As I attend more and more Risk Management, OH&S and Manual Handling training for work, I’ve noticed that as boring as these courses often are, I am bringing my newly-aware eyes home and looking with dissatisfaction around my house. I went through all the usual kid-safe safaris way back when my children were crawling and toddling from one room to another. Not a furniture corner remained unpadded or a glass object d’art put out of harms way. Yet, freshly trained for the office, I see that I have let things slide since the darling trio reached the independence years of the charming pre-pubescent.

Risk Management trains the eye to assess the inherent risk of building and event sites. Unconfined refuse, unsafe scaffolding, construction left-overs, etc. Every aspect is inspected for safety and potential to injure. The trained eye also casts a knowing gaze over backyard party preparations. Damaged fence posts from soccer balls kicked too hard; wire poking free from the corner where once passionfruit vines had trailed; tree roots and rocks protruding from an unkempt lawn, hidden bone-size holes in same. A long time ago, in the time period generally known as “before kids walking “, our backyard looked quite good with everything in its proper place. Then the kids, followed by an active, partly insane dog, took over and there went paradise. I dragged my husband into the wilds with lectures on risk control, damaged arms and legs not belong to this family, and hazardous waste pooling behind the garage. He assured me the waste was in no way toxic and we made ourselves busy fixing and barricading the rest of the yard. It took a whole weekend.