PERSONAL SAFETY RESPONSIBILITIES

PERSONAL SAFETY RESPONSIBILITIES So far, we’ve discussed the responsibilities of key personnel within your command’s safety program. You may now be asking yourself “Where do I fit into the picture?” Remember, safety is everyone’s business. Here are your specific responsibilities for safety— follow them wherever you are and no matter what you are doing: 1. Observe all the safety precautions related to your work or duty. You may have gotten by with being careless with safety rules in the past, but your luck will not hold out forever. If you continually cross a street without looking, eventually you'll get hit by a car. 2. Report any unsafe conditions or any equipment or material you think might be unsafe. Don’t just walk by an open manhole or turn in a broken tool without saying anything about it. Report it! Remember, if you think it’s unsafe, then it probably is. 3. Warn others of hazards that exist. If you see someone knowingly, or unknowingly, place himself or herself or others in danger, say something. If necessary, report the situation to your supervisor. 4. Report any injury or ill health to your supervisor. A splinter in your finger or a scratch on your leg, if treated immediately, will usually not cause any more trouble. But if left untreated, it may become infected, and what would normally be a 10-minute trip to sick call, may turn into a 10-day hospital stay. 5. Wear protective clothing whenever appropriate or required. If you’re issued electrical safety shoes, wear them. It’s cheaper and easier to replace a $50 pair of shoes than it is to treat your injuries. 6. Be safety conscious. Always remain alert to dangers that may exist. 7. Always inspect equipment and associated attachments for damage before you use them. Make sure the equipment you are using is suited for the job. Check the safety precautions that pertain to each piece of equipment. Remember, SAFETY should be your first thought before you begin a task and throughout the task, throughout the day. REMEMBER I AM YOUR WORST ENEMY I am more powerful than the combined armies of the world. I have destroyed more men than all the wars of all the nations. I massacre thousands of people every year. I am more deadly than bullets, and I have wrecked more homes than the deadliest guns. In the United States alone, I steal over 150 million dollars each year. I spare no one, and I find my victims among the rich and the poor alike, the young and the old, the strong and the weak. Widows and widowers know me to their everlasting sorrow. I loom up in such proportions that I cast my shadow over every field of labor. I lurk in unseen places and do most of my work silently. You are warned against me, yet you heed me not. I am relentless, merciless, and cruel. I am everywhere: in the home, on the streets, in the factory, at the railroad crossing, on the land, in the air, and on the sea. I bring sickness, degradation, and death, yet few seek me out to destroy me. I crush, I maim, I devastate—I will give you nothing and rob you of all you have. I am your worst enemy I AM CARELESSNESS. 1-11