Chief Bob Mann of the Western Coventry Rhode Island Fire Department recently shared this thought with me and I thought I would pass it on. As he watched another safety professional from a utility company work, he got a unique insight into applying this to the fire service's own view of safety. I could see myself in this same situation and maybe it is good to stop and reflect now and again and look and watch others as they perform safety actions in their own fields.
Thanks for sharing Bob.
"An Average Run"
Recently I responded on a mutual aid run to another department for a building fire. When the Chief of
the primary department arrived on scene he reported an electrical fire on the outside of the building,
and requested the local electrical company to shut off the power ASAP. This was necessary so the
fire could be completely extinguished. The fire was caused by a faulty electrical service on the outside
of the building. The first engine on scene extinguished the basic fire with a dry chemical extinguisher.
When the electrical company arrived, they disconnected the electrical service from both the utility
pole and from the building side of the service. There was also a supervisor from the electrical
company on scene. Fire investigators arrived and wanted to gain access to the meter socket, but there
was a special lock that prohibited anyone without a special tool to gain entry to the meter box. The
supervisor of the electrical CO called for a meter person to respond and open the meter box. When
the person arrived to open the meter box, she walked over to the box, determined what she needed
and returned to her truck to get the necessary tools. Remember the power had been cut and the cable
from the pole to the building had been removed. There was no way on this green earth that there was
power to that electrical meter. When she returned to open the meter she had on a hard hat, safety
glasses and rubber gloves to protect from electrical shock. I thought why is she wearing all this safety
equipment, the power is without a doubt cut, and there is no way she would get a shock? Then I
thought why NOT wear all the safety equipment. It doesn't do us any good sitting in the truck. My
point is that regardless of the situation we are going into that we should be prepared to the best of our
ability and at least wear any and all of the safety equipment that is provided for us. I for one am
hoping to retire as a healthy individual and not retire on a medical disability due to a complacent
attitude about safety equipment or an "average" run.