This is a poem that I usually read at the end of each presentation. Thank you to Don Merrell for writing such an impactful piece. I encourage you to read this poem to your team at your next available opportunity. Remember, when you move safety from the head to the heart, you save lives.
“I Chose to Look the Other Way”
By Don Merrell
I could have saved a life that day, But I chose to look the other way. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, I had the time, and I was there.
But I didn’t want to seem a fool, Or argue over a safety rule. I knew he’d done the job before, If I spoke up, he might get sore.
The chances didn’t seem that bad, I’d done the same, He knew I had. So I shook my head and walked on by, He knew the risks as well as I.
He took the chance, I closed an eye, And with that act, I let him die. I could have saved a life that day, But I chose to look the other way.
Now every time I see his wife, I’ll know, I should have saved his life. That guilt is something I must bear, But it isn’t something you need share.
If you see a risk that others take, That puts their health or life at stake. The question asked, or thing you say, Could help them live another day.
If you see a risk and walk away, Then hope you never have to say, I could have saved a life that day, But I chose, to look the other way.
– Don Merrell
Thank you from Laurel and Russ
We do safety presentations, anywhere in the country, for any shift, in any industry. Unlike others who share our passion for safety, we will not review regulations and best practices, although the choice not to follow them is at the heart of our message and the life we have led for the past 29 years. What we will do is paint an unvarnished picture of what the future holds for workers who choose ease or ego over safety.
When your team is spread across multiple locations or gathering them all at the same time is a challenge, Russ and Laurel can share their message virtually.
“The first time that I saw their presentation up in Michigan, it touched my heart in so many ways and at that time I remember thinking “everyone in construction, manufacturing, general industry and even small businesses should hear and see this presentation”. Nobody thinks it will happen to them. When you hear how one disastrous decision can change an entire family, their hopes and dreams, everything they were looking forward to, and hear how it can be shattered in a single moment, you realize that you have to change what you do. How you manage your workers. Russ and Laurel’s unflinching honesty and often times brutal descriptions of how one bad decision has changed their lives in so many ways, is something that every worker should hear. “