SAFETY DESK: Getting Personal
Photo courtesy of ALLEN MYERS
LRC's new Safety Director Allen Myers doing some rock crawling in his Jeep.
“The more we talk about safety as a group, the more we take safety home, the more we make safety personal, the fewer injuries we will have.”
Hello!
My name is Allen Myers, and I am the new corporate safety director for Lyman-Richey Corporation.
I may be the new guy around here, but I'm not new to the industry.
I have been around construction all my life. My family owned an electrical contracting company. So at an early age I was out in the shop cleaning and doing all the basic stuff that no one wanted to do but needed to be done.
I also grew up riding motorcycles and eventually competed in Supermoto and Superbike racing.
In an effort to stay fit, I raced mountain bikes, winning several championships over the years.
More recently I have built rock-crawling jeeps, including a 1986 CJ7 with a 5.3LS in it.
On top of all of that, I work as an automotive photographer in my spare time.
But my greatest happiness comes from my family.
Wyn and I have two girls. Maggie is 12 and Audrey is 3. They are active in dance and gymnastics and a joy to be around.
All of these aspects and experiences in my life have shaped my safety philosophies:
HAZARD RECOGNITION
It is always important to recognize potential hazards before they become a reality. The sooner we identify them and do something to prevent them from hurting us, the more successful we will be.
Remember when I told you I was working in an electrical shop as a kid? Can you imagine what that would be like? What if you and your kiddo needed to work on your car in the garage. You have it up on jack stands, and you need to pull the wheels and replace the brakes. What would you do? How would you communicate the hazards involved? Would you point them all out, or would you eliminate them first?
THINKING BEFORE WORKING
You will often hear me say, “Head before hands.” I am asking everyone to think before they work. The more we look at any given task or operation and think through the entire process, the more hazards we can remove from the task.
Can you imagine pulling the wheels off that car without jack stands? How would you feel about your children working on it then? I doubt you would feel the same about it.
The more we talk about safety as a group, the more we take safety home, the more we make safety personal, the fewer injuries we will have. I am just as concerned about the safety of your family members as I am about the employees here at Lyman-Richey Corporation.
If we continue to help each other, recognize hazards and think about how we can eliminate them, the more we can watch all of our families grow.