Why Safety Labels Matter?

One man joined a team of construction workers. Because he was not proficient in English, he spoke little with the other members of the team, and was never told that he must wear a helmet for his protection throughout the day.  There were no warnings or reminders that the man recognized or could comprehend advising him to protect his head.  He worked for a short while with no helmet or head covering.  Suddenly, a nail gun was triggered by accident.  The nail from this gun punctured his head all the way through to his skull.  Ultimately, the man was left with severe brain damage.

A metal box which sat outside of a housing project was damaged during the night.  In the morning, a woman saw that it had been opened, but was unable to discover whom she should call about the situation, as the warning label displayed no phone number to call in an emergency.  The woman had no way of knowing how dangerous the box, which was in truth a pad-mounted transformer, might be.  She went inside to figure out whom she should inform about this problem.  While she was inside, a young child, unaware of the danger, approached the box.  She suffered extremely severe burns and lost both of her arms.

A young boy, only ten years of age, was playing alone.  Bored, he began to take apart the volleyball net that his family kept in their backyard.  He took two of the stakes from the net, and fixing them together, reached up to the lines running high above his head. Extraordinarily, the boy was not killed, but all of his limbs were blown off by the power of the line.

One man began working the night shift seeing to the upkeep of some of a plant’s equipment, and was told to inspect the generator.  Bringing with him a metal screwdriver,  he approached the machinery, but unaware of the danger in this he passed near an electric busing. An arc flashed over his metal tool, and the man was severely burned.  He ultimately became permanently handicapped.  No safety or warning label had cautioned him about the danger of using such a tool.

A few men went out in a light dinghy to fish.  They had heard that the churning of the water on the other side of a dam had brought the fish to the surface.  Yet these men were not conscious of the danger which awaited them if at any time a surge came over the dam. They saw no warnings.  Soon a surge overcame them and capsized the small dinghy.  Despite the fact that all wore life preservers they were trapped beneath their boat and none of them managed to survive.