ONE OUNCE OF SAFET

[Music] this is a story that might take place in a mind a shipyard and oil field or in any other industry but it takes place right here in a steel plant because this is where Fred Williams works Fred's story isn't different or unusual but it is interesting because it could have happened to you or to me my picture was in the plant magazine yesterday I never thought I'd come that close to being famous the gang kidded me about that hero stuff said the picture looked like something out of the rogues gallery but I told them that they were jealous that's all especially when the boss stopped by to shake hands with me oh it wasn't worth all that fuss except to Harry Newman maybe there is a difference between having two good feet or having only one at home that evening Carol found the paper in my back pocket Mary spotted the picture right away said I look downright handsome but you know I almost wished I hadn't shown it to Mary it made her start to think all over again it made me think too here I was saving somebody else's foot and I hadn't been smart enough to take care of my own somehow in my mind I always seem to divide time as before my accident and after my accident before my accident well I was pretty much like the rest of the fellas we took our jobs and our feet pretty much for granted all we didn't believe in taking chances but sometimes it seemed the company went overboard on this safety business safety rules safety glasses safety shoes they told us about it every chance they could get showed us - they showed us the shoe that saved bill Judson's toes a heavy box of spare parts fell from a lift truck right on Bill's toes didn't hurt him at all he was lucky of course fellows like Bill should wear safety shoes bill always was a careless worker and now don't get me wrong I was all for safety shoes but you know how it is after working at a job for 10 to 12 years you sort of figure nothing can happen to you but it did and when I least expected it it's a funny feeling waking up not knowing where you are everything was hazy and then then I remembered my foot well that one was alright but but the other I wanted to know and yet it was hard to ask then the doc told me well there were three toes I'd never have to worry about - were they used to be five I'd limp for the rest of my life they say I made a quick comeback mostly it was getting used to the idea realizing that I couldn't do things quite the same anymore [Music] and then one day I went back to work - it was good to be back seeing the old gang again especially getting the feel of the old job again everybody was swell the boss said take it easy I guess I was more self-conscious than anything but lucky for me when a few things went wrong at first the boys pretended not to notice pretty soon I began to get over it and before too long I was in the swing of things again just like before my accident well almost a bowling team had to get along without me they are loss of course funny how I used to take that for granted Oh [Music] I noticed something else that a couple of other fellas around the plant limped to like Cole Jake then there was Pete Adams and Casey over there Aalto accidents I remember the doc saying that more than 60,000 guys like us hurt their feet every year once was enough for me I didn't want to take any more chances one of the first things I did after getting back was to go down to the company safety shoe store I was in a hurry I told the clerk I wanted a pair size 1010 what he asked I guess I must have looked surprised because then he explained something that the length of a shoe is important sure but the width is just as important and he had 10 a 10 double a 10 B 10 C and a lot more so he'd better measure and find out which size was right for me we got to talking about things about how differently all shoes fit these days we could both remember not so many years ago when every pair of shoes had to be broken in we limped around for days got blisters and corns but like the clerk said there's no excuse for that anymore in safety shoes or any kind of shoes today all shoes can and should be comfortable both sizes they have right in the store but if they can't fit you there they'll order I never knew there was so many types of safety shoes either different ones for different job men and women not only for us here in the plant but for everybody in all kinds of jobs where something might fall on their toes gosh I didn't mean to be taking them so much of that fellows time we didn't seem to find seems they wanted people to take their time to get shoes that would be comfortable as well as safe comfortable shoes make a man feel them even help him do a better job well somebody else was getting safety shoes too that was a surprise Charley Swanson was the last guy I'd have expected to see here but my accident had something to do with that a lot of the other fellas around the plant had switched to safety shoes to bill Sullivan was sporting a new pair and so was Len Jackson of course I couldn't have expected anything to affect Gary Numan Harry was a nice enough guy I like him a lot and it was a funny thing he was so careful about everything else the tools he used on his job his workbench and the way he took care of it kept it all cleaned up and shiny and put things away where they should be even his wristwatch and when it came to his feet Harry had a lot of excuses for not wearing safety shoes and all of them were old as the hill he didn't need him he was careful they were heavy they made him tired and nothing half of him besides he had to wear out his old shoe somewhere couldn't afford to just draw him away talking to Harry was like pouring water on a duck's back I remember at one of our safety meetings he dusted off that old excuse about not being able to afford safety shoes made quite a point of it too but the safety man had the answer he said safety shoes cost just about the same as regular good quality work shoes usually they're even less because most companies sell them at cost and then he wrote a couple of words on the board that opened our eyes shoes that are built for the job he wrote last longer actually save a fella money that made sense as the safety man said the fellas who work around oil could bear him out on that they know from experience that a pair of safety shoes with a sole that resists oil wears and wears and wears then the safety man asked could we afford not to wear safety shoes he asked if we ever tried walking with a fractured toe or spent a couple of weeks in a hospital flat on our back did we think any amount of compensation could make up for the pain sure he said the pain can be erased it doesn't last forever but sometimes a crippled foot does and he showed us what he meant he had some pictures of men who'd been hurt joints so crippled they'll never Bend again sometimes toes and lakes gone completely he said put yourselves in the place of these next three pictures a lot of fellas he said can't handle their old jobs after they get back from the hospital but whether they do or not getting around is bound to be harder feet are mighty important when it comes to making a living that safety man was talking good sense and we knew it but he wasn't through he had a couple of shoes up front that he showed one was a regular shoe the other a safety shoe like the one I would wear what's the difference you wanted to know a good safety shoe is built to stand up under rollout of hardware it's made of good leather with good quality souls and inner sole now a lot of regular work shoes are well made too but here's something they don't have the steel box told that's what makes the safety shoe this cap of Steel fits into the shoe right over the toes a regular shield against blows and pressure this steel toe is anchored with a flange between the outer and inner soles to help prevent it from tilting or shifting when struck a heavy blow then because someone always comes up with the excuse that this steel toe makes safety shoes heavy a safety man actually put the steel toe on one side of a scale and a pair of glasses on the other they weighed the same one ounce of safety he called it it might not seem like a lot but it can make a whale of a lot of difference to your feet here he said let me show you what I mean he had a picture of a test they made to show the difference between a regular work shoe and the safety shoe first they put a regular work shoe down alongside a track then rolled a pair of railroad car wheels over the toe it was smashed laugh then they get the same thing with a steel cap safety shoe put it down on the same track in exactly the same place and rolled the same wheels over the toe what a difference there wasn't even a dent in that safety shoe thanks to the steel toe there was the answer that steel toe that ounce of safety made all the difference in the world brother that convinced me and I'll bet it even made an impression on Harry that's why I couldn't resist a parting shot on the way up I told Harry he didn't have to worry the kind of safety shoes they make now are good-looking enough even for him as a matter of fact that's when I first got the idea of pulling a gag on Harry in the locker room next day [Music] you see Harry and I wear the same size shoe so I fixed up an extra pair of my safety shoes set them right next to my regular ones that I'd want to work the guys knew I was up for something but they didn't know what all they knew was that it concerned Harry well I waited until he had his shoes off then I called him over I'll bet you a quarter I said that you can't tell the regular shoes from the safety shop just look at them from here I said which ones are the regular shoes and you tell any difference you sure I asked these are the regular shoes they're all yours Harry try em on see what you got [Music] soft Oh you lose boy these are the regular shoes you pick the safety pair he took it like a good egg and with those steel caps on his feet it didn't hurt him one bit when we chopped on his toes to show it go ahead walk around in him see if you can lift your feet Harry was a little burned up at first but he was a good sport he went into his act pretty soon he was enjoying the whole thing as much as we were [Music] just then bill andrews came in said the boss wanted harry in a hurry rush job somewhere along the line i never mind the shoes i said keep mine on you can give him back to me afterwards afterwards if i had only known what the next few minutes were going to bring [Music] it was a rush job and Harry was working fast not being as careful as he should he didn't notice one of the heavy steel parallel bars had caught look out [Music] you can imagine how we felt when we got Harry into the first-aid room we looked at the shoe first the minute we got it off it was only scratched and then we looked at his foot well that's how it happened Harry's foot wasn't even scratched just because he happened to be wearing my safety shoes for that to call me a hero [Music] maybe so things might have been different if someone had done the same for me I might not be hobbling around today well I still say this is a picture of a pretty good-looking guy [Music]