2023 RETA Breeze Jan-Feb

GROWING UP “COMPLIANT”

Dad explained the story to me and taught me how a good PSM program saves people from accidents like that. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had embarked on a path to be a compliance specialist. A path that began with my birth in 1995, the final implementation year for PSM. Over the years, I have developed my own beliefs. Many times, compliance responsi bilities are viewed as an unnecessary chore. This belief could not be further from the truth. Compliance responsibilities may be the most important day to day responsibil ity that we have. Do not misunderstand me here, there are portions I absolutely hate. Writing people up for safety violations must be one of the worst routine jobs. Punishing people who do not understand the importance of protecting their own lives is one of the most depressing things we do, but it is not as depressing as a death case. My dad dealt with two of them while I was a teenager. I understand the tears and the nightmares. Trust me when I say it is easier to fire a chronic safety violator than to attend their funeral.

That is the essence of safety and compli ance: preventing the injury or death of our co-workers, someone’s child. Every safety professional must take that duty seriously. When we look the other way, we are not being good people, good friends, or easy to get along with. We are playing roulette with their lives. We must enforce our policies for the good of our co-workers. Along with our primary responsibility of protecting lives and lifestyles, the threat to lifestyles is too often ignored. I think that if given a choice between paralysis from the neck down and death, I would take death. I would rather lose a hand than die, but would I rather lose both hands than die? Serious injury, especially around ammonia, can be a real possibility for the unprepared. When I speak of protecting lifestyles, I mean protecting the ability to hug your loved ones, play with your kids, or even go to the bathroom by yourself. Many people think, “Oh well, if something goes wrong, I’m not going to die.” But are you prepared to live with the potential damage your body may endure? Through other’s mistakes, I learned we must keep people safe.

// VOLUME 1

My father tells the story of my first PSM / RMP talk with him. I was playing with my Bratz dolls (way cooler than Barbies). Dad had bought me the Cadillac car with the radio that Christmas, so the Bratz girls were cruising in style. The television program 60 Minutes was running a story on the Texas City disaster. There was a picture of the Plant Manager; I believe his name was Don Paris. He looked like he had been through a war–tired, sick, depressed... just miserable. The 60 Minutes reporter went on to talk about the deaths during the explosion. As the story unfolded, the explosion was at

a refinery. A PSM covered process. Dad says I looked up from my car and said, “PSM? That’s what you do!”

28 RETA.com