Weekly Toolbox Talk: Why Safety?

Why is accident prevention so important? Do you view accident prevention as simply a way to avoid getting hurt? Do you work safely just because you want to? Perhaps you view accident prevention as a way of keeping the company happy or your supervisor off your back. Maybe you just do it because you have been told to.

Of course there are many reasons that the Marek Family of Companies wants its employees to work safely. But every one must have a more important reason to work safely than just because the company says to. They must have a personal reason. Your reason may be your family. What would they do if you were to get hurt? How about your hobbies? Would you still be able to enjoy them with a serious disability?

What you do for a living is nothing more than a means towards a goal that you have set for yourself. That goal may be the education of your children. You may plan to buy a home or a car. Maybe you want to get married after you have saved up enough money. Maybe your goal for now is just to make it to Friday night and going out on the town. Whatever your goals may be, they all generally tie back in some way to what you do for a living. And what you do for a living could be seriously change by an accident. All your goals can go up in smoke if you are injured and disabled.

Our company safety program is designed to help you reach your goals in accident prevention. It is not there just to make your work harder, or slower, or to meet some governmental guidelines. Safety and accident prevention programs are designed to PROTECT YOU so that you may reach your personal goals. When an unsafe act is pointed out to you, it is done so to help you by eliminating obstacles AND to insure that you get home all in one piece.

Every time you approach a project, every time you pick up a tool, every time you start a piece of equipment or machinery, think SAFETY. Look for what can go wrong and eliminate that possibility BEFORE your goals come to a solid stop.