Why are people reticent to wear safety gear?

Why are people reticent to wear safety gear?

I know not everyone fits this description, but I find it really curious why so many people appear to have a real problem donning safety gear.

Maybe I’m a bit of a ninny, but I have always been big into safety and protecting the assets I have. I like that my fingers can create things. I like that my eyes show me amazing things. I like being able to listen to music. I like being alive to experience all those things.

My pal Andrew tells a great story of working in construction with some utter meatheads. He had spent 15 years in the army, and they understand the value of safety equipment. Eye protection so hot brass doesn’t come flying out of the ejection port right into an eyeball, hearing protection to dampen the deafening sounds of rifles firing, kneepads to ward off injuries, etc. He was derided by his co-workers who showed up to job sites in regular running shoes, didn’t believe in the need for a helmet when someone was working above them on a scaffold, etc. One day his boss came to him and said “Hey you were in the army right? You know about first aid right?” Turns out the dolt had a 1½” shard of mahogany sticking out of his eyeball, and wanted to know if he could pull it out.

“Uh…no! You need to go to the hospital. An ophthalmologist needs to look at that.”

Dude kept bitching that he didn’t want to go as that would cost him money.

“Oh I don’t need to wear this PFD. I’ll just put it on if I fall in the water” translates into “I’m working hard to win the Darwin award.” I want to grab these people, throw them into a large body of water, throw their PFD in after them and see how well they do. Their bravado that they’re great swimmers, I think is often more idea than reality. I figure that if USN SEALs and USCG Rescue Swimmers wear PFDs, it is probably a smart idea if I wear one as well. I believe a detective would call it a “clue.”

It seems to me there is this subtext of “I won’t look “cool” wearing this.” While shopping for a bicycle years ago a girl looking at helmets said to her friend “I don’t think I’m gonna bother with a helmet. They make me look goofy.”
I couldn’t resist.
“Yeah cause you’ll look totally awesome when you’re sitting in a wheelchair with drool running down your chin.”

Whether it’s seat belts, ear plugs, or a pair of safety boots, the excuses and the rationalizations for not using them just blow me away. Very little in the way of safety gear is expensive. Most of it surprisingly comfortable. Yet the consequences of not wearing personal protective equipment is often excruciating and will end up costing you an unfathomable amount.