-Carola Mittag
Whose advice do we hear the most and, listen to the least? Some might argue their parents, others may say their significant others or bosses or mentors. Who is our greatest critic, a parent, a significant other, a boss or a mentor? The answer is the same for both questions; it is us, more specifically our conscience.
By definition ‘conscience’ is the sense or consciousness of one’s own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good; an inner feeling or voice acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s behavior.
This essay is not a lesson in ethics, goodness or virtues but written as self-recognition that I do not always follow what I know to be true, important or even life-saving.
I recently returned from a driving vacation to South Carolina. Together with another person we decided to drive from the Niagara Ont. area to Greenville S.C. in one shot, roughly 1,250 km. We left at 4.30 am knowing it would be a trip of approximately 16 hours. We planned to take turns driving to give the other person a chance to rest. What we did not plan for was the almost consistent rain the entire way.
To begin, we started out tired, not having slept well in anticipation of the trip ahead. We did not count on the entire trip taking place in rainy conditions. And we did not realize that there would be mainly large trucks on the road for a good part of the trip.
As I was driving, I thought about all the truckers on the road and wondered how they could do this day in and day out. Now that I’m back in Ontario I looked up how many hours a driver can drive on any given day in Canada as per Canadian hours of service? The answer: 11-hour driving rule: A driver can only drive up to 11 consecutive hours before he or she is required to take 10 consecutive hours off. 14-hour driving limit: A driver cannot drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, following 10 consecutive hours off duty.
How many other scenarios can you think of where you do something that goes against not only the written rules, but also against what you know to be the correct way of doing something? It may be using a chair instead of a proper stepladder to change a light bulb at home “just this once”. It may be not wearing safety glasses “just this once”. It may be bypassing a lockout procedure “just this once”. It may be going up a ladder without proper fall-arrest gear “just this once”. The examples are infinite.
“Just this once” has been the cause of many needless accidents both at home and at work. “Just this once” is the only chance you have to prevent death which, when you think about it, is the ultimate “just this once”!
My conscience told me that we should have been better rested for our trip; we should not have planned to do the entire drive in one day and perhaps even postponed the trip by a day because of the dangerous driving conditions in the inclement weather. This time we were fortunate to arrive safely. Will I do this trip in the same way again or listen to my conscience? I only have one life. “Just this once” is not a chance I want to take again.
Watch for next month’s Blog published in the first week of June.
Sincerely,
Carola Mittag
Consultant and Editor for Mentor Safety Consultants Inc.