via E-Mail
For suggestion or comments contact Gene Garrett via E-Mail
Aw S____! After a great February - this is what we get for March, we had two incidents, this brings us to three incidents for the year, including one reportable.
One of the incidents happened at Fruitland on the BNSF as the engineer walked back to one of the trailing engines to check it. He was walking in the grass, which was pretty thick, and tripped and hurt his leg. However, he did not have to have any medicine or lose any time, so it was a non-reportable.
The other incident was at Arlington on a switch, the brakeman was using and lining the switch, when it hung on him. He did not have to have any medicine and he was not marked off hurt, so it was an incident.
These two incidents are what we have talked about and I have talked to you about. The first two incidents we have had this year are slip and fall. This slip, trip, and fall category was our number one cause in incidents last year, when we had 12 of them. Now we have already had two this year. We have simply got to stay focused and watch where we are going.
The other incident was the switch. Every switch should be treated as if something is wrong with it. In this case, the man had lined the switch three or four times and it was ok, then it hung on him. Watch these switches, they can bite you.
I don't have the final figures yet, but after three months, I believe we are leading the Southern Region with the least incidents, a total of three. The East Texas Service Unit is behind us. They have four incidents. They are to be commended. It looks as it they went through March without an incident. This is great. We know we can do the same. We did it in February; let's show we can do it again.
As Safety Manager, I have made it around to every shift and talked to most of the people on the service unit. I can sincerely say I have enjoyed it, especially meeting some of you I didn't know and others I that I hadn't seen in a while. I will be coming out this week to visit all of you again.
We are going through some tough times right now, but I think as long as we all stay and work together, we will come out of it. The thing we cannot do is let it get to us. We must keep our spirits up. Things will get better.
The main thing I am concerned about is if we let it bother us too much, we are subjecting ourselves to incidents. We sure don't want to do this.
It is a must that we stay focused and away from mental vacations. Reading the Rule for the Day and Job Briefings are very important tools to accomplish this.
Remember, working safe is not just for you. It's also for your family, your co-workers and friends. So please, work safe. Next month I want to hand out Atta-boys.
Gene is Safety Manager for the Fort Worth Service Unit.
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