Have you ever seen the Wizard of Oz? It is a classic and I highly recommend it, even as an adult first-time viewer. But the theme of the movie can relate to the safety profession. During my internship in the summer of 1992, I worked with a great safety professional, Garth Newman. Garth was preparing for retirement and he told me I was his “last project”; I was not sure what that meant in the beginning but by the end of that summer I knew exactly what he meant. On our first flight out to Montana, he told me… The Safety profession is like the wizard of OZ. We have people who:
- are lost and spinning out of control while living in a fantasy world (Dorthy)
- have no heart (Tin Man)
- have no moral courage (Lion)
- have no brain (scarecrow)
Supporting this cast, we have:
- wicked witches
- flying monkeys who just fly in crap all over you, and fly away
- and those who claim to know it all, but hide behind a curtain and yell at everyone when times get tough
Which safety professional do you want to be?
Be a LEADER who is grounded in OSH FUNDAMENTALS, who is in this profession to make a difference and will stand up for the workers who are performing the at-risk tasks and will ALWAYS be in learning mode so we can be the very best safety professional possible. After all, if we do not think our job/role is the most important in an organization, why would we expect anyone else to.
