1
Dec
2013
Several winters ago, I crashed my car into a guardrail on a desolate strip of road in northern New York. I am not proud of my actions leading up to that day. This accident could have been prevented, however, with my integrity and leader involvement.
As an officer and aviator in the U.S. Army, I — like most of you — have been exposed to a significant amount of safety training. We’ve all learned that the unseen hazard is oftentimes the most dangerous.
In the aviation community, we talk about safety all the time. It’s evident that we put a greater emphasis on safety at work.
Accidents can happen at any time, so maybe shifting focus on what we perceive as the priority hazards isn’t the best approach. It’s important we cover all the bases. We can’t eliminate all mishaps, but we can definitely reduce the frequency and severity.
I remember getting in serious trouble once when I unbuckled my seat belt just before we’d reached our destination. You’d think that would be a lesson I’d never forget. Unfortunately, I did.
Do you know someone who is complacent, acts carelessly or thinks they know it all? What did you do to correct this behavior? Oftentimes we do nothing because we don’t think it’s our problem. Wrong! It is your problem.