I know that every time after a series of slip, trip and fall events we remind folks that “Walking is Working.”  It is a gentle way to remind people that even the “routine” activity of walking to and from the job site does require a level of attention in order to do it safely and without getting hurt.  There are many places in which there is uneven ground, low level obstacles , or even ice that can impede our travel or cause us to slip and trip.  And making sure that boots are properly laced seems like a trivial action, but we have seen the impact and results in incident review meetings when those actual incidents are reviewed and a contributing factor or even a root cause is walking without boots laced up.  These are all important activities to continue to remind folks to do, because we do care and we don’t want to see people getting hurt.  

But I have noticed a new trend and one that escalated into almost a near miss for me this morning.  I have been noticing “people” for several weeks now as they walk around the administration areas during shift changes in which they are moving from the bus stops to their lunch rooms and trailers in the morning, and vice versa in the evenings.  And I am concerned.  I have noticed an increase in the number of people wearing headphones (of all shapes and sizes), not using crosswalks and sidewalks, walking down roads, and texting while walking.  This culminated for me, today, with a gentlemen walking through a parking lot nearly down the middle of the road, busily texting something on his cell phone all while wearing headphones.  I could see him coming with plenty of time and so I stopped my vehicle; but he nearly walked right into the front of the truck!  Had I been distracted for only a moment and not seen him he could have been hit and hurt.  I don’t really care how big and strong you think you are, you will not will a battle of “might” with even a light vehicle.  This fellow did see me at the last moment and we did make eye contact and had some non-verbal communication…. I think he got the message.  

This “incident” is a reminder for all of us and maybe one for us to remind folks about to take care when walking around the site – even when you are just moving from the bus stop to your work location or to your trailer.  I would suggest that people should not be wearing headphones until they get onto the bus or into their work locations as loud music or even a podcast can mute audible warning signs (i.e. headphones deprive you of one of your senses that can warn you of impending danger).  We should also remind people to use sidewalks and cross walks and to not walk on roads especially when there are sidewalks nearby.  And obviously, we should not be walking and texting at the same time either (i.e. distracted walking).

I don’t mean for this one to sound like a rant, I apologize if it does, but let’s make sure that we are reminding people that “walking is working” even though their shift hasn’t started yet.  When we are onsite, we need to be vigilant about safety, hazards and mitigations long before any one gets hurt.