Hurry-up Can Hurt

Sports cars that hurry over a designated driving course in competition with other cars are usually marked with racing stripes. Merthiolate and bandages are the racing stripes people often wear when they’ve hurried on the job.

Even people who have never been known to do most things speedily will sometimes hurry through certain activities. Frequently used sayings concerning this kind of behavior include "haste makes waste" and "the hurrier I go, the behinder I get." Even more closely associated with safety is "hurry-up can hurt."

In most instances, hurrying on the job has little to do with increased production. It usually is connected with attempting to do something the easy way, getting a tough job over and done with quickly, or getting off the job as soon as possible. All of these reasons for hurrying lead to unsafe acts and injuries.

The rally driver may "lose it" on a curve when going too fast or knock down pylons by cutting it too short on the turns. We have similar results with unwarranted hurrying and shortcuts on our jobs. For instance:

• Not wearing safety glasses because the job will take only a second
• Charging through a door without regard for fellow employees right behind or ahead of you
• Not taking time to properly lock out and tag machinery before beginning maintenance or repair activities
• Carrying a heavy object without first planning a safe, unobstructed route—or trying to carry too much at once in order to avoid making a second trip.

Sometime, think back to an incident when you either got hurt or came very close. When you review the circumstances of the accident or near-miss, there’s a good chance that hurrying was part of your difficulty. If you took a shortcut, you probably realize, as most of us do sooner or later, the shortcut really didn’t save any time and wasn’t worth the risk involved.

However, it should be pointed out that faster ways of doing things may be beneficial. If you think that there is a way of getting a certain job done more quickly, by all means bring it to the attention of your supervisor. But don’t proceed to use the new method or make any changes without first getting them approved.

Some speeding up of operations is a natural outcome of experience, as we become more familiar with our jobs and therefore more efficient. But there comes a point at which increased speed through experience becomes negligible, while the danger of not remaining alert on the job grows.

As mentioned earlier, a lot of us get into trouble hurrying to get off the job. Hurry-up can hurt in the parking lot and on the road, too.

Wherever they happen, and for whatever reason, accidents cost money. So, using common sense to pace our actions at a rate that is both safe and productive works to everybody’s benefit.