Safety Topic – Look What You Made Me Do! – by Safety Speaker John Drebinger

Driving from the Philadelphia Airport to New Jersey, I found myself in the midst of a snowstorm. In general, most people had gone home so the streets were fairly empty. Two lanes were open in the direction I was traveling. As I approached the bridge taking me into New Jersey, I had a driver behind me who wanted to go faster. They were tailgating me and in normal conditions I would have just changed lanes and let them go by. In this case, the snow on the road made changing lanes risky. The more he pushed the more I considered changing lanes.

What kept me from doing so was the thought that if I changed lanes and found myself slipping across the road on the ice I would have thought, “Look what you made me do.” It was then I reminded myself that no one was making me change lanes on an icy road; it would be entirely my choice.

We need to remember that we are responsible for the choices we make and what we focus on. Have you ever heard someone blame someone else because they made them break something or get hurt.

Years ago, I was trimming my pool cover with a sharp knife when my daughter came out and asked me a question. In looking up to answer her, I didn’t stop cutting, which resulted in my running the knife I was holding with my right hand across my left hand. I heard my internal voice thinking to say, “Look what you made me do.” I knew immediately my daughter wasn’t the problem; it was me. I needed to stop what I was doing before I looked her way. It was my choice that caused the injury.

Remind yourself and others that you need to take personal responsibility and don’t let others push you into making a bad choice.

When you need a safety speaker to reinforce your safety message to your employees give my office a call and you will be thrilled with the results.