Safety on the job-site.

I am not certain if Safety Awareness Month applies to all workers, but it is very important to those in the construction trades. OSHA tours the job-sites, and there are quite a few meetings to attend, and films to watch.

Today, we had one such meeting. It was in regards to jobsite fatalities, and the statistics were staggering. Over one thousand killed in falls, over 500 killed by electrocution, over 300 killed by crushing and nearly 300 killed by cave-ins or other types of suffocation. This is annually. It was stressed upon all of us to wear fall protection and to never work on live circuits without another electrician present. Certain procedures were reiterated, such as Lock-out/Tag-out, and how to free a worker from a live panel. Soon, the jobsite will be fully energized with permanent power, and it will be harder to turn everything off when something goes wrong. Just last summer an electrician was killed when he forgot to utilize rubber shielding when working in an energized generator. He also failed to use Lock-out/Tag-out. It was the arc-flash that killed him.

It can be sobering, to hear of these things. I work in an exceedingly dangerous trade. People die or are injured daily. No one likes to ponder the statistics, or hear stories of men losing lives or limbs...however, if these stories keep one from being careless, or to a moment's thought into the task at hand, then it is worth it.