Checking Out For Others

My son works for a manufacturing company in Lindsay; he was asked to do overtime in the engineering department on a Sunday. The gate was open when he arrived and he parked close to the building, the person who opened the gate however, left while he was still working and locked it. Now his car was locked in. The problem was soon sorted as there is a key kept in the building his supervisor was able to help direct him to. However, it got me thinking how often we do this both literally and figuratively. The other person did not set out to lock the gate with someone inside. I am sure they simply knew that they had unlocked it for their entry and now needed to lock it. There was an attention to detail and a focus on the role they were playing individually, the presence of the extra car was just missed. We all do this, focus on our liability, our responsibility, our role and sometimes miss the others, the contributions, the cautions, the additions that people are making. None of it intentionally, but rather from a lack of time and space to perhaps, scan the scene, take stock, look up from the work at hand. It is so disappointing when you are the person whose contribution was not noticed or was missed. Our health and safety committee would always recommend that we survey the scene, check for hazard and in this case, check for others. Notice who is there, who helped, who is on your side and make sure you don’t leave them behind.