I was ten foot tall & bulletproof………. Until I rolled a vehicle on a mine site & got thrown out! I snapped my back & crushed my spinal cord & for over twenty years now I’ve been getting around in a wheelchair!
Since my accident I have often reflected on the CHOICES that I made that caused me to get hurt, and as I get older & some might argue “Wiser”…. I think about what would have influenced the choices I made that day.
One of the answers I have considered is that I was a very practical person, I would be more inclined to do something if I knew why I was doing it. For example I knew that if I had a few beers, usually the result would be I’d have a good time, if I was chasing girls, it was in the hope of having a good time!
But I think back to before my accident we were often told to do things, but not really given a reason as to WHY we should be doing them! Now I know some of you might argue that it is common sense, wear your safety glasses to stop shit from getting in your eyes, wear a seatbelt to stop you from being thrown from a vehicle. Etc…
Some people need more than just common sense, they need to understand the consequences of making a wrong CHOICE!
For the last 15 years I’ve been visiting workplaces & giving people a reason for workplace safety. I tell people how my accident changed my life & affected many other people. Someone asked me a while ago “James, why do you share your story with other people?” and I think the reason is that this is the sort of thing that I would have liked to hear, if someone had turned up at my site & said “This is what happened to me, don’t let it happen to you”…… it would have at the very least given me an understanding of how an accident would change my life! And possibly also have given me the reason that I needed to think about the CHOICES I made!
I’m not a safety professional, I’m a fitter who got hurt at work and now I share my story with other employees & employers!
But the beauty of what I do is that it ties in so much of the formal side of safety, many people out there are like me & just need that reason.
What reason are you giving your people to stay safe?
James ‘Woody’ Wood
