Tool Box Talk: Hazards of RUSHING

“Hazards Of Rushing”

In our busy lives, we are often faced with time-management choices.

When given the chance, we must always choose safety over time savings, because rushing causes us to lose focus, skip steps and make bad decisions.

In fact, the time we spend staying safe is time well spent.

In this publication we will learn the very real hazards associated with rushing and being in a hurry.

Through various examples, we will learn to recognize the symptoms of becoming rushed, why “hurried working” is so dangerous and what steps we can take to stay safe.

The publication also makes the point that being in a hurry is not the real cause of incidents and injuries, but rather a symptom of poor planning, poor choices and poor time-management—all of which can be prevented by proper preparation and organization.

RUSHING TO FINISH JOB BEFORE LUNCH LEADS TO COLLISION
Scotty and Robert were cleaning up an area of the warehouse. Scott was placing lids on containers and labelling them while Robert was placing them in their storage areas with a forklift.

“Hurry up Scotty. Get out of my way; we’ve got to keep moving,” said Robert.

As he began rushing, he allowed less and less time for Scotty to get clear of the container before approaching with the lift truck. He also began driving faster and faster. Not used to working at this faster pace, Scotty was having trouble with the lids and applying the labels.

The faster pace was actually slowing him down, much to Robert’s frustration. “Scotty, all you’ve got to do is peel and stick!” shouted Robert.

“Robert started rushing me and I couldn’t get the labels peeled off.

The more he hurried me, the worse it seemed to get,” Scott would say when discussing the incident.

As Robert focused on speeding up Scotty, he lost focus on safe driving practices just as a co-worker with a cart of tools and supplies was approaching.

Robert’s forklift collided with the cart, knocking it and the pedestrian over.

Lessons Learned From the Incident

• When they started cleaning up the warehouse, Robert said, “Hey, hey Scotty. Let’s pick up the pace a little. Lunch starts at 12:45 sharp.”
• When incidents such as these are investigated, that’s often the case. The reasons for being in a hurry never seem important after an incident.
• Taking time to work safely is part of every job we perform and must never be compromised in a misguided effort to meet a deadline.
• Make no mistake, rushing is hazardous; rushing is a distraction from our normal work routine.
  Working at a faster pace than normal, even experienced workers start to skip steps, become distracted and make mistakes.
• For example, before he decided to work at a faster pace, Robert stopped his forklift a safe distance from Scotty and waited for him to clear the area before approaching the container.
• He also followed safe driving practices by looking behind the forklift before backing up and he operated the forklift at a safe speed.
• Then, Robert decided saving time was more important than working safely.
  Like most instances of working hurried, when Robert increased his speed, he decreased his safety and the safety of those around him.
• When Robert started rushing, he began driving faster and faster.
  He began approaching the container before Scotty was safely out of the way and he became so focused on hurrying, that he neglected the critical step of looking behind the forklift before backing up.
• Any one of Robert’s unsafe actions could’ve resulted in injury to himself or Scotty. As it turned out, an unsuspecting co-worker was the victim of Robert’s unsafe behaviour.
• It’s interesting to note that even though Robert and Scotty were attempting to work faster, the mistakes caused by rushing negated any actual time savings.

In other words, rushing to save time often doesn’t.

RISKY DRIVING TO MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME
Too many people use drive time as a time to get back on schedule after a late start.

Those people make a habit of gunning it at all green lights, changing lanes anytime they perceive one lane may be moving faster, running through yellow lights, rather than stopping and pushing the speed limit every chance they get.

On a good day, they are rewarded for their risky behaviour by arriving about one minute ahead of the vehicles driven in a safe manner.

Of course, on a bad day, they don’t arrive at all.

WHEN YOU HURRY, ALL YOU DO IS HURRY UP AND HURT
During an interview, a maintenance worker says, “When I started working in maintenance, my old supervisor used to say, ‘What’s the hurry? When you hurry, all you do is hurry up and hurt.’ That was his way of saying, “Slow down. Do the job right the first time,’” the maintenance worker adds. “That was real good advice.”

OFFICE WORKER IN HURRY CAUSES COFFEE SPILL
Mandy was scanning some files at her desk one afternoon when a co-worker called and asked, “Hey Mandy, are you going to stop by the big drop-in tonight? All the big wigs are going to be there.”

Mandy replied that she would be able to make it if she could get all the files scanned by 3:15.

Later, another co-worker asked Mandy if she wanted to go get a cup of coffee. “No time. I’ve got to scan these files before 3:15,” Mandy responded. “Will you grab me a cup, though?”

When the co-worker returned to Mandy’s work area with the coffee, she was hurrying to get to a filing cabinet so she could file some of the documents she had just scanned.

Not paying attention to her path of travel, she collided with the co-worker and both cups of coffee were spilled.

Anytime you’re trying to save time, you’re going to end up going faster. Anybody knows that if you hit something going fast, you’re going to end up getting hurt.

THE RISKS OF MOVING FASTER
Another hazard associated with hurrying is the fact that we are actually moving faster than usual. This may seem obvious, but we seldom think about the increased risk this creates.

• Moving faster means less time to scan our path of travel for hazards.
• Moving faster means less time to react to changing conditions.
• Moving faster means less time to be aware of our surroundings and keep our body parts out of the line of fire.
• Moving faster means striking objects with more force, resulting in more severe injuries.
• Moving faster means we carry more momentum, making a slip, a trip, or a fall much more likely and painful.
• In other words, when we “hurry up,” it’s very likely we’ll “hurry up and hurt.”
• If you frequently find yourself running out of time, it’s probably not because you’re spending too much time doing the job; it’s more likely that you’re not spending enough time planning the job.
• It’s clear that we are to avoid rushing if we are to reduce our chance of injury.

Questions to Consider

1. Have you ever put yourself in danger while rushing to complete a job? What type of incident or injuries could have occurred had you lost your focus due to your “hurried working”?
2. Have you ever been pressured by a co-worker to hurry up and finish a task? If so, how would you respond now if the worker encouraged you to work faster than usual to get the job done?
3. What were some of the unsafe actions taken by Robert while operating the forklift? What could have been the results of this risky behaviour?
4. One theme in the publication is that “when you hurry, all you do is hurry up and hurt.” What does this statement mean to you?
5. What are some of the measures you can take if you frequently find yourself running out of time while doing your job?

“A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.”– Jim Rohn

Thanks for the share, TO!