Toolbox 5- LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT

by: desertknightfm Rhojel

LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT

A riddle that made the rounds when I was in school asked, “What are the little things that count?” – to which the supposedly hilarious answer was the first grade arithmetic class.”

But in the real world, the little things that count have many different meanings, and ignoring that can have result that are far from funny. This is particularly true when it comes to safety. We’ve all been trained to be on the look out for, and to recognize, the big hazards that could harm us, but the little ones can something be just as threatening to our well-being.

One company became recently concerned when its incidence of injury and illness showed a big increase over a three-month period. Management began an in – depth check of system, equipment, and materials that could be considered high hazard: heavy machinery, ventilation, toxic substances, and the like.

To their surprise – but May not to yours – none of these things were causing the problem. Chemicals were properly labeled and stored; machines were in good repair and properly guarded; the exhaust fans, sprinkler systems, respirator etc., were all in good working order. Instead, as you’ve probably guessed, it was various “little things” that were at the bottom of the trouble. For example, serious falls had been caused by:

·         A patch of oil on the garage floor that no one had poured absorbent on because it was too small to worry about. It wasn’t too small to trap a passing mechanic who looking forward, not down.

·         A toolbox that had been left on the floor in front of a bench, instead of underneath. It has been sidestepped dozens of times before someone finally tripped over it.

·         A ladder that was improperly placed in front of an outward – opening door, just for a minute.  It was toppled by another worker coming through the door with a handcart, and both he and the climber were injured.

All of these “accidents waiting to happen” had been ignored because they didn’t really strike the workers involved as dangerous. After all, they knew about – and carefully avoided – important hazard like doing repairs on energized electrical equipment, or bypassing machine guards, or pouring chemicals into a drum that might not have been totally emptied of previous, possibly incompatible contents.

We’re all tempted to take shortcuts from time to time, and all too often we intended to report a defective tool, extension cord, or stepladder to maintenance but forget about it as we go about our regular routine. But we must learn to resist that temptation and follow through the good intention, because these are just the sort of  “little things” that can lead to big grief for our self or a fellow worker.

Another example of little things that cause big trouble if ignored is minor injuries that are left untreated. “Just a scratch” can become infected; a speck of dust in the eye can cause severe damage if not attended to. So be sure to report even these seemingly trivial hurts and get the appropriate first aid.

We’ve fortunate to have a pretty good safety record, but I know we want to keep all that way or even improve the situation. So if we all make a special effort to be on the alert for those little things that count, it can add up to a safer, healthier here on the job. 

FOLLOW SITE SAFETY STANDARDS OR REQUIREMENTS!

DON’T IGNORE HAZARDS!