FAMOUS LAST WORDS - WATCH OUT FOR ANTI-SAFETY SLOGANS

  • Published
  • By Robbie Bogard
  • Air Education and Training Command Ground Safety Division
Companies spend billions of dollars every year coming up with catchy slogans in an attempt to sell more products. In the safety world, slogans such as "Click It or Ticket" or "Don't Become a Statistic" are used to influence behavior.

But in the battle between "good and evil," there are also many anti-safety slogans or phrases to watch out for and avoid.

Here are some sentences that can be traced to the beginning of many a mishap.

"I can top that."
This quote is often heard when the speaker is surrounded by many close friends, family members or others he may be trying to impress. Many times, "that" doesn't end very well. Instead of applying risk management, our "hero" is focused on showing off. Case in point, some years back an Airman was at a squadron picnic and did a back flip, landing headfirst into 18 inches of water -- a victory dip following a volleyball game. He was permanently paralyzed from the shoulders down.

"Hold my beer, and watch this."
Can anything good happen after this sentence? In recent issues Torch has published two articles that are perfect examples of this anti-safety slogan. In the first, an Airman asks his brother to hold his beer while he shoots at a street sign. The bullet ricochets off of a metal pole and strikes the Airman in the leg. In the second instance, a man asks his girlfriend to hold his beer while he sticks a rattlesnake in his mouth. He nearly lost his life when the viper sank its fangs into his tongue. Alcohol is known to decrease inhibitions and allows for a false-sense of security. The next time your wingman asks someone to hold his beer so he can try something, call a knock-it off.

"It will never happen to me."
How many times does this saying have to be proven wrong before people stop believing it? Just last issue, Torch printed two articles on five Airmen who were struck by lightning in two separate incidents. Are lightning strikes that common? No. Should you tempt fate during a thunderstorm? No. The thing is, you might edge your lawn 100 times without safety glasses and suffer no consequences, but it'll be the 101st time when it comes back to haunt you. Same with not wearing a seat belt or a motor-cycle helmet ... or not taking cover during a thunderstorm. The "it will never happen to me" attitude is one that especially affects the young who tend to feel invincible.

"That's the way I've always done it."
This gibe, depending on verb tense, is used both before and after an accident. If it is said prior to an accident, then this is usually a sign the person was overconfident in their abilities and likely had gotten complacent. After a mishap, chances are the accident investigator will hear, "I don't know what went wrong; I've done this task a million times." That's probably what the Airman who tried to slip through a hangar door without the proper clearance thought just before he got crushed to death. He'd gone through that same hangar door with that same unauthorized clearance plenty of times without incident, but it only took that ONE time.

All of these anti-safety slogans highlight the need for risk management and the wingman concept in our everyday lives. When these counter-intuitive words are spoken, there are typically several people present. Any one of these wingmen could call a knock-it-off and possibly prevent a tragedy from occurring. So, the next time you hear one of these comments, or any variation of them, be a good wingman and pull the offender aside to apply the appropriate level of risk management.