Let’s Get Focused

I’ve known I was going to write a “Let’s Get Focused” article for months. I thought I would compile significant thoughts and brilliant ideas with earthshattering, motivating thoughts and behaviors to share. The truth is I haven’t any bright and shiny new ideas.

Once I came to that realization, I began to consciously “store” random thoughts and remembrances for use in this article. Here’s what I think about:

As an adult, I’ve noticed that when I’m engaged in a conversation about the actions of youth, teens and young adults more and more often a consensus is reached that youth is wasted on the young, young people think they are bullet proof, young people take too many risks, young people don’t consider consequences before acting. I wonder how many times you’ve had these same thoughts and participated in similar conversations.

And then, I look around me, my circle of friends, family and co-workers; many of whom fill more than one of those categories. I’ve come to the realization that we behave just like those young people do. It’s true!

A co-worker was working alone on a very steep, slippery roof and fell. He had no fall protection or anyone nearby to help. He was seriously injured. He had to wait for his family’s return for assistance. What if his family found him even more critically injured than he was? What if he had died?

A dear friend was walking BACKWARDS down some stairs while talking, fell and landed on her neck and head. What if she was permanently injured, paralyzed or had died?

Another dear friend and teammate forgot about the painful results of shoveling snow without being in shape, or at the very least, performing basic stretching exercises. The stress put on her body could have been significant. What if she had torn muscles, injured joints or tendons or developed significant back issues?

I was driving way too fast on an interstate on a very rainy day. I hydroplaned, spun over 4 lanes of SoCal traffic and went off a 20’ embankment. What if I was injured significantly, or even worse, my recklessness caused someone else injury or death?

When we take a minute to examine the “What if’s” in life my hope is that we take a fresh look, a deeper dive if you will, at the potential consequences of our behaviors. Even as the mature, wiser folks our choices can be as staggering and life changing as those of young folks we tend to describe as hasty or rash. We are those youngsters, but we think because we’ve aged and have more reason, being bullet proof makes sense for us while not for them.

As individuals, coworkers and members of families that count on us, let’s take the time (a two minute time out), analyze the environment (situational awareness) and make the best choices for our protection as well as those around us.

No one is bulletproof and the what if’s do matter.

Kathleen JacksonCOO/EVP SUN

Diversity Quote

“Since when do you have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?”

Lillian Hellman

An Unsafe Act is defined as an element of unsatisfactory behavior immediately prior to an accident event which is significant in initiating the event. When you think back, have you ever done something that would fit into this definition? Maybe a few examples would help you answer the question:

• Not wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in an area or during activities that requires the use of PPE such has hard hats, safety glasses, hearing protection, face-shields, leather or work gloves, respiratory protection

• Crossing a yellow or red barricade without checking the posted sign for the hazards inside the barricade.• Leaving your work area for break without putting your tools and equipment away.• Getting off a golf cart without turning key to off or pushing down the break until it locks in place.• Taking a shortcut in a work process to save time or energy.

This list doesn’t even sum up all of the Unsafe Acts that have been present over the years but I think most of us can find one that we have done before. Even if the act didn’t result in an injury or accident, it is still an unsafe act that could have resulted in an injury or accident. Ultimately, we all have to make a decision to perform an unsafe act and this ties directly into Unsafe Behaviors.

As you can see, Unsafe Acts and Unsafe Conditions can go hand-in-hand. Both do not have to be present in order for an accident or injury to occur but one could result in the other if steps are not taken to prevent error likely conditions. At times we may even be creating the Unsafe Condition just by performing our work—Does this mean we have performed an Unsafe Act? The simple answer is Yes, especially if we knew that our work activities would create the condition and we didn’t take steps to safeguard our co-workers and ourselves.

Responsible and accountable safety conscience workers is our goal. But at the beginning or each work day the decision rests solely with you.

Are you going to be a responsible and accountable safety conscience worker today?

Humor In Safety

A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces his altitude and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts:

"Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"

The man below says: "Yes, you're in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field."

"You must work in Technical Support," says the balloonist." I do," replies the man. "How did you know?"

"Well" says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but completely useless."

The man below says: "You must be in management." "I am," replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well", says the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you're going, but you expect me to be able to help. You're still in the same position you were before we met, but now its my fault."

The past four days has focused on Unsafe Acts and Unsafe Conditions, how they contribute to accidents or injuries at work, and who has Control. To identify these contributing causes alone is not the end. While it is important for each of us to understand how our decisions and attitudes will effect our safe work performance, it is equally important to understand the mitigating steps that we have taken towards safe work performance:

• Pre-Job Safety Briefs or PJB’s• Procedure and Process Use/Adherence• Job Hazard Analysis or JHA’s• Clear Communications• 2-Minute Timeout• Peer Coaching and Checking• Human Performance Error precursors• Stop when unsure and unsafe• Safety Manuel (Client and Bartlett)• S.T.A.R. (Stop-Think-Act-Review)• ALARA• SCWE (Safety Conscience Work Environment)

There are plenty of tools available to help us identify, prevent and deter injury likely acts and conditions. But the choice remains with each of us to use them. Be on the look out for Unsafe Acts or Unsafe Conditions and report your observations immediately to Supervision. Your decision to change your attitude or report your observations could be the one that saved someone’s life today.

Zero OSHA Recordables for 2012! Due to the dedication and attention to detail of our field team members as supported by our management team, WeldTech was able to achieve a full year without OSHA recordable incidents or accidents. This is a significant safety achievement that represents a Gold Standard for safety performance. We would like to recognize and thank all who contributed to this outcome and we hope to celebrate the same success again in 2013. This achievement would not be attainable without vigilant effort and a continued focus on safety.

Recognizing Unsafe Conditions

Recognizing unsafe conditions, or hazards in the workplace, is not just a Safety Committee or a Safety Representatives responsibility. It is everyone’s responsibility from the most junior employee to the Bartlett CEO and President to identify hazards and make suggestions on how to fix the problems.

Causes of unsafe conditions or actions:

Understanding what an unsafe condition looks like is half the battle. Equally important is knowing how to handle an unsafe condition once you have identified it.

Steps to take once an unsafe condition is found:If possible, correct the condition yourself immediately.Report unsafe conditions or actions to your immediate Supervisor. For conditions that effect the operability of the plant, initial contact should be made with the respective Control Room the report the condition.Follow-up – report the condition again if it is not corrected.

Remember: There are three steps to follow in recognizing unsafe conditions and preventing accidents

Look for trouble (the unsafe condition)Report itAct to prevent it from happening again.

• Poor housekeeping• Horseplay• Confused, unorganized or cluttered material storage• Careless handling of materials• Improper or defective tools• Lack of machine guarding

• Lack of or failure to wear proper personal protection equipment (PPE)

• Weather• Worker not dressing for the job to be done• Failure to follow instructions.

Behavioral Based Safety

Moving Center – What is it? Each of us has an internal clock that we use to monitor events in our day. When things aren’t happening in the time frame we perceive they should, our impulses can take over; causing us to behave in ways that do not reflect our true values.

Have you felt this…… Ever been to the DMV?

If you can predict the impulses from your moving center, you can recognize when you are at risk.

Consider an event from this past Spring at Brunswick Nuclear Plant: A welder attempted to cross a Radiography Test (RT) boundary. When asked why, he stated he had to turn off his machine before he could go home.

Predict your moving center, understand where you are vulnerable… then gather your patience and get the right result.

Fatigue—Causes, Symptoms and Prevention

With outage season upon us, many will feel the effects of fatigue at some point given the work schedules and shifts we anticipate working to support. Fatigue is a tired, exhausted state that occurs when the body lacks the sufficient amount of sleep. You can also suffer from fatigue after working long hours or a stressful situation. We should be concerned with preventing fatigue in the workplace because it can cause so many accidents to occur. By preventing fatigue in the workplace you can be sure of a healthy and happy environment for everyone.

What Are The Possible Causes Of FatigueFatigue can be caused by a number of things below is a list of the most common causes for fatigue at work.

Sleep Apnea is a condition that causes a persons breathing to be interrupted while they are sleeping. This disruption will often cause the person to awake several times during the night. So their sleep cycle is constantly interrupted.

Insomnia is when a person has trouble either falling asleep of staying asleep through the night. The lack of sleep is the number one cause of fatigue.

Caffeine can also cause fatigue. Drinking coffee or soft drinks late at night could make it harder to fall asleep and get a full nights rest.

Poor Exercise Routine can make a person feel fatigued. When you body if not fit there and hundreds of ways it can show. Fatigue is one of these symptoms.

How Does Fatigue Effect Your Ability To Work• Effects your ability to make decisions• Slows your reaction time• Can cause errors in judgment

• Increase forgetfulness• Use of more sick days• Reduced Productivity

What Are The Symptoms Of Fatigue At Work• Headaches• Weakness• Muscle Pain• Dizziness• Loss of appetite

Preventing Fatigue At WorkThere are certain things you can do to help prevent fatigue at work. The list below will help you prevent any accidents from fatigue while you are at work.Keep the lights turned on. Make sure the lights are on all the way. Dim lighting will increase your fatigue while a brightly lit room will help you stay alert.Turn the heat down. A little chill in the room will work wonders to keep you awake. When youe body is warm it naturally begins to feel sleepy.Get up and move around. Sitting in a chair or doing one task all day will make you feel even more tired than you already are.Eat but don’t over eat. Some fresh fruit or a light snack will help boost your energy without giving you the groggy full feeling of a large meal.Avoid drinking Caffeine. While it will make you awake and alert for a short time the effects are short lived. Once the caffeine and sugar has worn of you will crash and be even more tired than before.If you have windows in your office that can be opened they should be. The fresh air and natural sunlight are great stimulants. They will instantly boost your mood and energy.Take a break. Get up and move around or just give your body a chance to relax. All that matters is you are not working and that you are relaxed.If you are already feeling fatigued do not push yourself. Try not to overload your mind or body.If you are truly feeling fatigued tell your boss. They should either allow you an extended break to get some rest or send you home. It is not worth the risk involved to keep an employee on that may fall asleep or have trouble concentrating.

• Blurry vision• Short term memory loss• Poor hand eye coordination• Difficulty concentrating• Irritability