How Pervasive is Safety In Your Life? by Safety Speaker John Drebinger

How Pervasive Is Safety In Your Life?
This is a great question to ask your employees. This is one of those questions that you ask to stimulate thought. You aren’t looking for an answer out loud you are looking for an answer in their head.

Share with them that their response can tell them how much of a positive impact safety is having on them and their family. Just last week I saw a way that having safety as a value helped protect the people I love and care about. Every year my wife heads for the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California for a week long backpack with six friends of hers. She calls the group the “Sisterhood of the Old Boots.”

One of the things Karen (my wife) and I love about backpacking is that you are out in the wilderness and you have carried in everything you need. The solitude and being in places many people never get to experience is awesome. The challenge is that the farther you go into the back country, the farther you are from help if and when you need it. This was illustrated to me long before I was in the safety business.

I remember when I was on a backpack as a scout when I was 16 years old. Over nine miles to the nearest ranger station we had a scout who experienced a medical emergency. Of the twenty-four of us on the trip a friend and I were chosen to go get help. We stripped down our packs and ran up and down the hills the trail traveled over. We were fortunate that after only five miles we came upon a ranger and his mule who were out working on the trails. He radioed for help and an helicopter came and extracted the scout in need. This whole process took several hours and it gave me and my friend a great story to share when we got home.  A lot can happen in that many hours and it could be the difference between life and death.

So, how does this relate to my wife on her backpacking trip? Simple as a safety speaker I want all my loved ones to be as safe as possible and still enjoy the wonderful out of doors. I want her to return safely and I found a way that she can get help much faster if she ever needs it. On every trip anyone in my family takes into the wilderness they carry a special device called a “Spot Satellite GPS Messenger.” If she or anyone in their group is in trouble all they have to do is hit the red SOS button and the nearest rescue agency is notified and help is on the way. If you want to check it out go to: http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=102

Remember by asking employees to think about how safety has positively improved their life they are more likely to make the best and safest choices.

Be Safe,
John Drebinger Safety Speaker