Focus On Your Feet 

• by Tommy Cagle, Vice President of HSSE and Training

At Associated Terminals and Turn Services, our number one priority is safety. We employ safety measures, training, and campaigns that all contribute to our goal of zero injuries on the job. We recognized that slip, trip, and fall injuries are some of the most common types of injuries in the workplace, especially when working the river where we are exposed to hazards daily. Therefore, our safety specialists want to remind the Associated Terminals team to Focus on your Feet in order to maintain the prevention of trip, slip, and fall injuries. Our safety campaign, Focus on Your Feet, reminds team members to always pay attention to their movements and to take ownership of identifying and correcting hazards in the workplace.  

With the nature of work on the river, surfaces can often be hard and flat, slippery and uneven, or many other variations. On a typical workday, tasks can involve a parking lot of loose rocks, a walk down gangways for docks, boat decks moving with the waves of the water, vessel platforms varying at all heights—all with the possibility to have loose debris or obstructions. There are such a variety of different levels, barriers, gunwales, ladders, stairs, and more that all have the potential to cause harm while working. Even a freshly vacuumed carpet in an office can become a hazard if the cord from the vacuum is left stretched out across the floor! 

Regardless of the location or incident, you should always Focus on Your Feet to prevent slip, trip, and fall injuries. The following tips are some of the best ways to Focus on Your Feet: 

• If you see something, do something. Take responsibility for addressing hazards you and your teammates may be exposed to throughout the day in the workplace. This includes cleaning up spills, moving obstructions, removing damaged ladders from service, and most importantly using Stop Work Authority to address unsafe conditions or behaviors that are observed while performing a task.  

• Focus on where you are going, what you are doing, and what lies ahead. Distractions and inattention take the focus away from your feet and can result in a slip, trip, or fall.  
• Be sure to wear appropriate footwear for the worksite and ensure that the soles of your shoes have sufficient tread to properly grip the surface.  
• Visibility is extremely important. You need to see your feet and the path you are walking on. Make sure walking areas have good lighting and that you can see the direction that you are walking in.  
• Slow down and take the time to focus on your feet. There is no job or task so important that you cannot take a moment to assess the work area to ensure that slip, trip, and fall hazards related to walking and working surfaces are identified and addressed.    

Together we can reduce slip, trip, and fall related injuries. If you focus on your feet and correct hazards along the way, you will make the workplace safer for you and your teammates.  

Do you have an idea or suggestion that would make the workplace safer and to help in the prevention of slip, trip, and fall injuries? Submit your idea to safety@associatedterminals.com or safety@turnservices.com.  If your idea results in improving workplace safety related to slip, trip, and fall prevention you may be eligible to receive points for the Company store.