What Do You Think About Safety?

A factory owner once said that when he investigated workplace accidents, most of the time he was told, “I didn’t think it would do that.” His response usually was, “that’s right, you didn’t think!“

It’s easy to get accustomed to being around danger when you are working around heavy equipment and machinery. After all, most of the time things are fine, so the sense of caution begins to go away. Here’s a few of the safety rules you do have to keep thinking:

• Communication is essential – Hand signals, two-way radios, high-visibility vests and helmets, and a backup warning alarm have to be used so that everybody knows where everybody else is. In the contest between human bodies and big machines, the machine wins every time.
• Rollover protection and seat belts save lives – A lot of dead operators didn’t think it would tip and they were wrong.
• Hearing protection and other safety gear are there for a reason – You might not think it is going to make you deaf but wait a few years.
• Hold on to the safety handles when you get off the machine – Jumping off the equipment is something that the guy with the broken ankle didn’t think would happen.
• Inspecting and maintaining your equipment keeps you from mistakenly thinking everything is working fine – Do a pre-shift walk around to make sure.

These are the safety rules that get repeated over and over (along with a lot of other good information) when you get your heavy equipment operator training at ATS. It gets said in different ways at different times until you think you will never forget it. That’s the plan — we want you to know the safety procedures so well that even if you aren’t thinking, you’ll still be automatically following the rules and everybody will stay safe.