I Can’t Believe I Just Saw That – 11/15/2021

Safety E-QuickTips

U.S. Compliance Systems, Inc.

Monday Nov 15, 2021

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I Can’t Believe I Just Saw That

Have you ever just looked at something and thought, this just doesn’t look right?

Well, that happened to me this week and about a half hour after I saw it, my thought was confirmed.

One of my neighbor’s sons who lives a couple blocks away is having a lot of work done to the front of his house and part of the work included having a large tree taken down.

As I was heading home last week, I saw that they were in the process of removing the tree.One side of the road was blocked, so as I slowed down to wait for a car to get by, I had time to see everything that was going on.

First, I saw and waved to my son who was walking another neighbor’s dog. Then I saw a man putting branches into the spreader and when I looked up into the tree, I could see someone at the top of the tree removing branches with a chain saw.

Once I was able to get by, I happened to look over and what did I see? Another man standing between the house and the tree just looking around.

Now most of the time that wouldn’t mean much to me, but with branches being removed about 40’ in the air above him, I started to think that might not be the best place for him to be standing.

As I drove off, I looked in my rearview mirror and saw that this same man didn’t even have a hard hat on.

I know what you are thinking, what good would a hard hat do if a branch came down on him?Probably not much but if anything small fell, it might help a little.

When I got home, I couldn’t stop thinking about how the man standing below the tree seemed clueless to the fact that branches were being cut about 40’ in the air above him.

Then I thought, maybe he was further away from the drop zone than I thought.Anyway, I just quickly glanced over as I drove by.

But about 15 minutes later my concerns were confirmed.

My son stopped by and when we began to talk about the tree that was being cut down, he told me that he heard someone yelling for the guy standing under the tree to get out of the way. Then he went on to say he heard him being told more than once.

Some of you who have been reading my Safety E-QuickTips over the years may have thought this story was not going to end well.For once it did because at least one person on the job had enough sense to make sure the man below was safely out of the way.

Employee QuickTip

Sometimes we as humans do stupid things and we find ourselves in our own little dream world. When that happens on the job it can be dangerous.Dangerous for us and for those we are working with.

If you see a coworker exposed to a hazard and they don’t seem to have a clue, make them aware of the hazard as many times as it takes to make them understand their exposure. It will make for a happy ending.

Employer/Management QuickTip

Never take for granted that new employees understand how to protect themselves from hazards created by the work you perform.

A few minutes before new hires start work could be just what they need to help ensure they go home at the end of each workday in the same condition they started.

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Thanks for Reading and Please – Stay Healthy and Work Safe.