Be prepared

They say timing is everything and right now mine couldn’t be more off. Like several other people around me I got hit with the dreaded summer viral infection/cold/sore throat/cough/headache thing over the weekend. Still not back to normal but the medications are starting to work so I’m hoping it won’t be much longer.

What’s interesting about this is that I was totally not prepared – no cough syrup, no nasal spray, no throat lozenges, chicken soup - nothing. My chances of getting this “thing” were in my mind not high enough to be prepared.  Seriously what were the odds? In hindsight, pretty darn high. I ended up in the Urgent Care Clinic that night.

How does this get me to this week’s blog?

Well, I started thinking about how easy it is to make excuses for putting things off and putting them on the back burner when the “danger” is not right in your face.  That may be okay for examples like mine, but what about the bigger things? What about the things that could have more dire consequences?

Suppose you manage a warehouse or industrial facility? You need to keep your workers, your building, equipment and products safe. In fact, it is the mixture of all of these elements, coming together in the same confined space that presents you with one of the biggest safety challenges. Statistics confirm that a significant number of accidents – some fatal – occur in these facilities every year.

Safety is Priority #1. It’s also something that can’t be put on the back burner. It can be expensive, it takes time and everyone has to buy into the plan. It’s hard. But with safety there’s no waiting until the timing’s better, or until you have the money: there’s no guesstimating the odds on that accident happening. It will happen. There’s no waiting to purchase safety equipment because it’s too expensive; the price of an accident and the damage it can cause is much steeper.

Please, be prepared. In the long run, you’ll thank yourself. Your employees will thank you too.

Posted by MJ Thomas