Be Safe and Kick Butt

I think the hardest obstacle to overcome regarding safety in the trades is attitude. Unfortunately so many workers still complain about having to wear a hard hat while welding, gloves while putting screws on, traction aids in the winter, safety glasses when they get foggy or an uncomfortable respirator when grinding. I could actually go on forever. But let’s think about this for a second… We are not the only people that have to protect ourselves while working. What about Hockey players? They have to gear up just like us for work, they have to stretch before they start and they have rules they have to follow while they are on the ice. Not only do they not complain about wearing helmets, jockstraps, gloves, pads… (again I could go on forever with the amount of safety equipment they put on……which I would also like to point out is a lot more than us), but they have gotten better overall. It’s true, look at the stats. Back in 1928 the league average amount of goals per team was 1.46 per game. Now that was without out helmets (not implemented till 1979) and reinforced thumbs in their gloves, shin and shoulder pads and most of their safety equipment. It didn’t start showing up till the 1930’s. Yet in 2017, that same stat is 3.11 goals per game and the players are covered is safety equipment. Doesn’t that say something? That we can in fact do our job with PPE on and we can do it better! So let’s take a page out of their playbook and gear up and kick some butt!