There has been a huge amount of focus since early last year on reducing the spread of COVID-19, and rightly so. It is the deadliest pandemic that the country and the world have faced in over 100 years.
For people whose jobs are not the sort that can be done from home – duct cleaning comes to mind, but so does the work of most of the customers that we at Airways serve – those safety protocols probably made a huge difference in keeping people healthy and saving lives.
But for those of us whose jobs are still on site, it is important to remember that all of the potential safety hazards that were there before the pandemic are still there, and not lose sight of the other safety practices which have nothing to do with COVID but can be as important.
Airways Systems, other contractors who come to your site to serve you, and your operation all benefit from well-thought-out and well-followed safety training. I don’t need to tell you of all the costs, physical, financial, and otherwise, to the individual and to the operation, of having people get hurt on the job.
As contractors who do our work at customer sites, we have the special challenges of not being able to completely set up or control our work environment, or to see and supervise our people as closely. That’s not an excuse for anything . . . we still have to work safely. We need our people, and our customers, to keep the focus on all aspects of safety even as we fight COVID-19.
Vaccines and masks are important for preventing the spread of COVID-19. But they’re not a substitute for lockout-tagout, ladder safety, good housekeeping, use of other appropriate PPE, etc.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and safe summer!