Yesterday, my husband and I drove 300 miles round trip through a snow storm to see our daughter. She is 25 and soon to be divorced, and she needs our support. On the way, we talked about a speech my husband has to give later this month.
My husband is a supervisor on the railroad, and they always put a lot of emphasis on safety (for which I am thankful). Last year, my husband gave this speech because his guys had a record of almost ten years injury-free. This year, his subdivision has had two injuries, which makes it the worst on the division, and he has to give a speech on that. Sounds terrible to me, but he has reflected on the whole issue, and I am impressed.
It is hard to see how the first injury could have been avoided. One of his men was walking out of the headquarters at the start of the day and broke his foot as he stepped from the concrete at the bottom of the stairs to the parking lot. There is a dropoff there of less than half an inch, and it is hard to see how such a drop could have caused a broken foot. All railroaders wear steel-toed boots, and I would have thought that offered more protection. Nevertheless, Bill's foot was broken, and he spent four months off work while it healed. My husband made sure that there was a less of a dropoff to the parking lot on the day the injury happened.
The other injury was a rules violation, something my husband thinks is the result of an evaporative act. What that means is that this employee got used to taking a shortcut past the rules, and since nobody caught him, his shortcut became a habit that resulted in an injury. He says that when he does safety audits, he is supposed to look for evaporative acts. I guess that makes sense to me. If you are used to speeding, it becomes a habit, at least until you get a couple of tickets and start to pay attention again.
Anyway, my husband is going to start out by saying that last year he was in front of these men giving a speech because his subdivision had the best record, but such is not the case now. Then he is going to talk about the injuries. Bill's broken foot was a hazard that no one had foreseen, but now it is taken care of, and the other injury makes it even more important to look for and audit evaporative acts. Then he is going to talk about how much the good safety record meant to his men, and how he knows they will work to re-establish it. He is even thinking about ending his morning meetings with a reminder of the railroad's safety goal: zero injuries today. He says that more than today is too much to think about, and that all the injury-free days add up. Then he is going to end with something like, "Last year I was up here telling you about the good safety record my men had. It only takes a moment of inattention to change that. Be vigilant. "
I think my husband did a really good job of reaching his audience in a humble, matter-of-fact sort of way. I know it has been hard for him. I don't see how it could be easy be responsible for the behavior of others. It is hard to be assigned to eat crow in public.
Here's to an injury free 2005 for Marion Subdivision!
My husband is a supervisor on the railroad, and they always put a lot of emphasis on safety (for which I am thankful). Last year, my husband gave this speech because his guys had a record of almost ten years injury-free. This year, his subdivision has had two injuries, which makes it the worst on the division, and he has to give a speech on that. Sounds terrible to me, but he has reflected on the whole issue, and I am impressed.
It is hard to see how the first injury could have been avoided. One of his men was walking out of the headquarters at the start of the day and broke his foot as he stepped from the concrete at the bottom of the stairs to the parking lot. There is a dropoff there of less than half an inch, and it is hard to see how such a drop could have caused a broken foot. All railroaders wear steel-toed boots, and I would have thought that offered more protection. Nevertheless, Bill's foot was broken, and he spent four months off work while it healed. My husband made sure that there was a less of a dropoff to the parking lot on the day the injury happened.
The other injury was a rules violation, something my husband thinks is the result of an evaporative act. What that means is that this employee got used to taking a shortcut past the rules, and since nobody caught him, his shortcut became a habit that resulted in an injury. He says that when he does safety audits, he is supposed to look for evaporative acts. I guess that makes sense to me. If you are used to speeding, it becomes a habit, at least until you get a couple of tickets and start to pay attention again.
Anyway, my husband is going to start out by saying that last year he was in front of these men giving a speech because his subdivision had the best record, but such is not the case now. Then he is going to talk about the injuries. Bill's broken foot was a hazard that no one had foreseen, but now it is taken care of, and the other injury makes it even more important to look for and audit evaporative acts. Then he is going to talk about how much the good safety record meant to his men, and how he knows they will work to re-establish it. He is even thinking about ending his morning meetings with a reminder of the railroad's safety goal: zero injuries today. He says that more than today is too much to think about, and that all the injury-free days add up. Then he is going to end with something like, "Last year I was up here telling you about the good safety record my men had. It only takes a moment of inattention to change that. Be vigilant. "
I think my husband did a really good job of reaching his audience in a humble, matter-of-fact sort of way. I know it has been hard for him. I don't see how it could be easy be responsible for the behavior of others. It is hard to be assigned to eat crow in public.
Here's to an injury free 2005 for Marion Subdivision!
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