Back to the '80s

Sometimes I forgot where I am when I wake up.  But I've never had cause to question what year it is until today.  At this morning's safety meeting, my manager shared how she made a non-alcoholic party punch for her New Year's Eve party that really helped her guests cut back on how much alcohol they consumed.  She said she used her recipe from the 1980s and it was a huge hit.

Following the meeting, I walked back to my office and passed a woman wearing these in black:

Since when do they make shoes with Koosh balls on them???

He Did What???

I completely understand the focus on safety in natural resources industries.  It’s a dangerous business and constant vigilance is necessary.  Being office rather than field based, I’m often subjected to the oddities that result from this culture.  Sitting at a desk rather than on a rig or in a pit means that the heaviest machinery I come in contact with is the car or bus on my commute to and from work, my keyboard and my calculator.  Unlike our field counterparts who have safety shares involving possible life or death situations, or severe injury at the very least, my co-workers and I talk about the ‘danger’ of knives in the kitchen, light bulbs out in the stairwell and tripping hazards from open desk drawers and purses left on the floor.

Today’s safety share, based on an actual recorded injury in the office, takes the cake though.  An anonymous colleague got a paper cut in his eye when removing a poster from the wall.  No joke.  We’ve been advised to consider wearing safety glasses when posting or removing papers from walls.  I’m contemplating hanging this by the copy machine:

Australian Headlines

Every week at work we have a meeting that starts with a series of safety shares.  Through these I have learned about some of Australia's deadliest animals, including snakes, spiders and sharks.  Some safety shares are about the latest beach to be closed from a shark spotting while others talk about the latest deadly insect that they've been seeing an abundance of in their gardens.  One share involved my manager telling everybody how he had steered slightly out of his way to run over a snake in the road.  He thought he was doing his town a favor, since he was driving by a playground.  A lengthy discussion ensued as to whether or not he had helped or harmed the community as other snakes might fight over the new territory and become more aggressive.

Stories like these aren't uncommon, as evidenced by some of the latest local headlines:

• A Darwin schoolgirl reached into her backpack to find a snake, luckily a non-venomous variety.
•  A man working on his computer at home, barefoot, was bitten on his toe by a western brown snake and killed.

No wonder we see signs like these everywhere: 

That photograph was taken during my recent visit to Cape Leeuwin, a lighthouse on the most south-westerly point of Australia, where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean.  After paying admission for the grounds, the groundsman pulled out a series of photographs of snakes that can be found on the property, including the deadliest snake in Australia.  Great way to kick-off the visit!

Kangaroo Crossing

I have endless stories to post about my visit to site earlier in the week once I recover from my 4:00AM departure to the airport.  In the meantime, I'll leave you with this snippet from the trip:

Manager (M) driving the totally pimped out rental SUV (flashing light, flag, and snorkel) down the absolutely empty, 100% straight road through the outback:  Have you seen any kangaroos yet?

Me:  Only in the zoo; I'm waiting to see one in the wild.  Although C (my colleague who was sleeping sitting in the backseat) told me that he ran over a huge kangaroo last weekend.  Or rather, that he ran over a huge kangaroo that the car in front of him had hit and then run over.

M: Yeah, 'roos are pretty stupid.  They'll hop into your parked car.  There are a ton around here though.  When I was living out here I hit three in one night.

Me:  Three?  I would have abandoned my car and walked after hitting the second one.  Wait a second, why are you the one who is driving with that kind of a track record?

My company is so obsessed with safety that I can't drive a rental car on site visits until I complete a safe driving course and learn to drive a manual, but M is deemed fit to drive with a track record of hitting three kangaroos in a single night.  And did I mention that he didn't realize the car had a sixth gear until he tried to reverse it about three hours after starting our drive?  Good thing I was decked out in head to toe PPE.  And I have to laugh because Western Australia might not have any semblance of style or designer brands but I was given Bollé safety glasses for my trip.  H might have been slightly jealous when he saw them.  I know what someone is getting for his birthday...

Obsession

Today another person asked me if it was true that in America you can make a right turn on red. Why are Western Australians so obsessed with this????? Why?????? In other news, after over three weeks of waiting for our modem and one missed delivery notice and field trip to the post office, we now have internet in our apartment. I am so excited!

And, for today’s safety notice, I would like to share one of the bulletins posted on the wall of the kitchen area at work. It warns that hangovers can cause injuries and contribute to an unsafe working environment. So friends, please don’t go to work hungover. Or if you do, be sure to wear the appropriate PPE.