Submitted by Steve Winicker.
LAST WEEKENDS SHOP ACTIVITY
Friday, I worked on getting the blow downs lapped and the boiler filled with water. Carl joined in around noon and DJ and Rob finished what they were doing on the Caboose and helped install some lube lines on the trailing truck. As best I can tell no one came out Saturday until Sarah and I got there in the afternoon. The gate was open so it might be the opportunity to say if you are the last one out and don’t intend to come back shut the gate. In any case Sarah and I cleaned up around the engine and worked on finishing off nuts and bolts on piping. I also soldered one of the lube lines that had not been finished. Sunday, Joe came out with plugs for the lights and Sarah and Joe worked on putting on plugs and hanging lights where it was easy to get to. The new lights are considerably brighter than the old. Carl and I finished up measuring the # 1’s back head sheet thickness. Then went out to free up the gas welder so it can be used at Beech Grove to get the cars we purchased ready to move. With gas and a battery charge, the welder started up and appears to run OK. Following that Sarah kept putting on plugs and making extension cords for the lights and I went through paperwork and went home to write this report.
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
Tomorrow we are going to do the hydrostatic test of the boiler. Fairly confident all will go well. Once that is done, we will ventilate the boiler and get the engine ready for an internal inspection next Tuesday. Next weekend we still have some parts to fit up. Hopefully we can work on the new air reservoirs and get them mounted on the engine. Likely there will be lights to hang and other details to go through. If the weather is OK we could do a boiler wash to get things ready to fire up the engine for the steam test scheduled for August.
SAFETY SENSE
If you have angry parties in your environment or you yourself are angry, you may end up reporting more injuries on the job. A recent study by the Annals of Family Medicine found that high levels of anger increase the risk of injury. Angry people are more likely to sustain injuries serious enough to require emergency medical care, and the risk is higher for men than women.
The study found that nearly 32% of all the patients reported being irritable just before they were injured, 18% reported being angry and 13% reported being hostile.
Anger more than quadrupled a person’s odds of being injured, while being hostile increased those odds six-fold. For men, the link was particularly clear. Another study that followed 100 drivers for two weeks linked episodes of anger with “near accidents”. Two additional studies found that angry people were more likely to have car crashes or sustain sports injuries.
There is little doubt that anger can be a contributing factor in workplace injuries, but what do you do about it? Here are some tips….
- Consciously determine to be calm.Don’t react, think! Remember your goals and respond appropriately. Choose to remain calm!
- Communicate.When someone upsets you, tell them. Calmly talk to them about how you feel about their words or actions. Learn to express yourself better… clear and composed.
- Remove yourself.Get away from the scene until you can respond without anger. Remember to relax. Remember you can reach out to someone you trust for help.
- Frequently take time for yourself.Do something you enjoy. Do something nice for someone you admire. It’s okay to feel good about yourself.
- Look for the positives. Don’t dwell on the negatives. “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Don’t worry about things that are out of your personal control. This is difficult, but an attitude and behavior that can be learned!
SAFETY IS JOB 1
SAFETY FIRST ALWAYS
