It Will Never Happen To Me!

I'm not going to say where I was at or who I was talking to yesterday but this comes up all of the time. Tornado safety? Humbug! We've had these tornado drills every year for years and it is the same ole thing. Head for shelter. Wait 15 minutes. Then go back to work. Nothing has ever happened to us. What's the big deal? Then my boss starts hasseling me because he thinks that I'm wasting time. I've decided not to elaborate on this subject. Instead, I'll let history tell the story. Find an old newspaper from April 9th, 1999 and read about the F4 Tornado that tore through Blue Ash, Ohio. Look it up on Google or in a Cincinnati newspaper archives. See if you can find out about the store manager going to work at 5 a.m. that morning on his way to open up a Bob Evans Resturant. Find out about the couple living across from the high school, in the path of the tornado, who either didn't hear the sirens or ignored the sirens,(on the roof of the school across the street). Don't tell me it can't happen to you because it can. Story after story appears about people who were out driving in this area and either were not listening to their car radios or just thought that: "It couldn't happen to them". I'm not making fun of these folks. It is just sad that people still do not take tornados seriously in this country.

Will It Ever Change?

The Construction Industry. Will it ever change? Will safety ever become number 1 with it's owners. I hear stories everyday.No trench boxes being used. Why? It takes too long. Or, we will not make as much money using these. Too slow. Fall protection? I don't need it,I've done this for years. Hard hats? Na! Too hot. Too bothersome.

Garage Shop

If you are like most of us ex shop guys then chances are you have what I call a home "garage shop". You know, grinding wheel. Dremmel tool. Cordless drill. Maybe even a Sawsall. And all of the usual yard tools like the riding mower, leaf blower, and weed eater, lawn edger, and shop vacuum cleaner, power washer, or even an air compressor. Are you starting to see where I'm coming from? Yes? No? Then you should also have these handy little items to go along with the above mentioned man toys: Safety Glasses, Work Gloves, Googles, Cut Resistant Gloves, A First Aid Kit, and my favorite; cold water. Yes cold water for hydration, and cold water for a possible burn, scrape, or eye wash. Garage Shops are great to have but they pose the same identical safety threat that the work shop poses. Only there, they have rules but at home they have to be imbedded in your thought process or we never think of them. Just a thought from ole "Dangerous Dale". Don't be upset with me, just share one of those unique, only you can tell it, stories about the time you got hung up in the (here is where you insert the tool) because you forgot to(here is where you insert the event) and ended up(here is where you insert what body part got injured).:)

Motorcycles or Donor-cycles?

Every week for the last month on the local news I have seen horrible motorcycle accidents. Some where the rider "lost control". Some were from the rider being hit as a car ran through a traffic light. And some were from a rider being hit by a car crossing the double yellow line. I have asked everyone that I have come in contact with who rides a motorcycle if they have ever dumped their motorcycle, been hit by a car on their motorcycle,lost control of their motorcycle, or hit a pothole, crack in the road, skidded on gravel, or been hit by a bird, bug, rock, tree limb, or anything else when riding their motorcycle and they have all answered yes. My good friend Ron Anderson rode a motorcycle for 25 years and said that they were as safe as a car until one day a car pulled out in front of him as he was going 40 miles an hour and it was too late for him to stop. He flew over the handlebars and onto the pavement. No helmet, no leather, no warning. Ron never rode a motorcycle again. Be careful out there riders. Be aware of your surroundings. Danger is out there. This is ole "Dangerous Dale" saying all accidents are preventable.

They Scratch Their Heads and Wonder......

Miners being trapped under ground. You hear about it all of the time. I just have one question; Does the mine cave in on both sides of the miners at the same time? Or does it only cave in on one side of the miners? If there was an entrance to the mine and an exit out if the mine, wouldn't it increase the chances of the miners being able to get out safely? I read that in Canada that they do just that. An entrance and an exit. The reason that US Mining companies do not do this is because it costs too much money$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. So then safety is about bottom line, not being safe right? Safety is political also, not being safe. It's about who's in charge, not about being safe. It's about deadlines, time frames, and cost cutting and not really safety now isn't it? Companies say that safety is number 1 but they don't mean it. If they meant it, they would not take chances like they do with their workers safety. They would not cut costs like they do when the economy goes south now would they? And safety is no doubt the first thing that gets cut when the bottom line is threatened. If only the ones who make the decisions about safety would think of their workers as their children, grand children, wives, mothers, brothers, or sisters, then safety would become number 1. This ole "Dangerous Dale" crying out.