| Safety Is Always Our Top Priority
Let's have a sobering but frank talk about Safety on the
job. In late February, four men died on the job at Tosco's refinery just across the river
from our office. Another man is in critical condition with severe burns, and if he lives,
will return to a life that is very different from the one he had before the accident.
Many agencies are investigating the "accident." The County has called for
Tosco to close the plant for two months. Tosco agreed, and there is a question if they
will even restart the refinery. That would put about 700 people out of work at Tosco and
another 200 or so in the community.
Television stations broadcasted on-the-scene pictures from helicopters as the terrible
event unfolded, along with commentary from family members, neighbors and labor leaders.
A Tosco supervisor has said that he recommended to Management that they shut down the
tower they were working on before work started, but he says, the idea was "Shot
Down." He has refused to go back to work.
There will be much more finger pointing, name-calling, and regulating before the matter
is over. There are, however, some important things to be learned.
* We are all responsible for safety on the job.
* If we see an unsafe condition, correct it.
* If someone directs us to do something we even think is unsafe, don't do it.
* Plan your work every morning with safety the primary concern.
* Make sure everyone involved in a job knows what to do and how to do it, safely.
* Make it plain that unsafe behavior will not be tolerated.
Take a minute to think about how you would feel if someone you're working with got
seriously hurt or worse. How would you like to tell his spouse? What would you say to the
TV crew? What would you tell your customer? How many times would you ask yourself, if I
had done something different could I have prevented a tragedy?
Safety is our business - a business that we won't have without it. Our 300 employees
are counting on us for continued employment.
BE SAFE.
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