Tales of the Strange: What's in the News?

You want to learn about hazards and risk? Just read the newspaper or watch the morning or evening news.

For instance, it looks as if a 19-year-old man in Seattle will most certainly get a nomination for the Darwin Award this year. The news doesn't say why, but he was heating his lava lamp (I can't believe these devices have survived beyond the late 60s) on his kitchen stove.

Normally, the lamp has a light bulb in the bottom of it, providing the proper amount of heat energy needed to get the "lava" flowing. Needless to say, it wasn't designed to be placed on a stove; thus, it exploded and sent a piece of glass deep into his chest. It entered his heart and killed him.

Another morning news item from Atlanta was truly a drama in progress. They were digging a man out of a trench. He had been trapped there all night. He was working inside of a 12-foot tall "trenching box," so you would think that the company was doing their part toward observing all of Occupational Safety and Health Administration's requirements.

Yes, the regulations do say you need to use such a device as the trenching box, and they did. The problem is that the trench was 16 feet deep! That leaves 4 feet of earth above the top of the box that caved in, burying the man up to his neck.

Fortunately, the man was freed and sent to the hospital. But he didn't need to be there at all, and it almost cost him his life. If the employer had only used the correct shoring, the mishap could have been avoided.

My point is the little details of safety really can kill you.

In the first case, there was flagrant disregard for the design and proper operation of a common household device. When you take an item outside of its engineered use and/or environment, all of the safeguards designed into the item disappear. It was a needless death, as there was no real reason or need to place the lamp onto the stove.

In the second instance, just meeting "the letter of the law" doesn't keep you safe. The trenching company did place a shoring device in their excavation. But they chose the wrong device for their application. Just having a safety appliance doesn't help whatsoever when the equipment isn't designed to meet the requirements of the work you're performing. Does it sound like I'm preaching a bit? I suppose so. But my hope is that by these two obviously outrageous examples, the true message of safety might come to light. The greatest death we need worry ourselves with is the death of common sense. If we, as those engaged in the art and science of safety management, do not begin to look at the intent of the law, the design of the tools with which we work, and take an interest in truly trying to curb injury, instead of just meeting the letters on the pages of worn regulations, then no amount of regulatory oversight can help us.

Safety, real safety, begins at the point where people start looking at the consequences of their actions, based on the expectation that every scenario they enter has the potential to kill or injure them. In many instances, there is little room for error, much like a young man from San Jose, Calif, recently found out when he tried to dislodge a clog in a tree shredder by kicking it. 1 don't need to explain from there.

With the help of senior management, let's invest a bit of critical thinking into our workforce, because who knows who may just get the message. You'll likely never know if your efforts actually save a life or limb. But I assure you, if you don't expend that effort, at some point, you'll surely feel the sting of watching your workforce suffer a severe physical loss.

By SMSgt David J. Arthur, 178th Fighter Wing Ground Safety Manager, Ohio ANG (Reprinted with permission from Jan/Feb05 Torch)

Copyright Superintendent of Documents, Military Airlift Command May/Jun 2005
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