In Photo 1 we see an employee attempting to dislodge a cylinder piston from the cylinder steering rod of a front end loader. As you can see, he is holding on to the piston so that it will not fall to the concrete and become damaged when it comes loose. While this is thoughtful it also leaves his fingers in the Line-of-Fire. We believe that, in most cases, this operation is accomplished by leaving the nut in place (as in picture 2) so that the free hand does not come into play and the piston is still safe from damage. When performing this operation please follow the procedure in picture 2.

We have had more than our fair share of "in the line-of-fire" accidents this year. This kind of accident involves being in the wrong place at the wrong time and then coming in contact with some form of energy.

Sometimes it has been a flying object coming from an employee's own work effort. Sometimes this energy has been a flying object coming from someone else's work. In several instances this year it has been from a hammer in one hand being used to strike an object, but missing and whacking the individuals other hand!

As we go down to the end of the year – please keep in mind one of our important safety goals:

Always keep your "Position" (including all of your body parts) in a safe zone – in relation to the work that you are performing or the work someone around you is performing.

In order to effectively accomplish this requirement you need to Recognize any hazards related to your position; Evaluate those hazards to see how you may get hurt and how you can avoid getting hurt and then Control any hazard by adjusting your position, obtaining personal protective equipment, being careful to ensure your aim or by notifying your Supervisor that you can not safely perform your job due to a positioning problem.

Safe Work Efforts Are Appreciated by Everybody – Be Safe – STAY OUT OF THE LINE-OF-FIRE.