Sometimes it’s what you don’t write about that gets the attention.
When we briefly suspended our Safety Watch column in Equipment World earlier this year, boy did we hear about it.
“I was a little saddened to see that Safety Watch was missing in my January issue,” emailed one of our readers, a utility contractor in Memphis “I hope it’s only temporary.”
“I noticed that you didn’t include Safety Watch in your past two issues,” wrote a public works official from New York. “Will it be put back in?”
And a phone call from a heavy contractor: “Do you know if you will continue to publish those?”
Along with the requests, you told us how you were using this column:
“I’ve been tearing out your Safety Watch illustrations, which are extremely helpful with my tool box talks,” a New Jersey contractor told us. “I love that this comes out monthly so I always have something new to discuss with my employees.”
“Your SafetyWatch works out fabulous for our safety meetings. I’m always looking for fresh ways of presenting safety to our employees,” wrote a Michigan contractor.
Finally, “do you have an archive of them that I could forward on to my crews,?” asked another gentleman from the Montana Department of Transportation.
SafetyWatch fans, rejoice. Not only has the column been firmly reinstated in the magazine, we’re making sure you no longer have to get out the scissors or go to the copy machine the next time you want to share one. With the launch of the new Safety Watch section of our website today, you can go to equipmentworld.com/safetywatch, and quickly browse through more than 70 of our past columns organized by topic (falls, electrocution, trenching, welding, etc.).
And when you’ve found some you like, we’ve made it easy for you to store them, print them and/or share them with others. And, as in the magazine, each column comes in both English and Spanish.
We’ll also be adding new Safety Watch pieces to this new section of the site periodically so be sure to check back regularly for new topics.
As a side note, we’re also glad you recognized the work of Amy Materson, our managing editor, and our illustrator, Don Lomax. Amy keeps the message short and pointed—one thing our commenters especially liked—and Don’s graphics help drive the message home.
So head on over to Safety Watch and browse through. We’re excited to offer a streamlined digital product that so many readers have found useful over the years. And thanks for letting us know how it’s helped.
