Leave it to a movie made for five-year-olds staring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, to give some of the best advice ever about recognizing what can hurt you.
It’s Jungle Cruise. Johnson captains a tour boat heading up the Amazon River. As one of his passengers reaches out to pick what seems to be an innocent flower, he intervenes and advises:
“Know this about the jungle: Everything you see wants to kill you. And can.”
The world that we live and work in can be much like that jungle. Everything in our surroundings are potential hazards; under the right circumstances they absolutely can and will cause harm if we allow the opportunity.
The descriptions of serious incidents often come with the explanation, “never saw it coming”. Said differently, the harm was caused by a hazard that was not recognized.
If you want to go home alive and well at the end of every day, a first step is to assume everything in the environment where you work and live is a potential hazard – to you.
Do that, and you may well “see it coming” in time to do something to keep you safe.
Paul Balmert
August 2022
English 
Portuguese 
Spanish 
Russian 
French 
Italian