They are written in blood. That’s the saying about Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S;) regulations.

Safety regulations are based on lessons learned the hardest possible way. Workers were injured or killed because some aspect of safety was not well understood.

Over time, lessons were learned. OH&S regulations were created to make clear what safe work looks like, and to make clear that safe work is not an option—it’s the law.

Every job, without exception, has safety regulations to live by.

You are responsible for knowing which regulations apply to your job. It’s the law, and it is for your own protection.

On November 1st, updated regulations came into effect. Do you know which ones are for you?

Because you don’t want to rewrite them in your blood. If you think about it.

Say it out loud: “It can happen to me.”

We’re reaching the end of the building season in the Yukon, and people are scrambling to get everything done.

Indoors, others have seasonal changes underway and are short staffed.

We move a bit faster and shave time where we can. Safety is usually the first thing to be cut back.

It’s a small risk. It won’t happen, not now, not to me.

Some of us won’t get away with taking those risks and will be badly injured.

Welcome to traumatic injury season. Injuries can happen any time, but seem to happen more often at this time of year.

So, before you decide to cut corners on safety, say this aloud one more time. “It can happen to me.”

Because it can happen to you. If you think about it.

It’s time we stop using the word “accident.” We use it to mean that, when something bad happens, it isn’t on purpose.

Yet we also mean that the incident could not have been predicted (after all, if we knew it could happen, but did nothing to stop it, it’s hard to call it an accident).

We mean the incident could not have been avoided.

The fact is that every injury could have been avoided. And if we stand back far enough, we see that we should have been able to predict them.

Admitting that makes us feel guilty, or embarrassed, so we call them accidents.

Instead, let’s call them by their real name: injuries, incidents, crashes.

When we can do that, we can take a long hard look at how to make sure an injury doesn’t happen again. We can move past hindsight and start seeing other hazards before anybody gets hurt.

Because they are not really accidents. If you think about it.

Most of us believe in “safety first.”

But then there’s the time crunch we all face in our daily lives. We have too much to get done and we manage it by multi-tasking.
We drive to work in the morning, sipping coffee, thinking about the day ahead and listening to the news.

At work, we hold conversations while doing “mindless” tasks and remembering other must-do’s for the day.

And then we crush our hand in a door, run over our foot with a cart, trip, or step in a hole.

It happens because our minds are not focussed on what we are doing—because we are multi-tasking. We may believe in “safety first,” but we act as if we don’t have time. And so we get hurt and lose time.

Make sure you get all the hours you expect from a day – and keep your body intact – by focussing on what you are doing right now.

Because completing your day depends on putting safety first. If you think about it.

What do we hear ourselves saying when we see somebody about to do something risky? “Just be careful.”

When we think back to times when we felt compelled to say “be careful,” we did so because we understood there was danger involved.

Sometimes the person simply didn’t understand the risks (a young worker on their first day on the job). We thought “be careful” would keep them safe, instead of taking the time to train them.

Sometimes we took the risk ourselves, thinking “if I’m careful, I can pull this off” (like standing on a swivel chair rather than getting a ladder).

We know that the safe approach is different: being safe means controlling the hazards, not just being careful around them.

Yes – please – be careful. But the next time you feel compelled to say (or think) “be careful,” stop to consider what “be safe” would involve.

Because being careful isn’t always enough. If you think about it.

This may not seem immediately obvious, since keeping people safe does cost money and time. However, studies have been done and, as it turns out, safe workplaces are indeed more profitable.

Here’s why:

1. No workplace accidents means no equipment damage.

2. No injury downtime means lower staff costs (like overtime and recruiting).

3. No injury downtime or damaged equipment means higher productivity.

4. No damage claims means lower insurance rates.

5. A strong safety culture shows the employer cares about its employees, which motivates workers and reduces turnover.

6. Planning for safety before starting work also improves job processes—like making sure all the right tools and materials are there.

7. Not cutting corners means tasks are done right the first time.

8. Improved processes make the business a more reliable supplier.

9. The thorough training necessary to keep workers safe also improves productivity.

10. The careful equipment maintenance necessary to keep workers safe extends the life of equipment and reduces downtime.

Safety makes good business sense. If you think about it.

It’s enough that we worry about our kids when they’re out at night. But be concerned about them when they’re at work?

The fact is, young workers (age 14 – 24) are about 6 times more likely to be injured on the job as more experienced workers. Many of these injuries are serious and permanent; sometimes they are fatal.

Young workers tend to learn unsafe habits from watching others, are often much less aware of potential dangers, and are much less likely to ask about a safety concern.

There is no such thing as a “safe” job that does not require training and daily awareness of hazards.

So take the time to talk to them about workplace safety. Ask about the training they are getting and the general attitude toward safety where they work. Make sure they have the confidence to talk about their safety.

Because no job is worth your child’s life. If you think about it.