Liability/Responsibility………………..hope this causes someone to do the right thing.
When I was a carpenter, and even today I am always amazed when people take chances with things like basic safety precautions for their employees or, in the case of remodeling, the home owners.
When the bulk of my work was stair rails I used to lose sleep at night if I had to leave even a few feet without a rail overnight in an inhabited home.
Let me share this story. Maybe it will be the thing that prompts someone to do the right thing instead of cutting corners.
I spent the bulk of my day today in Military Clothing Sales, Ft Dix, New Jersey.
My task was to wait, blackberry in hand, for the list of awards and ribbons I would need to pick up. These ribbons were for someone I knew. Not well enough to be called a friend, but certianly someone I knew more than just in passing.
He’s a Sergeant. He was once the boxing champion of U.S. Forces Korea. In the last few years he’d been having some struggles with his knees. He is a few months away from being medically retired.
While I waited I bought a new pair of sunglasses and had a bagel.
Finallly my blackberry chimed and a list of awards popped up in my e-mail, as well as promotion info.
Seems he had been promoted……………………………and awarded a Meritorious Service Medal……………………………………………..
POSTHUMOUSLY
He had worked this weekend. He, as he always did, performed his duties to the fullest of his abilities considering his medical condition.
He went home on Sunday after a hard weekend. He wanted to check out the work being done to his home. He ventured out on to some uncovered floor joists………………………..fell thru…………….got stuck………………and fell victim to what is listed on his death certificate as……………Positional asphyxiation.
The Contractor found him Monday morning.
Know this. Those few extra minutes at the end of each day to safe a job? Those few extra dollars to ensure you have the proper insurance coverage?
Well worth it, very well worth it.
Replies
Working alone is one of the most dangerous things you can do, no matter how "tame" the work may seem.
This guy........
.................was just a curious home owner who ventured out to look at the work being done on his house.
I know from experience that you can't keep homeowners from poking around after hours, but you still have to do whatever you can to safe the job before you leave.
As details come out it's not looking like much was done to safe this job.
What a shame that a man with this kind of human life value would go out in such a bad manner. A true waste.
Greg