So I'm now on the Safety Council for the IT group in our company, in part because I've be complaining about some of the goofier initiatives that have been circulating for comment.  Not that I'm "anti-safety" or anything.  But some of them are more Safety Theater (where measures that look good are adopted whether or not they do anything)  than actually useful (or cost-effective) initiatives, often involve a lot of busy-work, and substitute "activity" for "progress."

The most recent has to do with the idea of "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) numbers on cell phones.  This idea originated in the UK a few years back, and basically says, Most folks have cell phones; why not have them put an emergency contact number under a common entry, "ICE," so that if they are unconscious or incapacitated, emergency medical personnel on the scene or at the hospital can get hold of their contacts.  It's actually a clever idea, and I've written about it before, but it has limitations of application and usefulness.

But speaking of "application," In one of our Safey Council meetings, someone brought up the idea of buying ICE stickers (available at various sites on the Net) for IT folks to put on their cell phones, to inform emergency personnel that, yes, there's ICE info on the phone that they should look at if they need to.  Not only would it be helpful, but it would visually reaffirm Our Commitment to Safety Excellence and Our Goal of Less Than Zero Safety Incidents.

Um ... yes, it's all about the Safety Theater.

There were a few objections raised, but nobody wants to seem "anti-safety," right?  (The parallels to discussions of "national defense" and "homeland security" are uncanny.)  So I volunteered to see if there was anyone in my group who knew someone in the EMS/EMT field to see what real-life users of the information thought of the idea.

Bottom line response:  ICE info is useful in both cell phones and wallets, though only under limited circumstances.  But emergency personnel are now trained to look for it, when needed, so having a sticker on the cell phone isn't all that useful.

Imagine that.

I've reported on that back to the Safety Council.  We'll see what they have to say. 

Regardless of the whole sticker question, having emergency contact info in your cell phone and in your wallet is just a plain good idea, and is recommended to all. 

Filed under :: Job Jollies :: ZT & PC