1996 Safety Summit Doug Blackburn Speech: Were You There?
A few weeks ago, I was listening to a favorite song sung by Willie Nelson,
Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson.
It's called "The Highwayman," and I bet some of you know it. I've
listened to it many times, but this time, it suddenly hit me that this song is
about me ... and about you.
The Highwayman
I was a highwayman ... along the coach roads I did ride with sword and
pistol by my side Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade.
Many a soldier lost his lifeblood on my blade. The bastards hung me in
the spring of '25
But I am still alive.
I was a sailor; I was born upon the tide with the sea I did abide
I sailed a schooner round the horn of Mexico I went aloft to 'furl the
mainsail in a 'blow and when the yards broke off they said that I got
killed
But I am living still.
I was a dam builder across the river deep and wide where steel and
water did collide A place called Boulder on the wide Colorado I
slipped and fell into the wet concrete below They buried me in that great
tomb that knows no sound
But I am still around I'll always be around .. and around ... and
around ...
I fly a starship across the universe divide and when I reach the other
side I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can Perhaps I may become
a highwayman again or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain and I'll be back again ... and again ... and again
...
I realized that this song was about me ... about the coalminer in me ...
because I was there. So I'd like to add a verse or two to that song.
I was there ...
I was a coalminer in Algoma, West Virginia in 1902. The Tug River Valley was
booming ... and the coal companies hired scores of poor and uneducated men to
work the mines ... the nation's most hazardous occupation. It was a Monday in
Algoma when the foremen led 17 untrained men into the workings. We were wearing
open lights on our caps ... lights fueled by whale oil. These men didn't even
know what methane was, much less that it had been accumulating all weekend. The
explosion and fire killed some of them immediately ... others suffocated. I
suffocated. That night, they recovered the bodies of the entire crew.
They killed me in Algoma. But I am still around. I'll always be around ...
and around ... and around.
I was there ...
I was a coalminer in Zeigler, Illinois in 1904, when a strike turned ugly.
Replacement workers and UMW men engaged in a veritable war ... you could see the
gunfire being exchanged every night. When an underground explosion killed me and
56 of my brothers, they said it was caused by all the gunpowder stored in the
mine. Before it was all over, at least two dozen more men died in the accidents
and violence that grew out of the labor dispute.
They killed me in Zeigler, Illinois. But I am still around. I'll always be
around ... and around ... and around.
I was there ...
I was a coalminer in Monongha, West Virginia, in 1907, when eight runaway
coal cars picked up speed for half a mile ... before they crashed at the bottom
of the mine, where the coal dust was said to be hip-deep. The explosion ... this
is the one they call the granddaddy of them all ... took 361 lives. Not one man
who walked into the mine that morning went home to supper that night. But while
Monongha left no survivors, it did leave 250 widows ... mine included ... and a
thousand orphans. It also left us with some important lessons.
They killed me at Monongha ... but I am still around. I'll always be around
... and around ... and around.
I was there ...
I was a coalminer in Farmington, West Virginia in 1968. During Thanksgiving
week, Farmington had an explosion on the midnight shift ... and over the next
ten days it exploded nineteen times.
That tragedy filled the TV coverage during that holiday season. Twenty-one
men were miraculously rescued. But the rest ... me and 77 other miners ... were
still in the mine. The families of those 78 men were summoned to the local
Methodist church, where they were told that their husbands, brothers and fathers
were assumed dead ... and the mine was being sealed to avoid more explosions. My
brother asked the coal company president why more safety measures had not been
put in place. He asked, "Would it have cost too much?" And the
president of the coal company simply walked away.
They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound ... but I am still
around. I'll always be around ... and around ... and around.
And this time, I was there not only in spirit; I was at this mine body and
soul.
Fifteen months after that first explosion, I came to Farmington to start my
coalmining career. I was part of the recovery team that went in and reclaimed
the bodies. It was a hell of a way to begin a career. For five months I saw the
devastation of a major coal mine disaster ... fourteen bodies reclaimed out of
the seventy-eight killed ... unbelievable horror.
As you might imagine, seeing that tragedy ... and those lives lost ... made
an indelible impression on me.
I am still a coalminer in 1996. And I stand in front of you, my fellow
coalminers, and I tell you, I was there. They killed me again and again ... and
yet I stand here today, knowing that it is my responsibility to remember what I
have seen. And knowing that it is also my responsibility to never, ever walk
away when I am asked if I have done enough. To the contrary, I must ask myself,
have I done enough?
And I must ask you, too ... were you there? Were you there for your miners
this year? Did you do enough?
Were you there by demonstrating your personal commitment?
Did you have an "exceptional attitude" ... if something was out of
line, did you take exception with it right then?
Did you exhibit zero tolerance?
Did you walk the talk?
Did you really believe ... and do you continue to believe?
Were you there with your personal involvement?
Did you personally design and implement a safety program dedicated to hazard
awareness and accident prevention?
Did you support that program?
Did you personally evaluate your operations for hazards?
Did you lead a safety meeting?
Did you reward safety performance personally?
Did you provide first response personally in any situation this year?
Were you there by promoting safety awareness?
Did you evaluate employees for safe work practices?
Did you discuss safe work conditions and practices with employees and
families?
Did you develop a safety newsletter?
Were you there by supporting safety professionals?
Did you train safety professionals at your mine?
Did you demonstrate your respect and support of your safety professionals
publicly?
Did you involve your safety professionals in all meetings?
Were you there by supporting emergency preparedness?
Did you train EMTs?
Did you develop an effective mine emergency plan?
Did you develop and train a competent mine emergency team?
If you say yes to each of these questions, then you were there for your
people. And I sincerely hope you will keep these questions in mind as you go
forward into 1997.
I'd also like for you to keep in mind that we just did a major employee
survey ... and some of our employees don't believe their managers are committed
to safety. I know this is not true; I know that this is a matter of perception.
But our general managers and senior leaders need to demonstrate that
commitment, so no one will doubt that it exists. We need to walk the walk ...
AND talk the talk.
You'll remember that last year, I asked each of you to make a formal, vocal
commitment to safety here in this room. And each of us stood here and read that
commitment card.
You'll also remember that very day, even as we were coming together to make
our safety plans, a tragic accident killed one of our men. So I don't have to
tell you that it is impossible to do too much; that we can never truly say we've
done enough until we have reached zero incidents.
So I ask you again ...
Will you be there? Will you join with me in 1997 in safety leadership?
Will you, senior management and general managers, come forward and stand as
a group and commit to greater safety leadership in the future?
Will you join with me today and recommit yourself to an accident-free
workplace? To doing everything you possibly can to making sure that each and
every one of our miners goes home to his family unharmed?
Will you be there?
On the table are copies of that safety commitment card. I'd like to ask all
of you to stand now ... and let's read them together:
I, Doug Blackburn, believe in an accident-free workplace and a healthy
environment. I will dedicate my time and leadership talents to providing a safe
and healthy environment for the people whose safety and health I am entrusted
with.
I asked you to carry that card in your wallet, or post it on your bathroom
mirror or your telephone, and read it to yourself once a day, every day. I'd
like to ask you to continue doing that ... and in addition, I'll be sending
each of you a copy of those questions I asked you earlier. I'd like you to look
at them and ask yourself, was I there?
I am a coal miner. And I will be there. To paraphrase Johnny Cash, "And
when I reach the other side ... I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can ...
perhaps I may become a coal miner again."
Thank you.
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