SAFETY
before beginning a task. If we
are really covering our bases,
our crews think of, discuss
and document the steps of the
task they are undertaking, the
hazards associated with those
tasks and the precautions
that will be put into place
to mitigate or abate those
hazards. These steps, coupled
with our pre-shift vehicle/
equipment inspections,
are a fine example of the
effectiveness of pre-planning
for safety.
How are we exercising this
same concept in other areas
of our companies – those that
are larger than one task at a
time?
Let’s use a hypothetical as
an example: if I had been the
human resources director and
the stolen laptop had been
full of hundreds of employees’
personal information, do we
have processes in place to
mitigate the hazards? Can we
track computers, shut them
down from a distance, etc.?
What about the case of
the second highest cause of
occupational fatalities in our
17
AUGUST 2013
ACT
is because we didn’t take the
time to unload them all from
the car.
Proper pre-planning
Had I pre-planned properly,
I could have ensured all the
items were out of the car
and they could have been
packed in a better way than
forcing me to make three or
more trips which I decided to
forego that night with tired
children.
I quickly realized that I did
not have the phone number
and card of my insurance
company handy, which
took extra time to find on
the Internet. If I had the
information available, maybe
all of the glass repair places
would not have been booked
and I would not have had to
drive for hundreds of miles
with plastic flapping in the
breeze like a sail.
One of the items taken was
a laptop which contained
years of documents which I
am embarrassed to say I was
not very good about backing
up; had I been more prepared
the years-old laptop would
have been worth very little.
This list could drag on but at
this point you already get the
picture.
I would say that, as an
industry, we do a good job of
pre-planning our field tasks
for safety. Most of us perform
Job Safety Analyis, Job Hazard
Analysis or toolbox talks
‘‘
At the risk of sounding like an over-
zealous scout master, the biggest lesson
I was reminded of was the importance of
being prepared and pre-planning for safety.
THE AUTHOR
Daniel Erwin
is director of
safety for TNT
Crane & Rigging
in Houston.
Daniel Erwin
discusses the
importance of
being prepared
and pre-planning
for safety.
nation: workplace violence?
Do we have adequate security
measures in place at our
businesses to combat this
trend?
Have we pre-planned for
safety enough to understand
evacuation routes in the event
of an emergency?
In the case of employee
injury, pre-planning ensures
that we know the best
occupationally friendly
medical facilities and cuts
down on wasted time and
limits our exposure to lost
time, recordables, etc.
Finally, are we truly
prepared for a crisis? Do we
know who, how and where
to talk to the media? Do
the right people know our
insurance company contacts
and information, etc.? In
today’s safety, it is easy to
get caught up in lagging
indicators, networks and
numbers. This minor incident
served as a good reminder to
me of what is necessary for
good company safety cultures
– proactively pre-planning for
safety in every aspect.
■
W
hen I opened
the back door
of the car I
saw hundreds of small, tinted
pieces of glass catch the light.
For a moment it didn’t register
in my mind what I was seeing,
and I wondered if maybe we
had somehow broken the
gift we were carrying for our
friends. I soon realized what
had happened: two of our car
windows had been smashed
and several items had been
stolen while we were in our
hotel room. My wife, myself
and our very disappointed
children reviewed things and
went about the business of
fixing the inconvenience. This
is a personal experience from
a recent family road trip.
Through this unfortunate
experience, I learned a few
things that I feel can be
applicable to the way we
manage safety and risk in our
organizations.
At the risk of sounding
like an over-zealous scout
master, the biggest lesson
I was reminded of was the
importance of being prepared
and pre-planning for safety.
As a few examples, one of the
reasons the items were taken
Lessons
learned
