They say, ‘time flies when you are having fun.’ Well I must have had heaps of fun as the Christmas and New Year holiday has been and gone in a blink of an eye.
After a week and a half of turkey, ham, alcohol, and everything else we tend to overindulge in during the festive season, it’s time to get back to reality. When back to work we tend to share the stories of family adventures during the holidays with our colleagues. How your nephew fell of the skateboard that you gave him for Christmas causing a fractured wrist. How your daughter received the same doll from her aunty and the next-door neighbour. How your great aunt nearly choked on a turkey bone at the dinner table.
Here’s one story of mine: I just opened a package holding a new iPhone 10. In about a ½ hour, we were heading to the shops to get protective covering to prevent the glass from shattering. During the wait, I was walking my nearly 2-year-old daughter in the pram trying to get her down for a nap. For a moment I thought I should put the phone away, just in case. Thinking it was only a 10 minute walk from home and “really, what are the chances something could happen in such a short time?”. It was a hot, 40 degree day and my daughter seemed restless. She was resisting the nap. I lifted the pram lid to speak to her, phone in hand. She kicked and my brand new phone hit the concrete. It shattered. I didn’t even have the phone for a full day. This version of phone has just been released and the shops I’ve been too cannot even fix them yet. My new iPhone is now sitting in its box, waiting to be fixed. I should never have been using my new phone without a protective cover but I was too excited to start using it and now have to wait and pay for this mistake (in excess of $400 is what I’ve heard!). It’s a small mistake, but one that I have definitely learned from.
It’s stories that keep us involved. It’s how we learn from other people’s experiences. It is how mankind is where it is today. How can stories help reduce risk and injury in the workplace? Can something that happened overseas last year affect how safety is managed in your workplace? It may. Only if we share the story. Providing details of real life events can shape a culture. It can have an overwhelming effect on how we do things at work.
This year, why not make it a constant habit to share stories. Stories of failure, stories of success. Stories that send a message. What is your story?
