by

I always considered myself a pretty safe guy. I have never had a major accident and, outside of a few fingers, have never broken a bone. I don’t parachute, bungee jump, cliff dive, taunt wild animals or participate in ultimate fighting contests. I believe in safety belts, air bags and anti-lock brakes. And, if I have to stick a fork in my toaster to retrieve a wedged bagel, I always make sure to unplug the cord.

It wasn’t until I visited Intel that I realized how unsafe I was.

My assignment for this issue of MRO Today was to visit the high-tech company’s manufacturing operations in Chandler, Ariz., and chronicle its best practices in the area of workplace safety. Upon meeting my Intel contact, site media relations manager Jeanne Forbis, we descended a stairwell to eyeball potential setups for the day’s photo shoot.

“Hold the handrail,” Forbis said in a lilting tone, which I took as a sort of playful, welcome-the-visiting-writer joke.

I thought, “I get it. I’m doing a cover story on safety — at a manufacturing company, with sophisticated machinery, with plenty of workplace hazards, with employees who walk the plant floor in full-body protection suits — and she is tisking me about the stairs.”  That is pretty funny, or so I thought.

“Really, Paul. You have to use the handrail,” Forbis said firmly.

She wasn’t kidding. I received a quick overview on the dangers of stairwells. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 13,000 lost-worktime accidents occur in manufacturing each year as the result of “falls to a lower level.” An additional 10,000 cases stem from “slips, trips and loss of balance.”

Humbled, I tried to remember the stairwell safety thing for the remainder of my stay at Intel. I occasionally caught myself in violation, but before I could reach for the railing, an Intel employee would blurt, “Please hold the handrail.”

“Damn it!” I muttered, scolding myself. Old habits are hard to break. But I began to concentrate on this simple task. Intel’s focus on safety started to grow on me, and I felt kind of flattered by this concern for my well-being. At the conclusion of my visit, I actually believed that I was a safer person.

I returned to my rental car and cracked a smile as I replayed the stair incidents. I unlocked the doors, got a suitcase out of the trunk and prepared to move it to the back seat.

This article appeared in the Aug./Sept. 2002 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright, 2002.

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