip. Too many papers or other combustible materials can cause your workplace, or you, to go up in flames! 

– Never work with or use equipment, tools or materials without proper training and authorization. 

– If you see someone performing a work task unsafely, remind them how to do it safely. 

– Always turn off what you have turned on; close something you’ve opened, and put back what you’ve moved. Don’t leave it for someone else to take care of. 

– Report any hazards to your supervisor. This includes unsafe working conditions and unsafe practices. 

You attentiveness, or lack thereof, could be the difference between a trip to the hospital and safe return home from work.