Brown & Root Services LOGCAP III

Central Asia
WEEKLY SAFETY TOPIC
AFGHANISTAN

Hurrying or Working Efficiently???

SAFETY BULLETIN 9
At home or on-the-job there never seems to be enough time. There are only 24 hours in a day
and every hour seems to be claimed already. Our lives are complex and full of many
responsibilities and activities. Everyone feels the pressure of having a lot to do and little time to
do it. We all want to do a good job but are we working better, or are we in a hurry! There's a big
difference between hurrying and working efficiently. Hurrying leads to accidents. Working
efficiently gets the job done in the best and safest manner possible.

Many accidents are the result of working in a hurry or knowingly taking shortcuts. When we are
under pressure, it is tempting to rush through things and to take shortcuts. But when it comes to
safe work practices, hurrying can cause serious injury or death.

Here are some examples of how hurry leads to hurt:

- A worker is going to walk by a table where another employee is operating a bench grinder or
power saw. He doesn't bother with wearing safety eyewear, because he's in a hurry - besides
he's only going to be walking by the work area for a few seconds. A metal fragment flies from the
work into his eye, causing a painful injury that results in the loss of vision in that eye.
- A cleaning worker decides to try to finish cleaning a room before break time so that work can
begin in another room after the break. Cleaning fluid is poured into a water bucket without
putting safety glasses on and chemicals splash into the employee’s eye. The employee burns an
eye and loses partial sight in one eye for the rest of their life because a short cut was taken to
clean a room.
- An equipment operator notices the guard on an electric saw is sticking. There is only one more
cut to make. He doesn't want to be bothered and wires the guard up. Life is good… until he loses
a few fingers when they come into contact with the rotating blade.
- A driver often feels the need in the back of their mind to meet a strict schedule We often begin
to think about what we will do at the end of the drive, who we must meet and the driver’s forgets
to concentrate on pedestrians walking the streets or someone else who runs a red light or other
hazards that show up on the trip. If one person makes a mistake, -a pedestrian, another driver
or the BRS driver, someone can easily be killed.

Don’t be a victim of “hurry”. Prepare your job with TSTI and keep your eye on your work and not
the clock. Always be prepared to notice hazards and communicate them to others. And if you
think safe work procedures slow you down - just try walking on crutches for a while, or using one
hand to tie your shoes.

26 Jan 03

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