Does your operation have life critical safety rules? Many do, for things like suspended loads, elevated work and entering confined spaces. When you don’t follow the rules for hazards like those, the consequences can be tragic.
For the person working in this confined space, that’s exactly what happened.
Here’s the question of the day: If you call some hazards and safety rules Life Critical, what do you call all the other hazards we face on our job, and all of the other safety rules you are expected to follow to be safe?
As you’re thinking about the answer to that question, consider the following basic safety rules, and the hazards they are intended to control:
- Buckling your seat belt
- Not texting while driving
- Holding on to the handrail while descending the stairway
- Inspecting tools before they are used
It’s not the least bit difficult to call up specific examples where the failure to follow those basic rules ended just as tragically as what happened in that confined space.
Paul Balmert
July 2020
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