Safety in a Bad Economy

     Everyone is feeling the pinch of the current economy as jobs are being eliminated, and pennies pinched in an attempt to stay afloat. Sadly sources report that their safety budgets are being cut and that once proactive companies are turning a blind eye to safety as everyone from senior management to the men and women in the trenches wonder if they will be next to lose their job. This environment, created by the depressed economy is very, very dangerous to the well being of the American worker. While we watch our fellows lose their jobs in massive layoffs will we be silent when safety is compromised? Will senior management be satisfied to watch the recordable rate go through the ceiling?

     There is a saying at poker tables that “scared money never wins” and while that may seem an unlikely venue for providing proverbs to live by, there is much truth to this gamblers cliché’. If you are busy watching your every penny and not concentrating on the game and your strategy in that game, you will likely make unwise decisions that could very well empty your pockets hours before you had anticipated and leave you wondering WHAT HAPPENNED! If we are all working under a veil of fear for our livelihood, will we still be able to stand up and make the right decisions to maintain a safe workplace, or will we disregard all that we have learned and when it is too late ask ourselves WHAT HAPPENNED?

     These are trying times but they don’t have to become lethal ones. Ask yourself this question; What is worse, losing your job, or losing your life? Please work safely…