Kelly Sparrow, J.D.
Kelly Sparrow, J.D.
Building the St. Louis Arch
Construction of the famous Gateway Arch in St. Louis began on February 12, 1963, and was completed in 1965. It was a unique project in scope, design and construction. Designed to be 630 feet tall and 630 feet wide, the arch is made of sections of stainless-steel equilateral triangles with 54-foot sides at the base, […]
Production, Quality, Safety and the Bermuda Triangle
We’ve all heard or read about the Bermuda Triangle, a loose geographic area with Miami, Bermuda and San Juan, Puerto Rico, serving as the triangle’s three points. Legend has it that lots of strange things have happened in the Bermuda Triangle, mostly the unexplained disappearances of ships and airplanes that sailed or flew through the […]
The Power of a Tool and Equipment Inspection System
It’s a hot, muggy day in Missouri. A crew is preparing forms for a foundation that will be poured later, when it cools down a bit. Two employees are pounding in steel support stakes for the forms. They’ve used theses stakes forever, and the heads of the stakes have always looked like mushrooms due to […]
The Importance of Situational Awareness in the Utility Industry
Years ago I read an account of an injury that took place on a U.S. Army base in California. I’m not sure if this account is truth or fiction, but it serves to illustrate a point about the importance of thinking a plan all the way through prior to implementing it. A private was assigned […]
A Mother on the Job
We’ve all watched young mothers care for a newborn child. As the child learns to crawl, mom is meticulous in placing household cleaners out of reach. She ensures that dad installs locks on all drawers that have knives or sharp objects, and together they remove all objects that could fall on their little explorer if […]
The 911 Dilemma
It’s happened to most of us. We’re at a job site and someone gets hurt. We’re not sure how badly the employee is hurt or if we should call 911. Sometimes when an incident occurs, we think it might be better to take the injured employee to a care facility rather than call 911 for […]
Safe By a Nose
Years ago I went to a horse-racing track with my co-worker Larry. Horse racing is his passion, so he spent hours choosing which horses he would wager on in the races that were on the slate that day. Larry taught me a lot about how the races work. In a nutshell, the track establishes the […]