ARE YOU FOCUSED?
Art Torres, Safety Committee member
By Art Torres
It’s the bottom of the ninth inning. The bases are loaded. The score is tied. There are two outs and the home team is up. Your favorite all-time player is at the plate. The crowd is on its feet. Even though you’re sitting in front of your television you can feel the tension at the ball park.
Are you focused? The kids are running around, wanting your attention. Do you hear them? Your lovely bride walks in and asks you one of the dumbest questions you ever heard. Does this dress make my bottom look big? Do you hear them?
I would venture to say that the answer is no. Why? Because you are focused–on something else.
Monday morning rolls around. Another day at the salt mine. You crew is talking about the game. Every hit, every play is played over and over as the entire crew gets caught up in the conversation about the game. Perhaps it’s routine work, perhaps it’s a clearance, maybe you’re working on some new piece of equipment. The same question arises again: are you focused?
We all want to go home to your families safe and uninjured. We have procedures, we have safety rules, we have our fellow co-workers that we watch out for, but are we focused?
In a split second our lives and the lives of our families can change forever, depending on the answer to this simple question. All the rules, procedures, gifts, discipline cannot change what we are thinking about. We can talk safety until we are blue in the face. We go to monthly safety meetings, we have daily tailboards, but it’s what’s between our ears that’s paramount.
Your favorite batter rips the ball into the left field corner, two runs score. Your team wins the series. You hug your kids, telling them it’s time to go out into the back yard and play some catch. You tell your wife that the dress looks incredible on her and that you’re taking the family out to dinner. Hopefully Monday morning you’ll be safe, the crew will be safe and all of you will return home to enjoy your family.
Why? Because you are focused.
Art Torres is a member of the Local 1245 Safety Committee.