DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK!

I remember a kid's face looking at the world in summer, a woman's smile, and the sunrise. Ever think about seeing a sunrise? Not usually, unless you're a poet or something like that. But I think about it a lot because for me, the sun disappeared and it's never coming back. And I say to myself, every morning I say it, I'm blind. Bitter? Sure, I'm bitter. But it's tough to throw rocks when there's nobody to throw them at, except yourself. When you open your eyes every morning and stare into eternal blackness, you say to yourself, "Okay, it's rough, but it was your own fault." The day it happened was just an ordinary day, but I remember every last detail of it. We had a good shop with a good bunch of guys. These fellows knew their job and they were proud of it. They could handle those machines like a knife and fork. And for me, things were going along pretty good. I could see the end of the payments on the house and I was in line for a promotion. Trouble was the furthest thing from my mind. I had steady work, good friends, my family, and I had my health. The world was okay. See? Trouble? Just a word. See? See? See? See? Trouble? See? Trouble? See? See? Trouble? See? See? See? See? See? See? See? From the time I left the plant in the ambulance, I remember thinking, "Get me my safety goggles. Just hand them to me and I'll be okay." Long afterwards, I was told I was on the operating table for hours. They were good men, those doctors, and they did the best they could, but walking into a plant without your eye protection over your eyes where it belongs is just pushing your luck. The pieces from that busted grinding wheel had hit my eyes like bullets from a .38. They told me later the impact was so great that if I'd been wearing my safety glasses, chances are it would have cracked the glass, but that would have been all. When it was over, they told my wife the bad news. I'd been blinded in both eyes and I'd never see again. So after 35 years of earning my own way in the world, here I was at the age of 50 facing life like a newborn kitten. Down at the plant, I had a reputation as a guy who could handle himself in any situation. But this being blind, there was no way I could fight my way out of this one and I don't mind telling you, I was scared. I tried not to show it, but I was scared out of my head. I felt bad for myself and for my wife, but not as bad as I felt for my son, Billy. He's a good kid and he deserves a best chance in life. Sure, I got compensation and we don't starve, but Billy, I'd wanted him to get a better start than I got. With my job and promotion coming, I could have managed college for Billy. Now I don't even have the joy of seeing him grow up. I manage okay, but those first few months were rough. In the beginning, my wife had to do everything for me. And don't let anybody tell you that that doesn't do something to a man's self-respect. The gal was great. I don't know where she got the patience. I wasn't the easiest person to be with in those first few months because I hated myself for my recklessness and stupidity in going into that shop without wearing my eye protection. It wasn't the first time I'd done it. So? So I pushed my luck just once too often. And now, instead of me giving Billy a helping hand through life, as I'd wanted so much to do, it's turned out to be the other way around. Bill Frank gambled with his eyesight and lost. You stand the same chance of losing your eyesight if you push your luck with the safety rules at your shop. And pushing your luck is just what you're doing if you fail to wear eye protection every minute on the job. The absolute minimum in eye protection is the standard safety glasses with side shields recommended by the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness. Side shields make safety glasses complete because they protect your eyes against damage from flying objects, no matter what direction they may come from. No matter what your job, there is a type of eye and face protection designed especially for you. Of all parts of the body, the eye is the most vulnerable, has few natural defenses. Moreover, the eyes are the soft entrance, the only direct opening to the brain. So your eyes and sometimes your life depend for protection on safety glasses, goggles, face shields, and other eye safety equipment. If you wear contact lenses, be sure to wear eye protection over them. Contact lenses are a double hazard to your eyesight. In welding and burning operations, you need maximum eye and face protection. This calls for tinted safety glasses worn under your welding helmet. This will protect you from weld spatter, sparks, impact, and dangerous radiation. When working in foundries or near furnaces, be sure you wear goggles that protect your eyes against intense light, sparks, and the hazards of molten metal. On many such jobs, a wire mesh or plastic face shield is also advisable. When grinding, it makes good safety sense to protect not only your eyes, but your face as well. Remember, it was during a simple everyday grinding operation that Bill Frank lost his eyesight. Proper eye and face protection is as important in woodworking and carpentry as in other shops. Wood, like glass or aluminum, is harder to remove from the eye in surgery than magnetic material. Slivers of wood can injure or blind you the same as metal fragments. Accidents with chemicals, whether acids, caustics, or alkalies, can cause not only serious eye damage and blindness, but permanent scarring of the face and other parts of the body. Here again, a face shield over your regular eye protection gives you maximum safety. When going from one part of the shop to another or discussing a problem with a co-worker, be sure to wear your eye protection. Even though you're away from your machine or have shut it off, that's no reason to dispense with the safety rules. Eye protection belongs over your eyes. If you leave your safety glasses or goggles hanging at your machine, perched on your forehead, or in your hip pocket, you're just pushing your luck. Wear eye and face protection from the time you walk into the shop in the morning till the time you leave at night in every part of the shop or plant. And be sure the men around you do the same. Regular street glasses are a hazard in themselves. The ball bearing is no match for a safety lens. When struck, that lens will protect the eye behind it. But when the metal ball strikes an ordinary lens, the glass is shattered instantly, hurling a flood of razor-sharp slivers in every direction. Imagine what will happen to your eyes if glass slivers get into them. Here are a few of the more than 40,000 members of the Wise Owl Club. Every member of this club has had his or her eyesight saved by wearing eye protection during an on-the-job accident. Ask any Wise Owl member and he'll tell you, when the stakes are high, 100% gate-to-gate eye protection pays off. No amount of money can ever compensate for the pain, torment, and grief an accident will bring to you and your family. The tragic fact is that over 90% of eye injuries can be avoided with simple, common sense eye protection. Bill Frank learned the costliest lesson of his life. Listen to him. Listen to him and learn. Yes. I remember. Every waking moment of my life, I remember. How the world looked before I was blinded forever. Many times I saw accidents happen to other guys, but I never thought that day would come when I'd be one of those other guys. Sure, I put on a big act and say I accept it. Only you never accept it. Because all I ever see is total darkness. Stop and think. If your eye protection is anywhere but over your eyes when you're on the job, you're gambling with a lifetime of blindness. Your common sense ought to tell you if you try to beat the eye safety rules, you're playing a dangerous game against the stacked deck. Maybe so far you've been lucky. If you have, take a tip from me. Grab your winnings, your precious eyesight, and get out of the game. Wear eye protection every minute on the job. In the game of eye safety, you're the dealer. Don't deal yourself out. Don't push your luck.