Page 9 - Alabama 811 Magazine 2017 Issue 4

he reeenl eyenls surrounding lhe iallzd and magic
I Nlgzrallack with lhe loss DfAmeucan solellers and
lhe ensuing barrage of news coverage from dlfler-
enl camps regarding lhe handling of vlrtunlly every
P aspeel ui lhe eyenls hlghlightzd, for rne, an rssne which is
roper
I l flzsl grapplerl wnh lhrs issue when wzaung the dual hats
of safety ufficlzr ana risk/loss manager for a large construc-
e rs p e c t | ve my are twn or
rlrmcnll roles to fulfill slrnnllaneonsly. Many years ago, l
M" W was asked lo asslsl a contmclnr who had been invnlved in a
fatal aecnlenl. Wllhout going into as specifies, lhe aeclaenl
was of a nature that lnyolyeal nol only sorely pzotucol but
also several regnlalory agencies and lhns a great number of
reannalanl anal sumetimes cnnfllctlng roles and regnlanons.
‘ nel ponreel over Lhe sale, our sole focus was on «he polennal
m llabilitles lhal lhe conlmclnr mlght have Records were
orrlererl lo he pnlleal, photus were taken, pzlpzrwurk ven-
m heal and re-checked, drug and aleohol pzotucols iolluwzd, all
with lhe prnnary fucus ui protecting lhe conlmctur from li-
ability, sallslylng lhe annerpalerl reanesls fmm lhe insunmcv:
carrier anal laying lhe fnundntinn for a alerense shonlal lhere
nlnnralely be a lawsnn
A~ the final preees of llns pnrzle were falling intu place, one
of my people called are to ask how lhrngs were golng. l re
ponerl much as l have noleal alreaaly ln lhrs preee, lhal (lungs
were coming tugzlher. lhere was a pause on lhe olher end
of lhe cunvezsalion. whal iolluwzd was his volcr: rennndrng
are that lhere rs notlung eorreel or easy when "someone goes
horne in a box" as he calleal it. lpansea anal reflected anal re
allzeal he was right l was embarrassed l apologized tn him
anal allsensseo lhe comments wnh the person lwas wurkmg
with. And nlthuugh these events were over a aleeaale ngu, lhe
ronnnenl has seryerl as a rennnrler for rne srnee
The natural thlng as to focus on Lhe rlslr anrl loss control snle
H151 and rorenrosl. And it Is a neeessary task. But so many
times, our sneeess or failure is gauged by how we prepare
for lhe zlftznnalh of lhese ealarnlnes And whrle lhls rs our
role, «he constant rennnaler that someone is nol gluing horne
lo Lhelr family and loyerl ones, or that someone has been
injured, perhaps affecting lhelr ability In pzrinrm wurk or
even daily life hrnenons have been lrnpalreal should be parl
= H of our focus as well
Iwish that nol only fur rnysell, but fur olhers, l eonlel arlvlse
Q lhe proper balance laelween lhe duality of lhe two roles
whall alo know is that any lime l arn Involved in or wrrness
an aeclrlenl, l panse anal think of lhe people hnrl in lhe ae-
m elelenl. II tempers any feeling ui aeeornplrshrnenl from dolng
W my jub as rrsk and loss controller. Perhaps lhal is «he way it
And lo the rernlnaer from «he beginnlng of (1115 essay my
memury was focused on four solallers that were nol going
horne lo Lhelr larnllles, lnsleaa of lhe polrlleal npheayal lhal
snrronnrleal it for alays Anything else rs seeonaary.
M. pa, llwlltly mtlmltm xwt4‘wl‘~‘ll1l‘lll apsr cnwcl on .<.. Co an,
ll/in ao.rn,. Mm‘/ol llmrc an so’ wrll< mg ,a,e,y>__ ,y ,,,,um, '
2017, one a Alabama arr . 7