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President's Message - A Reason to Belong

2/24/2020

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I went to the Southern Oregon Chapter of the ASSP monthly meeting to hear a presentation on Safety Leadership from Brandi Davis, a member of the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Now some might question what an OSHA person knows about safety leadership since they just enforce laws, which is in no way leadership. However, if such a person would have sat through her very powerful presentation, he or she would have a completely new perspective on the subject. Obviously, most OSHA personnel have previous experience in the private sector, so it's no surprise that like most safety professionals, they know leadership is key to safety success. The perspective Brandi brought was very impacting. She used a series of bad accidents to show where various company leadership teams failed to lead safety. She showed how certain leadership actions could have prevented these tragedies.
As she presented, I was thinking about how we are very different people with very different work perspectives. However, most safety people, whether private or public sector, are looking for the same thing – to improve and sustain safety. In her description of one incident, she became emotional as she spoke on the tragic outcome of the event. Her emotions showed a truly human response to a bad human event that didn’t have to happen. That is where our perspectives joined on the same path. To this day, I still get very emotional if I happen to talk about the investigations of some tragic events that didn’t have to happen. Talking to a 14-year-old daughter whose father will never return home is imprinted in my mind forever. Seeing a wife and her two young children scurrying around a humble home while I talk to her husband as he sits in his wheelchair, knowing their life will never be the same again, can be emotionally draining. I realized that she and I are very different people, but our mission is the same. This is the absolute beauty of being involved in these meetings.
If you are not regularly attending these monthly meetings at the Black Bear Diner on the first Tuesday of the month, you are really missing out on an opportunity to share what you bring to the table and to learn from what others bring. These meetings give us a chance to meet people who have different perspectives and a variety of experiences. I find that attendees have different backgrounds, training, education, experiences and skill level. I see that they come from a variety of entities such as public and private sectors. We have attendees from schools, government, manufacturing, insurance, service, non- profits and many other types of organizations. Each brings a potential for supportive professional relationships that help us to become better at what we do and, yes, maybe we help others become better champions of their professional efforts. This is the beauty of these meetings; we are all on the same mission, but we can always learn from different perspectives that will show up at these meetings.
I hope to see you there in future meetings – I can’t wait to hear your perspective at improving and sustaining safety! It just feels like it’s a place where safety people belong.
​
Chris Lawrence
President, ASSP – Southern Oregon Chapter


With over 20 years in occupational safety and health, Chris Lawrence is a retired US Air Force Safety Professional who is the
Regional Safety Manager for Boise Cascade

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A New Decade Challenge

2/24/2020

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​By Amy Stonehill

A New Decade Challenge

In our fast-paced world, I sincerely doubt that anyone wakes up thinking, “Wow, I better be careful today or I might slip/trip/fall/get hurt”. And yet, this exact circumstance happens daily… to very unsuspecting, very busy people.

For me, it has to do with paying attention. I am a planner. I tend to be 3 steps ahead. I’ve always been this way. I’m already thinking ahead to what is next WHILE I am walking/driving, with the ‘assumption’ that everyone will just “do what they’re supposed to do” and I’ll just tootle on by and get to whatever it is that I am trying to do…

As life would have it, I have been caught in the freefall suspended moment in time on my way to the ground knowing, “Oh, this is gonna HURT!” more times than I would like to admit. In ponderingthe new decade, I came to the realization that perhaps slowing down – JUST A SMIDGE – might allow me to see that people/cars/stuff may not act the way I “assume” that they will. 

I decided to experiment to see if I could actually DO it. So, here we are in February 2020. And do you know, I haven’t missed anything “important” – I actually have MORE time than I thought I had! AND, I’ve avoided slipping on wet pavement or tripping over curbs. I’ve actually caught myself looking up and enjoying the scenery rather than rushing by to ‘get there’. The funny thing is, I’ve found when I actually DO have something important, I still get there on time, unrushed, and – dare I say – happier? What a concept!

In our culture where ‘being busy’ is HIGHLY ESTEEMED, where getting things done ‘FASTER! BETTER! MORE EFFICIENTLY!’ has now become the standard, perhaps we may miss the downside: more injuries. One thing I know: WHEN (not if)you slip or trip or fall and are injured, you WILL HAVE TO SLOW DOWN. But WHAT IF we CHOSE to go against the flow and – dare I say CHOOSE to slow down – to notice our surroundings? David Cassidy’s final words of, “So much wasted time” kindled something deep in me that perhaps I WAS MISSING SOMETHING… 

I would like to CHALLENGE YOU: Consider choosing to slow down. Who knows? Maybe you might find – as I have– that you not only avoid being injured because you saw something that you had time to avoid, but that this journey of life really is worth slowing down for.

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