Did you ever see the movie “The Patriot”? Mel Gibson is the star of the movie.

There is a famous scene. Mel is in a battle with the British and is outmanned. His two sons are with him. He gives them rifles and simple instructions: “Aim small, miss small.”

The idea is this: rather than just shoot at the bodies who are attacking, Gibson reminds his boys if they aim at targets that will get the best results, they will achieve better results even if they slightly miss.

I was thinking about this regarding our safety behavior. How many of us start our work day in the plant with an “aim small” focus?

Each of us has jobs with very specific risks involved. Where we step. Where we put our hands. How the equipment can pinch us or cut us? There are many “small” targets out there that add up to our safety.

What if you came to work each day, identified a “small target” to which you would pay attention and concentrated on building safe habits to hit that target?

I think a habit of “aiming small” would raise your safety awareness. I think it would cause you to become a student of safety. I think your safety efforts on the small thing would bleed over into every activity you do at work.

Our safety success depends on hundreds of us doing hundreds of things correctly. Safety isn’t broad. It’s precise.

Stop what you’re doing. Get your mind right. Aim small. Accomplish the mission.