In a Split Second

In a split second

    A split second, that is all it may take- one brief moment of inattention and you are finding yourself in trouble. Following centers on an incident in 2011, but has been edited and more information added.

   Early this morning one of my co-workers paid the price for not following protocol. We work in a yarn manufacturing plant. We create specialty yarns for all manner of purposes. In my department our yarn can be for anything from upholstery to clothing to hand craft yarns. It is made from a variety of materials, and is a variety of sizes. It is important  that you pay full attention to what you are doing. Some of those yarns an do as much damage to a body as a sharp knife or skill saw. Working around machinery there are rules. You can’t wear certain types of clothing, as in overly loose.No open toed shoes.. You can’t wear dangle jewelry. Long hair had to be pinned up carefully, no pony tales flopping loose. Only authorized personnel can use knives. Mostly we are told, be careful. Practice work place safety.Watch where you put your hands and fingers. Don’t wrap any yarn around your hand or fingers when working on an end. Don’t hold waste materials in your hand when putting up an end.

It only takes a second.

When you are working, running any sort of the machines in our plant- you must..must pay 100% attention. You can’t let your mind wander. You can’t come in without sleep or feeling sick to where you can’t concentrate or focus. You can’t blindly reach into a machine, grab for an end that is messing up without thought. You can’t use a knife or worse a straight blade to cut laps off a frame. You can’t leave your job in a mess, air hose tangled and waiting for a misstep. You have to concentrate and pay attention..

Today, early in the shift a co-worker was injured. A technician for the machines that share the room in which I work. An individual who should have known better but made one slip. I was up at the farthest machine from the office when I heard my name..I could tell when I looked that what ever it was they were calling me for- it wasn’t good.

 I won’t go into the details, they aren’t pretty. But he had broken the cardinal rule, he had waste in his hand when he was putting up an end and the fast turning roller grabbed it. We got him an ice pack, we got his hand wrapped up along with the parts that were supposed to be attached..He was taken to the hospital.I cleaned up the floor following protocal..we ended up sending one who had helped and then went into something akin to shock home.

In the space of a second.

And it isn’t just about  a manufacturing job. No matter what you are doing, concentration, common sense, and full attention is key to staying safe. Don’t start cooking and wander off. Don’t start running water for a bath (and not check the temps) and wander off to do –a quick something–only to come back to a flooded room. Or a tub of water scalding hot. Don’t get in your vehicle and drive down the road sending text messages, talking to your best friend or family. Don’t do anything that is going to take your attention off what you are doing. Obviously I don’t need to mention anything that would leave you in no state to drive or function safely in any capacity, such as alcohol, illegal substances or even medications.

The above incident, hurt one person. Not all situations would be with a single person affected. In other manufacturing operations the processes are more dangerous. One wrong move can create a domino effect causing massive damage, fires, injuries. Vehicle wrecks can be one vehicle to dozens with the potential for many injured.

It only takes a second.

For an accident to happen. For a fire to start, for a wreck to occur, for a hand to get caught in a machine.

Most incidents can be prevented…..if we pay attention, focus, concentrate, stay awake. Because it does only take a split second…