Toolbox Talk Tuesday

Toolbox Talk Tuesday- “BETTER TO BE SURE THAN SORRY”

There are many reasons to be thinking about safety while you work. “The bottom line is that one mistake could cause injury or loss of life.”

Keep safety in your mind while you work because so much depends on it.

For example, you would like to continue supporting yourself and your family comfortably.

A continuing wage makes life easier for us all, and injury may put an end to all this.

Perhaps you want to send your kids to college. Perhaps you are looking forward to an enjoyable retirement, full of travel and leisure.

Speaking of leisure…a careless accident could put an end to all the enjoyable activities you engage in now!

Being disabled might mean the end of golf, football, swimming, bicycling and even those weekend fishing and hunting trips.

It’s not only your life, your family, your goals and dreams. It’s also the safety of your fellow workers.

Some of them are your friends. They have the same opportunities ahead of them that you do.

Here are some things to keep in mind, which will help you to be more safety-conscious:

• Wear all the right Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for your job. Safety is more important than image.

• Know about all the chemicals and materials you work with on a daily basis. Read labels, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), and know how to work with, store and dispose of the chemicals.

• Read up on proper procedures of how to do jobs in your workplace.

Follow the rules, and remind other people to do so as well.

• Housekeeping is an important key to any safety program.

Clean up your messes. A spill that is not mopped up can cause someone to slip. Too many papers or other combustible materials can cause your workplace, or you, to go up in flames!

• Never work with or use equipment, tools or materials without proper training and authorization.

• Keep equipment in good repair. If you’ve broken it, fix it if you’re authorized to do so.

Otherwise, send it to a qualified person. If someone else broke it, report it and check to ensure it was fixed.

Make sure your own gear, including personal protective equipment, stays in good repair.

• If you see someone performing a work task unsafely, remind him or her how to do it safely.

• Always turn off what you have turned on; close something you’ve opened, and put back what you’ve moved.

Don’t leave it for someone else to take care of.

• Report any hazards to your supervisor. This includes unsafe working conditions and unsafe procedures.

• Never perform work while fatigue or substances such as medications, drugs or alcohol impair you.

• Have zero tolerance for any safety violation.

Safety-consciousness is a key to staying safe and preventing injuries. Always keep safety on your mind!

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying” Emerson

Thanks, TO