There are a lot of obvious things that we're all aware of. For instance, we know not to step on the top rung of a stepladder or that we should always wear eye protection while using power tools that throw fragments. I won't beat that drum because we all know it well.

I have worked around very dangerous machinery all my life. Growing up on a farm with all the farming equipment and later working in a sawmill for twelve years taught me that machines don't respect flesh, so flesh needs to respect machinery.

Some of the worst accidents have come from a lack of respect for machinery. There are usually two common reasons for the lack of respect for machines; this includes things like power tools as well. They are: Lack of knowledge and Fatigue.

The lack of knowledge needs to be mentioned because I often see people using tools in a way that make them dangerous. We all need to be trained on the more dangerous tools so we don't become a bad safety example. I love power tools of all kinds, operating heavy equipment, and playing with all the big-people toys out there. Luckily, I still have all my fingers and toes after all these years of work and play.

Fatigue is what I'm really talking about here though. Learning to use tools and equipment safely is just a given, but we often dismiss fatigue as a hazard. In my modern day job as a Digital Communications Specialist, I often have to set up satellite systems on roofs. My hazards are Gravity and Electricity. I have respect for both, but after all my years of experience around dangerous equipment, I know that as my level of fatigue increases, my level of caution and concern for safety decreases.

When we become exhausted the potential for accidents goes up. Construction workers, manufacturing workers, and utility workers all know this fact very well. I try to teach this to homebuilders and do-it-yourselfers as well because many of them are first time builders and they don't know about all the hazards.

We all get tired and we can take small breaks to rest up, but exhaustion is where our physical and mental selves become impaired. When we reach that point, we need to back away from the project and get some rest. We can take it back up another day.

It's important to be safe because injuries are painful and expensive. They are also preventable.

Larry Angell