So you think you want to be a safety director. Lots of people do. But lots of them don't know what's good for them. Are you sure safety is the right profession for you?

When answering this question, don't just think about salaries, advancement and all the other perks. When I ask if you want to be in safety what I want to know is do you feel passionate about safety? Selling safety is one of if not the most important function of a safety director. But you'll never be any good at it unless you know for sure that you yourself are sold on safety.

Take the Benjamin Franklin Test

Benjamin Franklin did a lot of really cool things. One of them was to come up with a scientific way to make personal life-altering decisions. If you want to know if you got the conviction to sell safety, try the Ben Franklin method. Here's how it works:

Take two pieces of paper. On one, list all of the reasons you want to dedicate your life to saving lives and preventing injuries. On the other, list all the reasons you don't want to do this.

When you're done, the "Why" sheet should completely overwhelm the "Why Nots". If it's even close, my advice to you is this:

Look for another profession immediately.

Conclusion

That advice may sound harsh. But I tell you it's some of the most sound advice you'll ever hear. Trust me, that if you're not completely sold on safety, you're going to be a flop at this job. You're going to end up like one of those people who fill out reports and complain in the hallway that they don't have the money or authority they need to get things done.

You don't need that; and neither does the world.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY

Postage stamp depicting Jean-Francois Pilâtre de Rozier and his invention

June 15, 1785

Jean-Francois Pilâtre de Rozier was a chemist born in the French town of Metz in 1734. In 1783, while Rozier was teaching physics in Paris, he witnessed the first manned balloon flight staged by the famous Montgolfier Brothers. Rozier was bitten by the aviation bug and began doing his own experiments. In November 1783, he traveled 12 kilometers in a Montgolfier balloon, reaching an altitude of 3,000 feet.

Rozier would go on to conduct several more flights. But it was on this date in 1785 that he would meet his destiny. Rozier had determined to make the first trans-Atlantic crossing in a balloon. The Montgolfier balloon wasn't capable of such a task. So Rozier designed a hybrid gas and hot air model. On June 15, Rozier and a companion took off from Boulogne-sur-Mer. For a while they made progress. But then the wind direction changed and the balloon was pushed back to Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais within 5 kilometers of its starting point. Suddenly, the balloon deflated and crashed into the sea. Both occupants were killed.

Jean-Francois Pilâtre de Rozier thus became the first victim to die in an aviation accident. The balloon he designed is still known to this day as the Rozier balloon.

SAXCIES: HONORABLE MENTIONS
K Post Company

SafetyXChange continues its profile of worthy Saxcies nominees who fell just short of becoming finalists.

When K Post Company opened its door in January 2003, it had 11 roofing professionals with over 250 years of experience. Today our team consists of 175 employees broken down into 10 roofing, 6 sheet metal, 5 service and 3 waterproofing crews. Each employee strives to set the highest standard for commercial roofing, sheet metal & waterproofing in our industry. We all understand the expectations of the company and our clients and are focused to meet those expectations on a daily basis. K Post Company takes pride in our employees, who "make the difference" by setting this standard of professionalism. From day one, safety has been our number one priority. We have established a "Safety Culture" and expect every member to be involved in their own safety as well as their coworkers.

K Post Company has invested an average of 10,000 hours per year in paid employee hours in safety training. Every employee goes through an intensive 4-hour training class on the K Post Company Safety Manual prior to ever working on a jobsite. Every employee is required to attend a weekly mandatory safety meeting. We have two (2)  OSHA 500 certified trainers, one of whom is bilingual.  In addition to our in-house OSHA training, our employees also receive training in fall protection, forklift, crane, CPR, first aid and scaffolding from outside sources. Currently, over 90% of our workforce is either 10-hour or 30-hour OSHA trained.

K Post Company received the ABC Gold Safety Step Award in May 2005, for our first year in business and the Platinum Safety Step Award in May 2006. Currently, we maintain a .72 insurance modifier which is incredible for a fairly new company. K Post Company insurance loss ratio was 14% in 2005 and was noted by CNA that this was one of the lowest loss ratios recorded in Texas for 2005. K Post Company has always strived to provide a safe environment for all employees. From day one, we have stressed that we want every employee to return to their families every night safe and sound.

K Post Company's CFO and Safety Director - Jayne Williams, successfully completed all requirements and was entered into the National Registry on April 21, 2005 to receive the award for Construction Site Safety Technician by the National Center for Construction Education and Research. She was recognized at the ABC 2005 Safety Star Awards Dinner for her achievements.

K Post Company is solely owned by Thomas "Keith" Post. Keith has 27 years experience in the roofing industry and has assembled an excellent team that has been involved with over $425,000,000 over the past twenty seven years. Keith supports Jayne Williams and her endeavors to promote safety throughout the company. Jayne has instituted a program to provide annual safety incentive awards presented to the safest crews. The officers of K Post, Keith, Jayne and Steve Little, President, believe in being totally involved in all safety issues and they communicate to all levels of employees their commitment to a safe work environment first and foremost.

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