Aha, hmm, my work is done here!
Safety is not something you do with something you have. Safety is thought, a thought process, logical and broad. What are all the possibilities if I do this (like get married)?
If you’re in a jam and you are missing something you need, I’m sure all of you are like me, I’ve got some good buddies I can call anytime of the day or night, holidays etc. This is what I mean about thinking broad. At two in the morning, when you’ve got to get to work, don’t take the chance, call a buddy. The easiest thing is to call Uber, but that’s not In the DNA of most mechanics, nor is it practical if you live out in the middle of nowhere. The buddy will come with whatever, and even if you’re going to rig something, the buddy will have your back.
And if you are thinking you don’t have a buddy like that, I propose this: call someone you know when you’re in a jam. Tell them you’re in a jam and ask for their help. I will be amazed if someone doesn’t help you by the second phone call at least. And you know what happens? You and that person (assuming you don’t call him every night with some crazed emergency) will become those good buddies. The police and military guys know this well when folks are shooting at their head...
ok, You guys are getting to know me, and I am absolutely horrible about standing on the soapbox and pontificating. But consider this, not bragging, it just “is,” I have been over literally hundreds of people and responsible for technical work over the thousands, like when you build a large building or factory. Early in my career, not in my area and not under my responsibility, a guy drove a forklift over a little curb, and when it toppled over, he tried to jump off and he got caught underneath the cage. He didn’t get crushed, rather he was folded in half at the waist, and he suffocated. It happened in a second, but it took him minutes to die and he knew what was happening. That was about 35 years ago, and I still carry that with me every single day. We did 100 things after that so that would never happen again, but of course that is why they call them “accidents.” Six years later, a guy who did work for me, crushed his hand by holding the end of a concrete truck chute instead of the side, and backed into a steel column. He was out for six months, and fortunately he can use his hand, but it is not quite right. Over my career, and in my play, I have become an official safety pain in the ass. I’m very good at being a pain in the ass. But nobody ever got hurt again.
Although I have racked my brain and I am positive that I was not responsible for these things, but in a sense I was, we all are. If we are alone, especially when tired and stressed, you have to make it part of your always process to take one additional moment or two to think about the “what if“ and prepare for it. If you are in a group, and the whole macho thing is going wild (I heard there’s some crazy guys who ride their trucks through the mountain trails), Be like me, be the ass, interrupt them, chat for five minutes about safety and what could go wrong, how to prepare for it, and how to handle it if it does. They’ll hate you at the moment, and they won’t thank you at the end, but when they’re old and gray like me with kids and grandkids with all their fingers and toes, they will be thanking you..
Rick’s lecture and prayer today has been brought to you by……
& one final thought. We have all witnessed things that make us think “gosh, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone!” Unfortunately, I have lived long enough, God forgive me, but I know two or three people that I that....