Are You Putting Safety First?

Okay, when I first saw this news article about an unfortunate soul crushed by wheels of cheese, I will admit, my first thought wasn’t about wide-format printing. Instead, it was a horrible feeling that the cheese has betrayed us all.

But then I got to thinking.

The cause of the tragedy was a shelf that gave way, dropping 25,000 wheels of cheese in an instant. The son of the man who was killed is quoted as saying he walked out the door just moment before the failure, and could have easily been caught as well had been even a second or two slower.

How many of you have a warehouse full of large, heavy rolls of paper to feed your wide-format presses? And when was the last time you did a safety check?

When was the last time you had an inspection to ensure all the shelving units were installed correctly? All the bolts are still tight? All the frames are still strong, with no stress points that come from years of holding heavy materials? That they were properly anchored into the studs? That the anchor points themselves are still holding strong?

My guess is that it isn’t high on anyone’s to-do list.

But this sad incident is a potent reminder of how quickly a single, simple failure can cascade and put lives at risk. Even if you’re willing to risk your own life by putting off regular inspections of your warehouse spaces and shelving, are you willing to do the same for your employees? Are you willing to send them in there day and day out, knowing at any time a freak accident — one that you could prevent today before it is ever an issue— leaves their family mourning?

My guess is the answer to that is no.

So lets all take a sad, timely reminder from this accident, and take a few hours this week to do a full inspection of our warehouse and storage spaces, and then make sure to schedule a regular inspection — once a year should be fine — to ensure everything stays safe.

After all, safety first isn’t just for wheels of cheese.