Who’s on First?

“Who’s on First?” from The Abbott & Costello Show

The YouTube link we are sharing is a comedy classic! Watching it probably made you smile. It is also a good demonstration of how we can think we are being clear when we are not. And when we, as safety professionals, are trying to convey safety concepts and rules, clarity is essential.

Look at this picture:

You probably recognized the placard. It’s an NFPA diamond that is intended to alert first responders and anyone around to the hazards of chemicals that are inside a tank or building. In this case, the placard is on the door to a building. Are you positively sure what level of hazards are in this building?

Would you know what degree of prevention and caution to use if you were going to work in this building? The blue field, which indicates health hazards, displays a 3. Or is that a 4? The red field indicates the degree of fire hazards in the building. Is that a 3 or a 1? The number 1 on the right, which is over a 2, should be in a yellow field (for reactivity), but the yellow has faded. We can understand trying to reuse the obviously older placard, but the message it is trying to tell us is not completely clear, and could potentially cause an incident.

The point we are making is that when we want to send a message about how people can be safe and give information that will help people to go home at the end of their work shift, we need to be crystal clear. There is little room for ambiguity.

Weekly Safety Challenge

Have you ever received a message about safety concerns or hazards that was not completely clear? What did you do? How did you react?