Evolution in action.

Worker crushed by 7800 lb pipe.

Yes, his last words really were, "Don't worry, I've got it."

-Blast

He got it alright. OOF!

Ouch.

Remember kids, when the guy who works with this stuff every day tells you to wait, you bloody well wait.

Darwin strikes again.

He had spinach last night, his Wheaties in the morning and saw the Incredible Hulk do it, so he was thinking it would work out.

On the other hand he probably had done it that way dozens, if not hundreds of times, before and he had always gotten away with it. If he was alert and quick on his feet there was probably some chance he could have caught sight of the pipe rolling and ducked under it and sheltered under the trailer.

Didn't work out that way.

I have taken similar risks. I would like to think well of my self, that the actual risk was somehow less and, of course, I always had my ducklings more firmly in line and was more on the ball than this guy, I suspect that none of that was always true. Sometimes I was swift and sure. Other times all that saved me from death or disability was dumb luck.

I can joke at this guys end. But not without feeling that it could have been me.

Same here. There's a great deal of truth in the old saying "there but for the grace of God go I." I grew up dealing with heavy equipment, agricultural machinery and cattle in confined spaces. I've learned to be careful but, to be honest, I've also been very lucky.

The unlucky (perhaps unwary) fellow who was killed will have his last words immortalized in training videos, manuals and cartoons for a long, long time. I guess influencing others to stay alive is a legacy of sorts.

I really feel for the fellow who tried to do the right thing and was told to buzz off. He has to live with that terrible image.

I tell stories of some of the incredibly STUPID things I did as a young man, working as an Iron worker. 6 Stories up, no harness? Common Working live on 110/220 electric? Common. Using the edge of the sole of your boot to prop an I beam to be able to get the sling out, without needing to go get a block of wood, or use a dog and do a second lift? Pactically every darned day. I won't even go into the really crazy stuff, where someone did something REALLY dumb

This is a bit insensitive...this man may have been someone's father/husband, and was certainly someone's son. It may not have been the brightest thing in the world, but a human being is dead. We've all said things that made us look stupid, but let's not jump to conclusions here.

It is a cold hard fact that if you work with heavy stuff that moves (and lots of other things), you can (and will) get hurt eventually. How badly you are hurt depends, I like to think, on whether or not your number is up. I used to work as the derrickman in the old steel oil rigs. Lots of ways to get hurt there. I was lucky, but friends/co-workers weren't always...

Like some of those who have posted above, I've done some risky things in my life, many trying to get a job done easier or faster. I was lucky and suffered no serious injuries. I only had one person working under me suffer a serious injury, and that was one too many. Others weren't so lucky. I've had cases involving some who were not lucky, and I've known others; Fingers lost, heads split open, broken bones and more bad backs than I can recall.

He made a mistake, a very costly mistake. Feel bad for him and his.

But we also need reminders about such mistakes when they are made. And it is a natural tendency for those who are or have been in risky jobs to make fun of those who are not lucky. If we stayed very serious about it, it would hurt us too. We need to laugh, so as not to feel the hurt.

"...We need to laugh, so as not to feel the hurt..."

That is exactly how/why highway cops, and others who are around the dead and injured a lot, tend to develop what "outsiders" consider to be a very sick sense of humor. You have to, or it can eat you up...

Amen OBG!!!!

Yes - I'm not saying what he did was abnormal - in fact, what I was trying to say is "There but for the Grace of God" - I did a lot of incredibly stupid things, and only have 2 missing teeth and a few scars to show for it (a guy cable snapped - luckly not under too much tension, or it would have taken my head off)

It seems to me that folks in "heavy construction" often take calculated risks - that when things go wrong, you die. I know I did, and got lucky that very little ever went wrong

Humor in hazardous situations when confronting mortality is a common reaction to deflect our thoughts from what we all know about our own existence: no one gets out alive. Pretty much a maximum stressor.

Hopefully folks who deal with such trauma are supported by organizations that have experts help deal with this stress and have created a culture that honors those who deal straightforwardly with the genuine and pretty much universal need for help dealing with such stuff. Humor, self-medication, etc. only seem to work - for a while.

Post traumatic stress syndrome is no joke.

From a survival perspective I think this highlights two important lessons:

You have to take risks and, at some level, laugh at death and danger. Failing to take risks can just as easily get you killed as not. The key is to make intelligent choices as to what risks you take on and which ones you avoid. And to make the choices consciously and in a well considered manner. I suspect this unfortunate fellow was tired or worried or otherwise operating on autopilot. He didn't consciously take on the risk.

In fact the warning likely distracted him from the actual risk. To him it was likely an insult to his autonomy and competence. Distracting him from the serious physical danger by concerning him with his social standing.

'Who the hell does that guy warning me think he is. I've been driving all these long years and unloaded more pipe than he has ever see ... '


The second lesson is that nobody is special. You have to learn from those who make mistakes and realize your own vulnerability and understand it can happen to you. Your not perfect. You can bleed and die.

< Insert appropriate quote from "The Merchant of Venice" here >

Unless one can see themself in others it is difficult to learn from their mistakes.

Empathy, your ability to see yourself in others, and ability to stay alert and consciously take calculated risks are both survival skills. Each in its place.