35 Safe Years

[pdub]

At work today there was a feeding/ceremony. There are 19 of us at the site who have worked 35 or more years without an OSHA recordable injury. 9 of us showed up for the ceremony, with wives and such, a gala affair.

I had never really thought about it until the list came out and I was on it. Well, I guess so, can't say not. I was actually surprised, had never thought about it.

Everybody today had to make a little speech. We weren't told ahead of time, but I just knew that would happen. Mine was about the transition over the decades from no safety to safety up front.

When I hired on in 1976, 18 years old, I took my foreman in the powerhouse upstairs and showed him a hazard. A real hazard condition. He looked straight at me and said, "Son, that 'hazard' has been here one hell of a lot longer than YOU have." Unquote. That was the safety mentality at the time. It was pretty much a given that you or somebody is going to get hurt. A dangerous environment, part of the game.

Two weeks later that "hazard" knocked me unconscious, even though I already knew it was there. I forgot where it was when I was having a bad night and was young and already pissed off.

It was not a recordable because though I was in the hospital for two days, they didn't "do" anything to me, just observation to make sure I was "alright."

Wow, then and now. What a difference.

[JOES66FURY]

sounds like the USAF safety mentality as it was 20 years ago when I came in....Its a different animal now...

Congrats for not getting hurt?

[pdub]

sounds like the USAF safety mentality as it was 20 years ago when I came in....Its a different animal now...

Congrats for not getting hurt?

Thanks Joe! It's a sort of a (can't find the word) victory in that I've been largely unexposed to physical danger for the past 20 years. Really, I was surprised the subject came up. There were lots of office people on the list of course. Just don't fall down the stairs, etc. In reality, that can sure happen, too.

[JOES66FURY]

Safety his a big part of what we do now. I have done many safety investigations and the root cause ends up being a lack of situational awareness 9 times out of 10...all on AND off duty boo-boos are reportable here. If the person seeks medical attention for any type of injury there is an ivestigation. All about dollars and cents I guess

35 years is a long time to not get hurt at work, hell...I've only gone a few years without breaking something or getting something stitched up...

[Pumpkin]

just observation to make sure I was "alright."

Must have just been a physical evaluation.

[pdub]

Must have just been a physical evaluation.

Well, while they had me, they did a brain scan and they didn't find anything. I mean, they didn't find ANYTHING.

[Pumpkin]

Well, while they had me, they did a brain scan and they didn't find anything. I mean, they didn't find ANYTHING.

That's why I always keep at least one synapse on both sides of my brain. It'll look like ping pong.

[Deaf Bob]

Congrats on not getting hurt..
Seseme Street has a character named "Forgetful Jones" well...I'm "Falldown Bob"!
Got a chip broke off on my elbow where I was carrying a bench, started to lse my grip, caught it but it caught my sweat pants leg.. Landed on the edge of the seat.. Aluminum bench.. Still hurts.. Never fun getting hurt..

[Karberator]

Congrats on the award!

Our plant makes roofing,and we went over 10 years with no lost time incident or whatever a few years back.

They knew how to stretch the rules though. I was running our take up winder,and I got hung up in the ejector. I put my hand in front of the eye to stop it to cut out a defect. It didn't stop for some reason. Next thing I know I'm in the ejector up to my elbow. Compound hand fracture baby!! I went to the ER,and they bandaged me up. I had surgery the next morning,and they were going to make me come in that same night. They were late getting me in surgery so I didn't come out from under anesthesia in time for work.

They made me say I could've come if not for the late surgery,and that saved their precious safety record. I got the idea that it would be pretty smart of me to go along with them. It was more than obvious they were more worried about the record than me. About 3 months later the daytime supervisor got the crap burned out of him,and that ended the record big time.

Everybody down there at work has learned to lie about getting hurt. I got a hernia from something I did at work,but I lived with it as long as I could and said it happened at home. Only missed a day for that also because we were laid off the next week.

Now we've managed to lose our OSHA exemption,and the compnay pres. says you're gone if you get hurt and it's your fault. We used to have some good times and prank and joke a little,but that's over now. Our safety director is by by the book,but never worked out in a plant at all. He just can't understand things just happen!

We've had a huge push for efficiency the past few years. When you speed things up,you speed people up too. That leads to more opportunity for human error!

[Barry Donovan]

sounds like the USAF safety mentality as it was 20 years ago when I came in....Its a different animal now...

Congrats for not getting hurt?

yes exactly. Standing back up with no liability was a miraculous fulltime job.. like mafia structure instead of business with formality. I am glad that event existed peewee, to be recognized. there is great odds to go that far.

[pdub]

In the long run, there were a few guys, millwrights, they are in the line of fire more than anybody. And those few guys didn't get hurt in 35+ years. And that's not to say they just stood around and didn't do anything all the time, because some folks somehow do. No, those guys consciously worked on stuff and chose to not get hurt on the job, and that conscious decision on a daily basis kept them safe. Whether they were actually thinking about it or not. SOMETHING kept them safe, and it had to be ongoing behavior. Safe behavior.

[68scott385]

Congrats PW!!

I learned may years ago that thinking about the job while on the job is the best way to stay safe. The girl friend/wife can wait. The car/toys/house/etc., can wait, it'll all be there when work is over and will get the attention they deserve/need when other activity is not the immediate priority. In other words, pay attention to what you are doing right now, not worrying about what/who you will be doing later.

[Barry Donovan]

502 bad gateway. Unsafe at any speed.

35 years is humbling and very lucky. to talk of your own blessing while 20 teens on military orders get shot at is .. I can't even think of the contrasts out there in the work place. My dad is at 40 in trucking. Today we both swapped coolant out of yet another rig.

This vid has a 50 year employee in it, she is at 2:08 minutes. She recently died is in the paper today.

50 years of sardines. It was the last cannery in America. Maine hung onto other things a bit longer as well. I worked in a shoe factory for example. Each box of shoe lasts was about 50 pounds.. they made 1300 pairs a day. I was the guy man handling the shoe lasts. To this day I am the freak skinny guy who can bench a sube.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Well, I, for one, congratulate you for not getting squished, burned, cut, bruised, contused, or just generally f***ed up in the last 35 years.... good on ya

[pdub]

Well, I, for one, congratulate you for not getting squished, burned, cut, bruised, contused, or just generally f***ed up in the last 35 years.... good on ya

Wait, now, I totally object to the subjective assumption that I'm not already generally F***ed up. I can take all of those other things, but that one's not accurate.

Never mind I didn't have to go get sewn up or operated on and stuff. If I can't just be generally F***ed up, I don't think I want to play at all.