Personal safety on the job is not just a requirement in today’s workplace, it’s also the responsibility of every worker.
That’s the message Mark Johnson tells high school students he talks to — like those at Hugh Boyd secondary on last week — during one of his presentations. And it’s one the 28-year-old wished he’d received and taken heed of eight years ago.
That’s when an accident during the graveyard shift at a Maple Ridge sawmill damaged his left arm so severely that it left him with no feeling and virtually no movement in the limb.
“Spending five minutes is not worth losing the use of your arm,” said Johnson, a Maple Ridge resident who’s part of WorkSafeBC’s speakers program. “Five minutes to ask a question or use the right safety procedures was all it would have taken for me to be safe.”
Johnson said he often bypassed safety measures in his job, thinking it was unlikely he’d get injured.
“But on that day, my mind was elsewhere. It was my first day back at work on the graveyard shift, and I was thinking more about playing baseball when it happened,” he said.
While cleaning out a wood chipper, Johnson’s arm got caught in a conveyor, damaging it badly, but not enough to to lose it.
Now, it’s a constant reminder of the decision he failed to make.
“It was my fault. Mills are pretty safe places to work these days,” he said. “But I didn’t take the time or care to make the right decision.”
It’s a lesson that has some sobering statistics from WorkSafeBC that shows while the injury rate for young workers has improved, the rate at which young males are injured continues to be higher than the provincial average.
According to WorkSafeBC, in 2013, 6,540 young workers were injured — on average 26 per day — and six young workers were killed on the job.
“Kids have to know that while work places are safer today than when I was working, they have to pay attention and be self aware,” he said. “If you don’t feel safe, ask questions, ask for extra training. There’s really no reason for you to get hurt on the job.”
After his accident, Johnson said he descended into a deep depression for six months where he literally shut out the outside world. What made him resurface was an unexpected call from a slo-pitch coach who asked him to come back out and help with the team.
Johnson said that was like a lifeline as he learned to play one-handed, developing his hitting and throwing to the point where he became one of the better players in the local Maple Ridge league.
“When I tell the kids that, they seem pretty impressed,” he said, adding it’s an accomplishment he’s proud of, although it came with a price.
But that, in turn, has opened the door to tell his story.
“It was something I knew I wanted to share,” Johnson said.
