Being Safety Aware

When walking my daughter to school the other day, safety awareness was on my mind. It was trash day and the trash trucks had already come by. However, the trash cans had been carelessly placed back on the sidewalk, toppled over and blocking the way. We had three choices: tromping through the neighbors' yards, picking up the toppled trash cans, or stepping into the busy street.

Cutting through the neighbors' yards wasn't always an option as utility boxes and slopes blocked the way at one house and the sprinklers were on at another. Picking up the toppled cans is difficult when you're carrying a baby on your hip and the trash cans are gigantic. I was able to move a few of them, but not all. Stepping into the street, the least safe option, was inevitable.

Safety, or a lack of it, affects us all. I was forced into an unsafe situation because the trash company's employees were not safety aware. While workers are generally trained in workplace safety on the job, they don't always look at the bigger picture. I'm confident that these workers follow safe work practices when loading and unloading their trucks, but they failed to consider the safety of others, in this case schoolchildren. Forcing schoolchildren into the streets is dangerous.

Compounding the problem of the toppled trash cans was the lack of safety awareness by fellow parents as they yakked on their cell phones (illegal in my state) and raced down the street. Ironically, these parents drive their kids a short distance to school each day because they are concerned with the safety of their children. Yet these same parents barrel through crosswalks and have little regard for the safety of other students.

We survived stepping into the streets that day, but a lack of safety awareness is a killer. For example, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003 killed seven astronauts. Why? Because NASA's organizational barriers, and lack of a safety culture, stifled safety communications. This isn't my opinion; this is one of the core findings of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

If NASA doesn't care about safety, why should trash truck drivers care? NASA has taken the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board to heart and has improved safety awareness within the agency and most organizations do indeed care about safety. While OSHA regulates workplace safety and employers must provide safe workplaces, it comes down to each of us as individuals to foster better safety awareness.

Consider not only the hazards to yourself, but how your actions affect the safety of others. If it takes five extra seconds to place the trash can in a safe location, do it. Do it even if it takes an extra minute. It could save a life.