Photo credit: nasa1fan/MSFC on Flickr

Welcome to Speaking of Safety, a blog for starting and sharing conversations about workplace health and safety.

I’ll start by telling you why I’m writing this blog. It’s because I’ve been listening to people’s stories on the topic since I wrote my first article for WorkSafeBC’s WorkSafe Magazine in 1998.

I’ve spoken with hundreds of people who work in different industries, and many of their stories will stay with me forever.

I’ll never forget the nurse who told me how she felt when she accidentally poked herself with a used needle, or the carpenter who had to keep going back to hospital because of recurring infections after a small wood chip lodged in his eye. Then there was the manager of a team of maintenance workers who had to clean blood from a shower after someone had ripped out his own stitches during a psychotic episode. And I talked to a young man who lost the use of his legs but managed to retrofit a logging vehicle in such a way that he could go back to work.

These stories have stirred up many feelings in me – including shock, sadness, and inspiration – and I’d like to share some of them in the hope of starting conversations that might lead to real change.

Thanks to WorkSafeBC for sponsoring this blog and giving me a chance to tell these stories. Please note that any opinions expressed by me or my readers are not necessarily the opinions of WorkSafeBC.

Please e-mail me if you have any requests, suggestions, or story ideas. Subscribe and pass it on!