Safety first, from Mideast to skate park
Editorial appeared in Fort McMurray Today August 11, 2006
Safety first.
That's the mantra for hundreds of men and women in Wood Buffalo who oversee and promote the idea that no job, no pay packet, no matter how lucrative, is worth injury or death.
Not only is safety the law of the land on the worksite, there are financial incentives -- and penalties, too. Companies in this region have proudly cashed rebate cheques or paid lower assessments to the Alberta Workers' Compensation Board because of better than average records compared with their industry peers.
That's the positive side. That's the spin you'd likely hear from public relations advocates.
The cold hard truth is that safety is not a priority for every worker, every hour, on every job.
Injuries occur. Workers die.
No final conclusion has come out of the investigation into the death of 64-year-old Michael Gauthier at the TransAlta power station at Suncor Energy, but, as many safety professionals constantly remind us, "there are no accidents."
From the preliminary information available, it seems fault will be found in the incident.
While it's of national importance, the oilsands industry is not worth taking dangerous shortcuts. Employers in this region have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to the cause. Unfortunately, when the rubber hits the road, that commitment isn't always translated into action.
This week, a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan died. Tragically, it appears he was shot by a fellow soldier's rifle.
The military is a work zone, too. The tools we give the soldiers are dangerous. Training emphasizes that.
The investigation into this incident is underway. No final conclusion has been reached.
Remember, however, there are no accidents. It's quite possible that the soldier assigned to the gun that discharged will be held responsible, unless there was some mechanical fault with the weapon.
From the local skate park, where teens on inline skates or skateboards casually do flips without protective equipment, to drivers on Highway 63 who think nothing of driving at 150 km/h, safety advocates have a long row to hoe.
Some may ask, then, why this newspaper publishes photos of cyclists without helmets. Or why these pages have seen photographs of workers on steep roofs without safety harnesses.
To hide practices that occur anyway amounts to censorship. To turn one's head and pretend these practices don't take place helps allow them to continue.
That said, newspapers are not enforcers. That's the domain of others.
Safety needs to be taught from an early age. Without a good grounding in the culture of risk aversion, we can't expect every worker to make it a way of life.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
Safety first.
That's the mantra for hundreds of men and women in Wood Buffalo who oversee and promote the idea that no job, no pay packet, no matter how lucrative, is worth injury or death.
Not only is safety the law of the land on the worksite, there are financial incentives -- and penalties, too. Companies in this region have proudly cashed rebate cheques or paid lower assessments to the Alberta Workers' Compensation Board because of better than average records compared with their industry peers.
That's the positive side. That's the spin you'd likely hear from public relations advocates.
The cold hard truth is that safety is not a priority for every worker, every hour, on every job.
Injuries occur. Workers die.
No final conclusion has come out of the investigation into the death of 64-year-old Michael Gauthier at the TransAlta power station at Suncor Energy, but, as many safety professionals constantly remind us, "there are no accidents."
From the preliminary information available, it seems fault will be found in the incident.
While it's of national importance, the oilsands industry is not worth taking dangerous shortcuts. Employers in this region have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to the cause. Unfortunately, when the rubber hits the road, that commitment isn't always translated into action.
This week, a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan died. Tragically, it appears he was shot by a fellow soldier's rifle.
The military is a work zone, too. The tools we give the soldiers are dangerous. Training emphasizes that.
The investigation into this incident is underway. No final conclusion has been reached.
Remember, however, there are no accidents. It's quite possible that the soldier assigned to the gun that discharged will be held responsible, unless there was some mechanical fault with the weapon.
From the local skate park, where teens on inline skates or skateboards casually do flips without protective equipment, to drivers on Highway 63 who think nothing of driving at 150 km/h, safety advocates have a long row to hoe.
Some may ask, then, why this newspaper publishes photos of cyclists without helmets. Or why these pages have seen photographs of workers on steep roofs without safety harnesses.
To hide practices that occur anyway amounts to censorship. To turn one's head and pretend these practices don't take place helps allow them to continue.
That said, newspapers are not enforcers. That's the domain of others.
Safety needs to be taught from an early age. Without a good grounding in the culture of risk aversion, we can't expect every worker to make it a way of life.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
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