For years, I said it like every other safety professional: “We want you to go home the same way you came in — with all your fingers and toes.”
I said it in toolbox talks. I said it in orientations. I said it because that’s what you say.
Then one day it hit me: that’s not a goal. That’s the bare minimum. Showing up whole and leaving whole isn’t an achievement — it’s the floor, not the ceiling.
So I changed it.
I don’t want you to go home the same way you came in. I want you to go home better.
Better in safety — because you learned something today you didn’t know yesterday. Better in quality — because you took pride in the work, not just got through it. Better in culture — because you looked out for the guy next to you, and he looked out for you. Better as a person — because a job should build you up, not just wear you down and send you home in one piece.
“Same way you came in” is a low bar dressed up as a mission statement. Nobody clocks out proud of just surviving the day. They clock out proud when they leave better than they showed up.
35 years in, that’s the standard I hold my crews to now. Not just don’t get hurt. Get better. Every single day.