I'm So glad you boys (Stocktoy, KZQ and LEDKZ1300) opted to share pics of your working areas. It really helps bring to the forefront just exactly what I'm talking about. I'm sure we all have these multi function workshops with all kinds of conflicts. Woodworking, metal fabricating, equipment maintenance, flammable storage etc.
Accidents happen when we don't take a moment and assess the risks and then take whatever time is required to Eliminate the risks we identified, or Control the risks we can't eliminate, Protect ourselves and our assets from the risks we have to work with and finally Minimize the severity in the advent of an incident. As a work shop manager in the nuclear power plant I would start every shift with a prejob briefing with all who were working in the shop. We went over each and every job in the shop with everyone so that we all knew what was being worked on, and then Identify, Eliminate, Control, Protect and Minimize all of the hazards. After 20 years of doing this every morning, one could say it was engrained in all of us. In a shop of 28 workers we met a long range target of 1,000,000 man hours without a loss time accident. That was a plant goal which usually got met by the plant staff once a year. Being in a smaller entity of the plant it took us 15 years to reach the goal.
If I've managed to get you to stop for a moment and consider the risks you have in your work areas before you do a job, I'll consider this topic a win.
If I managed to open your eyes to the five principals of risk management - Identify, Eliminate, Control, Protect and Minimize then this is a great day. You have no idea how many people I've met in different trades that have never had formal risk management training and yet do risky work every day. It's an absolute sin. But I'll have to say that in the business I was in, we always said the safest place for our people to work was in the power plant. I can't count how many times I had a employee call in for a sick day because they hurt themselves at home due to shear stupidity. They had to follow their safety instructions as given at work because if they didn't I'd fire them. But at home they would cut corners. No safety glasses worn when they had them sitting in their tool box, falling off of ladders because they were working from ladders and not maintaining 3 point contact, and lots of back injuries. The list goes on.
Be safe out there !!!!
