8-23-10 A Small-Town Festival

I had the opportunity to attend my hometown summer festival this past weekend. It makes me smile just to think about it. There’s nothing like a small-town festival to remind you of your roots…… But that’s another post….. Someday.

One of the events at the festival this year was bull-riding. Now, I have to admit that I don’t know a lot about bull-riding. But I also have to admit that I really enjoyed watching it in person. And yes, I know that you are wondering what in the heck this has to do with the new executive….. I’ll get to the point.

I was interested to see one of the safety measures that had been implemented in the sport. About ¾ of the bull riders wore the traditional cowboy hat. But about ¼ of them wore a helmet. Think in terms of the helmet that a catcher in baseball wears. After my initial surprise, I realized that it is a pretty darned good idea. Bull-riding is a dangerous sport. Broken arms, legs, or clavicles hurt like heck but they DO heal. A broken head? Not so much.

Yeah, you're still wondering… “so what”? Getting there……

I got to pondering why in the heck the PBRA doesn’t mandate the helmets for all riders. I mean, really, aren’t they responsible for the safety of the men that participate in the sport?

And that is where the executive comes in. In each of our industries and businesses, there are dangerous occupations. It is the responsibility of the executive in charge to ensure that 1) the proper safety procedures are in place, 2) that he/she follows those safety procedures, and 3) that his/her people follow those safety procedures.

I lead in a factory environment for several years. Two of our safety procedures were to wear safety glasses and to wear ear plugs. I never had a problem with the safety glasses. They weren’t pretty and they were often heavy, but I always wore them in the factory.

The earplugs, on the other hand, I despised. I had a hard time, when people tried to talk to me in the factory, hearing them with the ear plugs in. So I would reach up and yank them out, have my conversation, and then stuff them back into my ears before moving on -- repeating that many times during the shift. By the end of my shift, the inside of my ears would be raw from the rubbing of those dang ear plugs.

But I did it anyway. Why? Because it was my responsibility to set an example. AND, I never asked my people to do something that I wouldn’t do. So how could I get on someone for not wearing their personal protective equipment when I felt that I was exempt from it. Not the right way to do business in my opinion.

As an executive, give some thought to the relevant safety measures for your area. Then follow them. And then…… make sure that your people do as well.

Cheers!