Under Each Hardhat
Under each hard hat is a man, or a woman, a husband, or a wife, a mother, or a father, a brother, or a sister, an uncle, or an aunt, a grandpa, or a grandma, a girlfriend, or a boyfriend, a good acquaintance, or a best friend.
That hat may be red, yellow, or white but the color doesn’t matter.
What matters is that throughout our day we remember that under our hard hat is someone very important. When you look around the jobsite, look at all of the hardhats around you. Each one has someone just as irreplaceable as the person under yours.
When you plan your operation, your day, your month, remember to include all the hard hats that are around you.
Power tools can’t recognize a hard hat.
A piece of equipment does not care what is under a hard hat.
The person travelling to work in a hurry because they are running late has NO IDEA what is under your hard hat. You need to protect what is under your hard hat. You need to make sure that every hard hat is in its place and knows what is safest.
Look at this hard hat. It represents the hard hat of the ones that we’ve lost in this industry. There is nothing under it. There is no one to wear it. There was a father, a son, husband, and a bestfriend under this hard hat. But they will never be under this hard hat again. This hard hat will never be put on a proud craftsman’s head. This hard hat will never again bring home a hard-earned paycheck, go to a toolbox meeting, or sit on the ground next to a hungry working person excited to see what their spouse lovingly put in their lunchbox.
This hard hat represents the most that we can expect if we do not respect the importance of what is under it.
Think about this story when you get to work each day and reach for your hard hat. Really stop and think what it means to put it on. Don’t just put it on because you have to. Think to yourself what it means to you, your family and friends that depend on you as you put that hardhat upon your head. Make yourself and everyone around you a promise, silent or otherwise to protect the most important thing on this or any other project, what is under that hard hat.
~Bill Whittacker