27 Monday Mar 2017
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I once met a man wearing a back and neck brace. Circumstances were such that during our conversation I asked him about his injury. He told me he’d fallen on the stairs. He’d been carrying a small load up the stairs and slipped as he was setting it down. Usually, we think of stair accidents as falling while going down, but I’ve said it many times before – at home, at work, in the yard, while traveling, or even while climbing the stairs, always take the extra time to…
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Keith Steele
16 Tuesday Aug 2016
Posted in Safety
An electrician once said I was obsessive-compulsive because I think a light switch should be down when the light is off — even for lights with two switches (a double-pole double-throw, or a DPDT switch). I think I’m old fashioned, not obsessive-compulsive. As I remember it, when I was growing up all our light switches were simply “up is on and down is off.” I can’t be too obsessed with this because, having lived in our house for several years, I have seven DPDT switches that I haven’t changed. I will admit that I’ll sometimes walk through an unlighted room so the switches are configured to my preference — with one exception. I always turn the lights on before I go down the stairs, regardless of the light switch being up or down. It’s another small thing that helps me …
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Keith Steele
17 Tuesday May 2016
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One day recently I needed to carry some couch cushions downstairs. As I stood at the top of the stairs, I felt my center of balance had moved to where it leaned in favor of the stairs. I took a moment to evaluate my options. I could throw the cushions down. But I’d tried that before, and the results weren’t good. I could carry the cushions down one at a time, but that seemed a little excessive. I decided to turn around and go down the stairs backwards, allowing me to drag the cushions if needed.
Here’s the safety tie-in. Every activity we undertake has some degree of risk, if it’s driving across town or across country, changing a light or walking down the stairs, or even cooking dinner. There is usually more than one way to undertake any task. My request is that before starting any task – and especially if it’s outside the normal routine – be sure to evaluate your options and take the precautions to…
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Keith Steele
03 Wednesday Feb 2016
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I enjoy audiobooks. There’s one trilogy that I enjoy, that I’ve listened to several times. Since these books have been made into movies, and since a movie from this series is in the theaters, I’m listening to the books again before I go see the movie. I found that since I know the story, I can use a faster playback and “speed” through the story. I’ve also found that if I get distracted or let my mind wander, I often will go back and listen again to catch a detail that I missed. All I lose is a little time.
There are some activities that I always do at a safe speed, regardless of how many times I’ve done them. I’ll use the example of going down the stairs, although I could use many others. If I miss a step, just going back to that step again can’t remedy any pain I may have received from a fall. I also make it a point to always hold the railing as I use the steps (and I know this sounds like a cliché) just to…
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Keith Steele
22 Tuesday Sep 2015
Posted in Uncategorized
On day at home I was using my laptop when I decided I wanted to use it downstairs. I made sure I had a good hold on my computer and carefully walked down the stairs. By the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, I thought it would have been better if I had closed the laptop since I didn’t save much time by leaving it open and running. I also decided that, in the future, I’ll take the time do what would have been safer in the first place.
Part of any good safety practice is to recognize when something could go wrong and take steps so that something doesn’t happen the next time. It is when we can see potential problems and are willing to make the necessary changes that we will…
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Keith Steele
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