Twenty-Four / Seven

Dusty Roach

I sincerely hope this new year finds you doing well. In past articles I have written mostly about safety at work. Occasionally, I have mentioned or delved into safety at home, as well. Two examples are when I talked about slips, trips, and falls, as well as safety data sheets for home and work. Certainly, all are pertinent and important topics. We have even spoken of the importance of leadership, whether you are the top guy in the company or the least tenured, most inexperienced employee. Safety is safety. Safety is a behavior, a mindset, a habit.

We will not belabor that point; however, throughout my brief 50+ years in the oil and gas industry, the accidents and fatalities affecting the people I’ve known or worked with, and the incidents that occur on personal time, far outweigh the frequency and severity of the workforce injuries. One would ask, how can that be? Well, safety personnel ask that question frequently. The general consensus of most employees is, “What I do on my own time is none of the company’s business.” There is some truth to that thought process, but certainly not all the truth. It is the employer’s obligation to care for the employee and their personal life if mental, physical, and ethical considerations are involved. Most employers do care what lifestyles generate appropriate impressions outside of work as well as “at work.” A good employer does care to know how the employee’s welfare is when off the clock.

Scenarios do exist that can impact a company’s safety program. Personal problems do happen at ;home, as well as at work, the last time I checked. E.g., “Billy Bob, you look tired. Is everything okay?” “Yes, we have a newborn baby at home and my spouse and I are not getting much sleep.” I don’t know a supervisor who would say, “Suck it up buttercup, and hop into that truck and drive to Ft. Stockton and pick up that load, we need it by 5:00.”

With today’s pressures and pitfalls, coming to work or going home affects fatigue, stress, and pressure. Subsequently, it affects safety at home and at work. One would be able to ascertain that safety is important at home and at work—given that safety is actually a 24/7 mindset. Certainly no one advocates realistically that everyone is fixated on safety 24/7. However, proper training and certain behaviors heighten awareness.

One time, probably 10 or 20 years ago, my wife and I were in Vegas. We proceeded to an elevator to go up to our room at the hotel. As we got on the elevator, she punched the button for the floor we were staying at, and I started scrutinizing the elevator inspection date and certification. My wife asked do I ever turn “safety” off? “No,” was my answer and she proceeded to give me THE eyeroll. The elevator was not in compliance, had not been inspected, and I brought it to the attention of the hotel management. Expecting an eyeroll from them as well, I was surprised at their appreciation, and they immediately started to get it up to standards. I only use this example that the amount of accidents at home or personal life far exceeds the amount of accidents at work.

Which brings me to the crux of this month’s edition. If safety, a behavior, is ingrained in the employees’ minds at work, and they are properly trained and fully understand that safety is 24/7, then it becomes an investment that still applies to home life. If that behavior is carried on to the home-life as well. It is a win-win situation for both the employer, employee, and the family. It is incumbent and necessary that safety is a mindset and pays great rewards for the employee and the employer.

Additionally, this mindset applies to everything touching health, safety, and safe environment. It can be a learned skill set. Here is an example: Just in the private sector, slips, trips, and falls injured nearly 8.6 million people and killed another 36,000 people, according to the National Safety Council, in 2017. Back then, a hospital visit cost approximately $30,000 per incident. We all know statistics can be manipulated to prove any point. But this is raw historical data.

In conclusion, regardless of whether everyone is safe at work and your TRIR looks all pretty, how much will it cost you directly or indirectly if your employees do not exercise safety 24/7? The bottom line is still the bottom line.

As usual, it’s not how many hits you have in baseball that counts. It is how many times you reach home safely that counts. Be safe, 24/7. It costs less.

Dusty Roach is a safety professional based in Midland. He is also a public speaker on subjects of leadership and safety, and he maintains a personal website at dustyroach.com.