July 1960 — VOL. 41, No. 5 —
Safety is a Personal
Thing
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In a world where international discussion is on the level
of hydrogen bombs it is difficult to focus attention on personal
survival in the home, at work, and at play. Yet the danger
of death and disablement resulting from everyday accidents
is real and immediate - and every person can do something
about it.
Safety is a personal thing. The very simplicity of this
fact makes it necessary to repeat it often.
Most accidents are caused by ignorance, carelessness, selfishness
or impatience, and all these accidents can be prevented.
There is no immunity from danger: the thing to know is how
to meet it. They are unfortunate people who imagine that life
can be wholly secure and certain. Man has been living on the
earth for perhaps a quarter million years, and during almost
all of that time his life has been one continual struggle
to keep himself alive and to bring up his children.
Self—preservation is an instinct in all animals. It
dominates the bird that alights on your bird bath just as
it does the antelope that tremblingly approaches an African
water hole and furtively drinks. A few seconds of inattention
may mean that the bird falls prey to a cat, or that the antelope
is killed by a lion. Nature holds all creatures accountable
for their involuntary as well as their voluntary behaviour,
and man is no exception.
Instinct alone will not save us, although it does wonders.
Under the pressure of necessity it has the big advantage of
not stopping to deliberate: it acts. But instinct should be
our last defense. All that we can do to meet danger should
be planned in advance. This is a personal responsibility from
which we cannot escape.
It is not enough to put a guard around the physical hazards.
We must put a guard around our thinking also. Consider our
emotions. Even if the conduct of other people has been the
cause of our emotion, it is really we ourselves who have created
the resulting danger by the way in which we have reacted.
When we see a car weaving dangerously on the highway we don't
say "that car is behaving dangerously", but "that is a dangerous
driver." Our best guards are between our ears.
These guards must be kept alert. Safety cannot be taught
in two or three lessons and then neglected. Some safety measures
can be made into rituals which we follow without conscious
thought, but we need to be on the lookout for little deviations
which introduce new dangers.
Safety versus bravado
He is a silly person who raises his feeling of courage by
the ill—considered acceptance of any and every risk.
Most of us have to guard against this temptation. We may be
driven by inner compulsions to indulge in dangerous practices.
A feeling of inferiority may break out in a determination
not to let another driver pass us on the road. We may know
ourselves to be timid, and do rash things to show our friends
that we are not cowardly. The dread of humiliation is a strong
force propelling us to do unwise and dangerous things.
We are subject to a constant conflict between self—realization
and self—preservation. A soldier wants to preserve his
life, but performs daringly because he wishes to be respected
by his comrades. A woman inclined to put on weight will diet
dangerously to keep her figure slim. Physical damage and mental
upset are often the result.
What shall we do in the face of emotional urges that drive
us into danger? Pay attention to the alarm bell; appraise
the risks; take the measures necessary to eliminate the danger,
or at least to minimize it. As Shakespeare put it in Twelfth
Night: some people are wise enough so that they can play
the fool - they know how far they can go in dangerous situations.
The time to be afraid is before the thing happens. A wholesome
fear will make us attentive to safety measures, and when we
have taken these precautions our minds will be clear to cope
with the situation.
But we cannot allow carefulness to paralyze us. If we wait
always until the outcome of our movements is certain, we will
never move. We must know how to take chances intelligently.
There are times to take risks; there are times when we must
take risks; but these should commend themselves to the rational
man as being worth the chance.
Irrational fear returns injury with compound interest. Fear
of being told he has a disease prevents a man from visiting
a doctor; fear of death prevents a man from making a will;
fear of a noise kept the diarist Pepys shivering under the
bedclothes while he imagined his gold was being stolen. We
can't go far in life if we row with one oar in the water and
the other on the shore.
Another sort of panic terror is that in which the victim
has no clear notion of any definite danger. This anxiety neurosis
feeds upon itself, makes existence miserable, and frequently
shortens life. It is an old saying that if gravestones told
the truth, nine out of ten of them would bear a line to this
effect: "This man's life was shortened several years by the
fear of bad developments, most of which never occurred."
Fear, then, while being a healthy safety device when kept
within bounds, can in itself become a menace to self—preservation
if allowed to run wild.
How to be safe
Most accidents may be avoided or prevented by the exercise
of ordinary common sense.
There are people who profess to scoff at safety measures.
Some drivers scorn the "stop, look, listen" signs at level
crossings. Some home workshop people read only so far as to
learn how to start and stop a power tool. Some office workers
go probing around a stalled electric typewriter with a metal
paper knife.
Education in safety begins with study of responsibility
- responsibility for preservation of our own lives and the
lives of others. It doesn't cease with stopping and looking
and listening - it goes on to think. People who refuse to
think about safety are setting the stage for tragedy.
The pity of it is that dully ignorant or actively careless
people do not harm themselves alone. There is no such thing
as an isolated human being. Our highways and our waterways
are dotted with the bodies of men and women and children who
were the victims of foolhardy people.
Laws are not enough to preserve society. The desire for
safety is the background from which has sprung some ninety
per cent of our criminal law. The Roman law said: "The safety
of the people is the supreme law." But until we desire to
live safely the law cannot be effective.
Those who are interested in educating themselves or others
in living safely will find many sources of information and
inspiration open to them. Free literature on the prevention
of accidents is available from provincial departments of health
and from the Department of National Health and Welfare, Ottawa.
The Government Insurance Agent, published by the Saskatchewan
Government Insurance Office, Regina, devotes many pages to
practical tips on staying alive and preserving property from
fire and other hazards. The Safety Counselor, Edmonton,
Alberta, gives current news and ideas about safety. If enough
residents in your area are interested, they can arrange for
a first aid course to be given them by the St. John Ambulance
Association. Or they may organize a Local Safety Council -
an excellent public service activity to be sponsored by town
councils, service clubs, home and school associations, or
other public—spirited organizations.
The adoption of "Safety" as their "good turn" in 1958 by
the Boy Scouts of the United States probably grew out of a
movement started in Saskatchewan some years ago. A report
of the Saskatchewan project, involving 8,000 Scouts and Cubs
and 3,000 Guides and Brownies, was published by the National
Safety Council in Chicago.
But the Canadian Boy Scout plan for safety education is
a continuing one, attempting to teach safety through skill.
Boys studying for proficiency badges learn safety rules under
such headings as "water safety, winter scouting, swimmer,
venturer, pioneer, pilot, pathfinder, mountaineer, marksman,
forester." For his first star the Wolf Cub must show that
he understands the highway safety rules of his province in
relation to pedestrians. This could be extended usefully if
the Cub were to pass on the knowledge to his car—driving
parents.
Education in safety will help us to adapt to new danger—bringing
circumstances in our environment. We are masters of our fate
only in so far as we are able to fit ourselves intelligently
to conditions.
Safety in the home
Because so many accidents which result fatally occur in
the home, the greater part of this Monthly Letter will
be devoted to the challenging problem of safeguarding parents
and children in what could be made the safest place in the
world.
It has been said by authorities that at least three quarters
of all domestic accidents are preventable. That places the
responsibility squarely on the senior members of the family,
not only to remove all possible hazards but to secure family
participation.
Good housekeeping - cleanliness and orderliness is a fundamental
of accident prevention in home, office and factory, and on
the farm. It prevents accidents by removing their causes.
In well—kept homes, offices and factories, there are
no loose objects on stairs, floors and landings; no articles
that can fall from overhead; no wet or greasy floors; no projecting
objects in hallways or aisles; no exposed nails or sharp pieces
of metal; and no sharp utensils or tools lying where they
may be inadvertently touched.
Here are some facts gathered from the records of many thousands
of home accidents.
About four out of five home fatalities occur inside the
house, and more than half of these happen in a bedroom. While
more men are hurt on stairs and steps, more women are injured
in bedrooms. Causes of bedroom accidents include: loose rugs;
smoking in bed; leaving clothes, dressing stools, chairs and
other objects where they may be tripped over; careless handling
of electric plugs; leaving doors partly open.
Having a handrail on every stairway is a safety "must".
When someone leaves an object on the steps, or there is a
broken or odd—sized step, or if the carpet is torn, or
when someone slips, many accidents on stairways could be prevented
if there were something to grab quickly. The lighting of stairways
should be good, Rugs should be well anchored.
Electrical hazards must be guarded against. Don't break
through or saw through a wall without turning off the electricity
at the main switch; you may strike a wire cable with fatal
results. Don't leave a fan, a radio, or a heater where it
may fall into the tub when you are bathing; don't forget that
even with the plug pulled out your television set is dangerous,
because the rectifier tube stores up and holds high electrical
energy; don't leave bare wires, empty light sockets or defective
appliances where they can be touched by chance.
Among danger spots in the kitchen are the stove, of whatever
sort; knives; electrical appliances carelessly used; lye,
ammonia, and cleaning fluids; open cupboard doors; slick waxed
linoleum; careless climbing to reach high shelves; and pots
left on the stove with their handles pointed outward.
In the safe home the bathroom is kept clear of loose razor
blades and safety pins. Medicines are in a high latched cabinet.
More than six hundred deaths due to accidental poisoning of
children are recorded in the United States every year. It
was said in the CIBA Clinical Symposia in midsummer
1951: "The number of children who have been accidentally poisoned
as a result of parental carelessness is truly tragic." In
Canada, more than 3,000 persons died in ten years as a result
of accidental poisoning.
What to do about it
Here is a programme of action. The home in which it is followed
will be by a big percentage less likely than others to suffer
deaths and pain and the cost of accidents.
It requires only a little time. The action can be made a
game, with everyone taking part. It does not demand money
expenditure, but it does need leadership and the overcoming
of listless inertia.
Let's start by making a job study in the home. What does
who do where? Is the environment safe? Are the tools as safe
as they can be made - properly sharpened, properly set up,
properly guarded? Is the worker well—instructed in safety
procedures and conscious of the danger element?
Some factories have safety committees: why should not every
home have one?
What is needed in both factory and home is co—operation.
The only effective way to bring a factory or a home through
a year without serious accident is to have everyone become
part of a co—ordinated effort to apply thinking, experience
and ability to the problem.
Such a committee in the home could be fun. First of all,
brainstorm the project: gather the family together and throw
on the table the problem: how can we avoid accidents?
If you are lucky enough to have a daughter who is a stenographer,
persuade her to take notes of all the dangers mentioned, and
give her time to add her own suggestions. If you have no stenographer,
do the best you can to put down in writing all the ideas that
are proffered by your family. Do not leave out any, however
trivial they may seem to you: these are danger spots perceived
by others.
Then, when everyone has exhausted his stock of thoughts
- ranging from the menace of that rotting tree branch in the
garden to the danger of parking a mop on the cellar stairs;
from the hazard encountered in walking across a newly—waxed
floor to that of using a makeshift ladder to put up storm
windows - then turn everybody loose on the constructive correction
of all unsafe conditions. Give everyone a sense of personal
responsibility for the safety of everyone else. Give everyone
something worthwhile to do.
As part of the project, draw a diagram of your home showing
the accident danger spots. Mark in red the places where accidents
have already occurred. List the safety precautions already
observed in your home. Have you safety gates to protect your
young children, a firm stepladder, a rubber mat on which to
stand when working with power apparatus? Are all your extension
cords in good shape and well placed?
There should be a continuing function for this home safety
committee, which should be a "committee of the whole". Here
are some suggestions:
Meet regularly. Put the date on the family slate or diary.
Discuss the near—accidents that have occurred; consider
new hazards that have arisen through the purchase of new equipment.
This rallying round to ensure the safety of everyone is the
backbone of a family safety programme.
Inspect the home regularly. The committee of the whole will
tour the house and garden to find dangerous conditions that
have developed. What about that tin of naphtha dad got for
his blow torch: is the garage a safe place to store it? Should
the stair carpet be moved so that the worn spot fails on a
place where it is not likely to catch a spike heel? Try out
the child's swing: is it well—secured and are the bolts
still unrusted and strong and the rope not frayed? Look at
the lighting: has someone hung something in a place where
it throws a shadow on a treacherous step? Ask your provincial
or municipal health departments for a safety check list.
Investigate accidents. Every accident is the result of someone's
carelessness. It is important to find out why it happened
so that a similar danger may be avoided in future. Did someone
throw a paring knife carelessly into the dishpan for the dish—washer
to grasp? Did someone put a carton on the cellar steps, meaning
to carry it down, and then forget it? Did someone neglect
to wipe up that grease spot on the linoleum?
Sponsor first aid treatment. Part of a kitchen drawer can
be set aside with profit as a "first aid centre." Have in
it always the things that are needed for quick treatment of
burns, scalds, cuts and poisons. Everyone in the family should
know what to do in emergencies, the amount of knowledge being
relative to age. The telephone table should have, prominently
displayed, the telephone numbers of doctors to call in emergencies.
Advertise safety. You can get small attractive posters from
the Industrial Accident Prevention Association, Toronto, and
similar organizations in other provinces. These apply mostly
to factories, but many are equally suitable for homes. Post
these, or home—made posters, at potentially dangerous
places: the ironing centre, the pressure cooker cupboard,
the workshop power saw or drill, the power lawn mower.
Plan special features. For example, once a year make a square
foot by square foot examination from attic to basement to
discover developing hazards before they reach a dangerous
state. This, done in the right spirit, can have all the interest
and excitement of a family Easter egg hunt.
It seems, somehow, that people on farms look upon "clean
up days" as something exclusively for city dwellers. But the
dangers we have referred to can be just as fatal in the country
as in the city.
Safety of children
In our way of life a child's world should be a place of
comfort, love and happy security, a good place to live in.
It is a fact, shown by statistics, that we are saving children
from smallpox, pneumonia, scarlet fever, and other epidemic
diseases that used to ravage them, only to lose too many of
them through accidents.
It is a tragic irony that accidents, largely amenable to
control, outrank by a wide margin every other cause of death
among young children.
Christian Smith, Director of Health Education in Saskatchewan,
says: "In the ten years from 1947 to 1956, almost 20,000 Canadian
children lost their lives in accidents. Conservatively, we
estimate that 1,500,000 children were injured in non—fatal
accidents. The yearly toll of children's lives runs close
to 2,000."
Besides the family sorrow that loss of these lives causes,
it is a national calamity.
Today's child, whether in the city or in the country, is
surrounded by lethal weapons, and we cannot escape the charge
that four—fifths of all accidents to children under five
years of age are due to errors of omission or commission by
adults.
During the baby's first year, outright protection is the
only course to follow, but education against accidents should
begin just as early as possible, and should progress year
by year. When the child reaches school age he must be safety—minded
enough to take care of himself in a world that can be very
dangerous. This education must anticipate, rather than follow,
disaster. One of the best booklets on child accident prevention
yet published on this continent is called The Vital Role
of Obedience in Your Child's Safety. It was distributed
to physicians and others interested by the American Academy
of Pediatrics, Evanston, Illinois, last year.
Look forward
When a man has escaped injury in an accident he should take
time to analyse what happened so that he may avoid the same
danger in future. How much did he contribute to the dangerous
situation?
The first question that should spring to our minds when
we become involved in an accident is: "How did it happen?"
It doesn't matter whether the accident is a little one, like
a cut finger, or a big one, like a fractured skull - find
the answer to "how" and you are forearmed against a repetition.
Let's give over preaching safety in a broad, grave, general
way, and pinpoint it as a personal obligation.
In the midst of our machines, our household appliances,
our poisons, our fires, and all the natural forces which we
have brought under partial control, we risk our lives every
hour of the day. It is only good sense, in this environment,
to become not accident fearing but safety conscious, remembering
that our safety is up to us - a personal thing.
Published by RBC Financial Group. All editions from the RBC
Letter collection are available on our web site at www.rbc.com/responsibility/letter.
Our e-mail address is: rbcletter@rbc.com.
Publié aussi en francais.
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