"It Only Takes a Second"

"Hopping into an unprotected trench to clear some debris only takes a second. Cutting a small section of steel without safety glasses only takes a second. Jumping into the car and not buckling up to run to the store only takes a second. We take shortcuts everyday without giving them a second thought, but a single, absent-minded decision that lets convenience overshadow safety can change your entire life in a second. Eric Giguere learned that lesson the hard way when a trench collapse buried him under 6 ft of dirt.

Eric Giguere

“From where it fell and how it hit me, it was like getting hit by a truck going 70 mph. I was buried under 2,000 lbs of dirt and it took them 10 minutes to get me out,” Eric says. “One second changed my whole life. I live it everyday. Everywhere I go; everything I do, it’s with me. And if it happened to me, it can happen to anyone.”
When Eric talks about his accident, his voice doesn’t flinch, it doesn’t waver and it doesn’t hold back. For most people, talking about an experience that nearly killed them would be painful, but Eric’s philosophy is if he learns something and doesn’t share it, then it did him no good to learn it. Eric started his company, Safety Awareness Solutions, as a way to give safety a down-to-earth voice and put it on a personal level to which people can relate.
“I’m not reading from a manual and I’m not taking the company’s side. I’m just putting it out there,” he says. “I know what you’re doing because I was in the business. I’ve been that worker, I’ve sat through those safety meetings and I know what you’re thinking right now, but don’t be that way because that was me and this is what can happen to you.”
Almost eight years after his accident, Eric travels the country talking to anyone who will listen — from Fortune 500 manufacturing companies and engineering firms to colleges and construction companies — in hopes of touching hearts and changing minds to stop people from making a bad decision that will change their lives forever."

-Jason Morgan

Continue reading this article from Utility Contractor magazine's September 2010 issue here.


Do you take that extra second to make safety a priority to you?