How in the world did you get into the hospital bed? Things are a little fuzzy, but you know it had something to do with work. You rack your brain and try to remember.
Was it that cigarette you were smoking by the gasoline storage area?
Was it that ladder you used as a scaffold plank?
Was it that baseball cap you were wearing instead of a hard hat?
Was it that clever idea you had about removing the machine guard on the electric saw?
Was it the body belt you used instead of a harness as part of your fall protection system? No, you’re sure you used a harness, maybe it was the clothesline you used asa lanyard.
Maybe it was that unmarked hole you fell through.
Possibly you merely fell 15 or 20 feet down from an unprotected walking/working surface because you tripped on your untied boots laces. No, you had on your favorite tennis shoes. Maybe something fell on your foot.
If you just hadn’t taken a double dose of that prescribed medication before work — the medication that says, “Do not drive or operate heavy equipment. Judgment may be impaired.” Maybe your judgment was impaired when you entered the permit-required confined space without authorization.
It probably wasn’t a good idea to splice that 220-volt electrical cord with Scotch Tape –particularly since you bypassed the fuses, and were trying to arc weld pipe together in a ten-foot trench with 6” inches of water, no shoring, and a gaseous, explosive atmosphere. Were you electrocuted, blown up, or just crushed by the trench caving in? Maybe a combination of all three? Maybe not.
Possibly it was that game of “double-dare” you made up where you do something really stupid like stick an electric drill in your mouth and double dare a buddy to do the same. He does and you have to top him by running the drill in your mouth while hoping on one
foot.
Wait a minute! You’re not in a hospital bed. You’re at home just having a nightmare. Thank goodness. The dream was all make believe — nothing like the above has ever happened on any job site. You and everybody you know constantly strive to do their job well and do their job safely. Right?