If you forget everything else, remember Charlie

Many years ago, I recall walking over to a colleague’s desk, drawn by the sound of a man’s voice coming from his computer. He and another colleague were watching this man tell a story, and they were both mesmerized. I pulled up a chair and sat through the rest of it with them, in turn drawn into the harrowing tale of Charlie Morecraft.

In 1980, Charlie had been with Exxon for 15 years and was working in an oil refinery in New Jersey. One fateful evening, he decided, as he usually did at that point, to skip just about every safety precaution he’d been instructed to follow. This resulted in a spill of highly flammable material that temporarily blinded him, then ignited, and ultimately caused him life-threatening injuries and extensive property damage.

With utter humility, he recounts his entire thought process from inception to execution of why he felt it was safe to act outside of the established procedure. He takes us through an incident early in his career, when he was ready to do what’s right in response to an unintended gas release, only to be ridiculed by “old timers” for donning safety equipment.

The culture, he reminds us, was like that: tough guys don’t wear safety glasses. He knew it was wrong, but he felt powerless to change it at first, and then grew into the culture himself. To this day, he’ll wonder if perhaps wearing safety glasses that night would’ve avoided the entire incident, or at least spared him of the most severe injuries.

Following months of excruciating medical treatment for his extensive burn injuries, Charlie’s life fell apart. His marriage ended, he became an alcoholic, one if his daughters attempted suicide, and he felt all hope was lost and it was all his own fault.

And then, one even more fateful day at Glacier Point in Yosemite, he decided to become a safety leader, change himself and change the world.

Starting with why

At the top of why I became a safety professional is the desire to help others. The basic notion of detecting, communicating and controlling hazards is beautifully simple and universally effective. Teach others how to detect hazards and they’ll be able to avoid injury forevermore.

Yes, I realize I’m laying it on pretty thick… this is, after all, not just my work but my true passion in life.

Ultimately, I’m working my way out of a job. If everyone were aware of all the “safety rules”, there wouldn’t be a need for professionals like me to advice on how to avoid hazards. This could be true some day, but, regardless, I see a place for safety professionals as leaders to ensure these guidelines remain in focus.
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And Charlie has mastered the skill of shifting attitudes and cultures towards safety by exhibiting the hallmark characteristics of a great leader.

Take charge of your own safety

At the core of Charlie’s message: your safety is your responsibility, you simply can’t delegate it. Safety is personal, as he puts it.

This is why it became mandatory training for employees at my company at the time to watch “Remember Charlie”. We wanted to make sure this message was distributed as widely as possible. As it turns out, it fell on me to coordinate many of the viewings. I’ve never counted, but I must’ve seen “Remember Charlie” at least 25 times.

Several years later, once most of the workforce had seen “Remember Charlie”, we found a second talk he recorded, entitled “Safety, Everyone’s Responsibility”. This second video is a bit shorter and significantly less gruesome, so I’d recommend it more widely for groups that already value safety. This time at the helm of most viewings at the company, it was my pleasure to watch this video over 50 times.

As much of an impact as these videos had on me, renewing my commitment to safety as my chosen profession, I was surprised by how much of an impact they had on those watching with me.

A lasting impact on the world

It’s not every day you see multiple groups of mighty men left speechless after watching a safety video. Yet this was happening after almost every viewing of “Remember Charlie”. Sessions would be dismissed in hushed tones, or sometimes complete silence.

What words did come up after the video simply thrilled me. Several times, after the viewing ended, an employee would approach me to borrow the movie and play it at home for their son, spouse, nephew, granddaughter, you name it. With measured giddiness, I’d gladly oblige. After all, it was all about reaching as many people as possible with Charlie’s story. What an honor for me to share such a powerful story and help shift people’s attitudes towards safety.

Over time, the effects of the story became evident in the way safety was integrated into daily activities at the company. It took a few months to start seeing measurable results, but the effects were permanent. Hundreds of employees now understood what it took to stay safe. This is why watching “Remember Charlie” will remain at the top of my list of recommended actions for companies looking to adjust their safety culture. And watching “Safety, Everyone’s Responsibility” remains a close second.