I have been involved with safety for quite some time now and I still don’t understand why some people disregard it or say nothing severe will happen to them. A major concern of mine is with people working around hydraulics, particularly when they are moving and not locked out. Don’t stick your head in that Kruger flap, and don’t operate the TR's without being cleared! I know we have been very lucky in the recent past not to have had a maintenance related death, and we certainly want no part of that, or even an injury. If you follow the manuals, to include company policy and industry standards, then you should not even be in the area of these dangers if not properly locked out, disabled, or correctly prepared. My point is that we do not need to be in such a big hurry that we sacrifice perhaps our limbs or life, or that of someone else.
Follow procedures. In this day and age these machines can be very unforgiving and we don’t need to rush anything. We also need to make sure that we are rested enough to perform these tasks. This means that you need to take your assigned breaks, to include lunch. If you indeed have to work through lunch, then put in for a paid lunch. In most cases you get a paid lunch even if your lunches are already paid for by contract. My point is that you should not have to skip lunch, as you need breaks during the workday and need to eat your lunch. This will nourish you and help you to get through the workday. This is especially true for those on the graveyard shift.
Tasks are becoming more complicated, and we as technicians are getting more and more of them piled on our plates. Make sure that you read and follow the maintenance manuals as they are continuously changing. You are the one that will get an LOI, not the company. In this more profit-oriented environment that we are employed in, we need to be even more conscious of our actions and to remember to CYA.