A Halloween Safety Message (that’s applicable for EVERY day!)

Halloween (or Hallows' Even or Allhalloween or All Hallows' Eve) occurs this week and regardless of whether you have children yourself, or whether you partake in the annual festivities or not, you can't escape the reality that hoards of little goblins and gremlins and superheros and musical icons and movie characters (read "children") will be out and about this week trick or treating (or, for our readers in Europe, guising and souling) and having a great time.

While the costumes, antics, and pleas for "Trick or Treat?" are darling and fun to watch, it only takes one distracted child and one inattentive driver to simultaneously intersect to turn this fun event deadly.

As leaders of people (many whom have children themselves), we have a moral responsibility to keep safety top-of-mind for everyone—both inside and outside of the workplace—and not only for this week but for EVERY week. The HVAs in this issue of CORE Bites can be easily disseminated to your employees with a reminder that the safety practices listed should apply every day.

High Value Activity (HVA) Action Steps

Our sincere thanks goes out to our friends at Salt River Project (Arizona, USA) for making this important message a Safety Minute topic during a recent meeting I attended. The HVAs listed below are borrowed (with a few minor modifications) from the list of Halloween Safety Practices presented at this meeting:

For Drivers:

• Drive slowly and stay alert.
• Eliminate distractions.
• Take extra time to look for children in intersections, and at medians and curbs.
• Before moving your vehicle from a parked position, perform the Circle of Safety (walk completely around your vehicle) to ensure no child is anywhere close.
• Before backing your vehicle up, if you have an adult passenger in the vehicle with you, ask him/her to stand outside of the vehicle in an unobstructed position to safely back you up; if another person is not available, proceed very slowly.
• Stop for all children and allow them to FULLY cross in front of you to eliminate the risk of them darting out—regardless of who has the right-of-way (such as a green light in your direction).

What to Tell/Remind Children:

• Walk on sidewalks NOT on streets.
• Only cross the street at corners.
• Use traffic signals and crosswalks (when available).
• Look LEFT, then RIGHT, and then LEFT again, before you cross the street.
• Put your phone DOWN and your head UP when crossing the street.
• Have children learn to make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them.
• Keep a lookout for cars that are turning or backing up.

It only takes a few practical (and easy) steps to keep everyone safe!