Is An "Accident" Really An Accident?
A basic reason why we don't pay more attention to safety is that the
word "accident" is used incorrectly. The dictionary defines
accident as "an unexpected and undesirable event, something that
occurs unexpectedly or unintentionally, fortune or chance." I have
no quarrel with the "undesirable," but the belief that accidents
are unexpected or the result of fortune or chance is misleading.
For example, is an accident unexpected when someone using a ladder
reaches out too far and falls instead of taking time to reposition the
ladder? Does an accident occur by fortune or chance when a person consistently
tailgates and then, in a moment of inattention, slams into the driver
ahead of him? Is it fate when a boater drinks too much and then collides
with another boat on a lake at night?
The obvious answer is no! Most accidents can be better described as
failures; failures on our part and failures on the part of others.
A few years into the future, a new drug-resistant virus suddenly appears
in the U.S., striking indiscriminately: newborns and senior citizens
are felled; it takes a particularly heavy toll on teenagers and young
adults. Over 90,000 die each year, and millions more are disabled, some
permanently. A person will leave home in the morning and, later in the
day, a loved one will receive the terrible news that he or she has died
or is seriously ill.
The disease quickly becomes headline news. There is no cure, but preventive
measures are found and publicized. As these are developed, organizations
create elaborate plans to inform their employees.
Still the disease rages. It is usually contracted as the result of
an individual's failure to take proper precautions. Worse, many people
are infected as a result of others' failure to follow the preventive
This fictional virus would surely stir a national effort to find a
cure. Yet today, something is causing widespread death and injury on a
similar scale, and
the response is surprisingly muted. I'm talking about accidents, and
our apparent willingness to tolerate such a huge casualty toll year
after year, when good safety habits, practiced consistently, could save
thousands of lives each year.
The only acceptable grade when it comes to safety is 100 percent. For
example, in your house you might have stairs that you use thousands
of time a year. A grade of 99.9 percent isn't good enough, because that
one fall could result in a serious injury.
One purpose of this book is to alert you to the many hazards you and
your family face in daily living - from driving the family car, to cooking,
to swimming, to taking those first steps as a toddler. The goal is to
help you avoid serious accidents.
It wasn't too long ago that children rode their bikes through the streets
without wearing safety helmets. Car seats for children were flimsy contraptions
that offered no protection. Potent medicines didn't have safety caps
to guard against curious children rifling through the medicine cabinet,
and few parents gave serious thought to childproofing their houses.
Family safety awareness has come a long way since then, yet most families
still lack a systematic approach to safety. The information that is
available comes to you in a variety of ways - magazines, newspapers,
TV, and the "School of Hard Knocks." Rather than the traditional piecemeal
approach, this book will give you and your family an organized and comprehensive
way to address safety issues.
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