Welcome back.  May I wish those of you who celebrate a Very Happy Holiday and to everyone else, a very Merry Christmas.

While I am writing this final blog of 2017, a worker somewhere in this great country, maybe a mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, son or daughter has just died on the job in an industrial accident and will not be opening presents with the family.  Their absence magnified by the empty spot on the couch, missed voice at the dinner table while the hole in your heart and your life is filled with loving memories of the essence and being that once was.  Was their death the result of a company that failed to provide the proper PPE and corresponding training or was it the result of equipment not maintained and in serious need of repair or could their death have been of their own error in judgement due to fatigue or letting their guard down for a moment, cutting a corner to get out of work and home sooner?

Over 4,000 did not come home from work. That’s why we never keep quiet about safety.  Maybe now with the massive corporate tax break companies will no longer have an excuse that they can’t afford a safety program.  Time will tell if companies like Goodyear Tire (see story below) will put their tax windfall to good, like fixing their facility so folks don’t think they’re working in a manure pit or will they just line their pockets?  We’ll see.  I had a landlord who greatly enjoyed his way of life.  He had no incentive or reason to change his ways, so much so that every time it cost him more to heat his private pool at his home, my rent would go up accordingly.  So only time will tell what will come of this.  Hopefully the good will come forth.

2017 was full of change for the good and the bad as human lives don’t see important enough anymore.  Laws are being removed or pulled back that protect the air I breath, the water I drink, the roads I drive on and the food I eat.  It seems the message if there is one is muddled.  Do they want me to be successful and live or perish and die.  Not really sure, but I can tell you, Companies Behaving Badly will be back in 2018 and we’ll make sure that those who get coal in their stockings will have a spotlight on them to protect workers and those who do good will be cheered.

Horrible conditions and lack of a good safety program kills productivity and increases employee sick calls and turnover —Treading Dangerously: Lax Safety Inside Goodyear Tire Plants .  This is just a serious indication of what poor leadership is capable of doing.  People shouldn’t have to work in conditions like this and the plant manager should know this and in fact should be shown the door, but instead will probably get a bonus to keep expenses low.  Never keep quiet about safety.

What boys being boys do when they are brain dead?  Firefighters free YouTube prankster who cemented head into microwave.  Yep, that’s right.  I can’t make this up folks.  It’s also why accidents continues to be the number 3 killer of men.

Thank you all for your support this year and stopping by to read the blog.  It’s meant a lot to us.  Please remember you are not the only one on the road so don’t drive distracted or drunk and there are so many other alternatives to getting to your destination safely.  Until next year, never keep quiet about safety for the life you save may be your own.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.