Precaution!

On the subject of the Coronavirus: yes, or no, are you taking precautions? Have you seen others taking the kind of precautions they would not normally take?

Of course you have! It’s impossible not to be extra careful, and as you look around, it’s very clear that an abundance of caution is being taken across the big world we all live in – together.

Translated into the terms we use to manage safety, this virus is a hazard: a source of danger, something that can hurt you. That harm can – and has – been fatal. 

How likely is the virus to harm you? That’s risk, in its simplest and best sense: the odds that a hazard will produce harm. What’s the risk of the Cronavirus harming you? Only time will tell.

But there is something important to learn from how seriously the Coronavirus is being treated around the world: when a hazard is treated seriously, the odds of that hazard producing harm is reduced. Risk goes down, and that’s a good thing.

Picture people taking other hazards with high risks just as seriously. Or people taking the hazards they encounter on the job as seriously as they do this virus. 

Wouldn’t that be a great thing! 

Paul Balmert
March 2020