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Dhruvit Jain
Professor Collins
ENGL 1302
31 March 2016
Safety First
The safety film Shake Hands With Danger was created in 1980 to show the
innumerable dangers an individual confronts in the construction work field. This film makes
construction workers aware of how imperative it is to follow safety procedures when handling
heavy equipment by offering distinct scenarios of various dangers that could take place while on
the job site and giving solutions on how to avoid those dangers. Necessary, remote, proximate,
and sufficient causes of Shake Hands With Danger suggest that workers must take precautions
when performing construction work to ensure safety.
The first safety precaution in the film is a casual argument known as necessary cause
which conveys how critical it is to shut down the engine of a tractor when doing work on it to
avoid somebody from getting hurt, because with the click of a button an accident could possibly
occur which could be life threatening. There were a total of three workers in this scene, one of
them was inside the tractor behind all the gears, another one was on the back side of the tractor
tightening a bolt, and the last worker who came at the end of the scene to expose how risky it is
to perform maintenance on equipment with the engine running. If the man behind the gears had
accidently clicked a single button, the chains would have rotated and killed the worker who was
tightening the bolt by taking him along in the rotation. The solution to this safety concern is quite
simple: you dont work on equipment when the engine is running as the third worker told the
man who was tightening the bolt (Shake Hands). The reason that this is a necessary cause is
because the only way the man who was working on the equipment could have died was if the

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button to trigger the rotation of the chain was pushed which would have compressed him.
According to table two in Mroszczyks article Improving Construction Safety, there was a total
number of fifteen deaths that were caused by getting caught in or compressed by equipment in
2009 (this data came from National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries). The visual provided
in the film of the man almost being compressed by a rotating chain is certainly realistic. It has
happened to numerous unaware workers and continues to occur due to workers not thinking,
like the man who was tightening the bolt (Shake Hands). The president of Northeast
Consulting Engineers Inc., Mroszczyk, says in the same article motioned above that A worker
who is not properly trained or not trained at all will not be able to recognize and avoid hazardous
conditions. In the scenario played in the film, the man who was going to tighten the bolt clearly
did not have much training because he did not know what that machine was capable of doing to
him in matter of seconds. Another worker had to show him what the chain was capable of in a
click of a button. Research proves that it is extraordinarily important for workers to practice
awareness of what is happening around them and what could possibly happen; meaning one
should know the consequences that can occur when working on potential life threatening
equipment and try to minimize possible hazards. This argument is logical and effective because
there are countless number of incidences where workers are not in the right state of mind and not
properly trained which results in them getting injured or even killed.
A sufficient casual argument the film made was when Glen, one of the construction
workers in this scene, knew the consequences of striking chipped metal but went ahead and
proceeded doing so. Glen knew that striking the chipped metal was sufficient enough to hurt
himself as well as those around him. However, Glen did not want his friend to sneer at him for
being overly cautious (Shake Hands). Glen ended up striking the chipped metal and, as a
result, hurt himself. The main reason that Glen struck the chipped metal was because his ego got

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in the way of telling his friend that it was unsafe and did not want to be laughed at for saying it
was dangerous. Salminen, who is part of the Department of Occupational Safety at the Finnish
Institute of Occupational Health, published an article called, Serious Occupational Accidents in
the Construction Industry. In this article Salminen discusses numerous scenarios in the
construction industry where an injured victim could have acted in another way, but they decided
to not take precautions in the situation. As a result, like Glen, several of those victims also
sustained injuries. It is exceptionally important to not show your ego when doing work that can
cause bodily injury to yourself or anyone in your surroundings. One should not become lazy and
take shortcuts because the results, more than likely, will be punitive. The overall message of this
argument is quite accurate, especially the portion which discusses the lapse in safety precautions
to the workers ego. However the visual does not make much sense. If one strikes chipped metal
forward from the side, how does the metal come back in the same direction and hit the person
striking it? Despite the claim functioning in a logical way, the accompanying visual is not
effective.
Another casual argument in the film is a remote cause which was due to Tom, one of the
workers, not reading the service manual for directions on how to disassemble the brake chamber.
As a result of not reading the manual, when he took the brake chamber apart, a force was
released which was so strong that it completely shattered his trucks glass. Luckily, no was in
front of the brank chamber which could have severely hurt someone. The reason that Tom took
apart the brake chamber without the service manual was because his boss told him to so they
could save some time (Shake Hands). It is extremely important never to take shortcuts
when handing equipment which overtures potential danger and it is also necessary to read the
service manual to ensure the equipment is being handled correctly. According to WorkSafes

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chief John Marritt, Taking shortcuts or putting off essential work plays with lives and
commercial viability. Since Toms boss was trying to save some time, Tom took a shortcut of
not reading the service manual and put his life in jeopardy while his bosss life was completely
safe. Tom was fortunate enough not to get wounded this time but surely he learned that by taking
shortcuts one can add to business costs and impose unnecessary pain and suffering on
individuals and families (Marritt). Once something is done, it cannot be undone and will always
remain in the unconscious part of ones mind which can distract one from their work posing as a
liability. Had someone been in the proximity of the brake chamber when the force released, it
could have severely hurt someone, thus causing the worker who was behind the accident to live
with it for the rest of his life and his family would also suffer the consequences. It is important
for workers to learn to always think twice before doing anything while in the field and do it right
the first time. This is a logical argument that is quite accurate because there are innumerable
people in todays society who think they do not need to read instructions before performing a
task and end up facing the consequences like Tom.
The film, overall, was extraordinarily effective with exceptional information on how to
avoid dangers in a construction work environment. Most of the information was accurate other
than the fact that the equipment used these days come with more safety protocols and are more
technologically advanced. However the tips given in the video are just as important today
because there is never a limit on how safe one can be.

Works Cited
Mroszczyk, John W. "Improving Construction Safety." Professional Safety 60.6 (2015): 5568. Business Source Complete. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
According to Mroszczyk there has been an increase number of deaths in the construction
field and his source offers numerous charts and tables from National Census of fatal

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Occupational Injuries on how those deaths have occurred. It is filled with great
information and facts of dangers in the construction work field. This is an ideal source
because it is filled with tons of information from statistics to reasonings of deaths which
would contribute significantly in the essay.
Salminen, Simo. "Serious Occupational Accidents In The Construction Industry." Construction
Management & Economics 13.4 (1995): 299. Business Source Complete. Web. 14 Mar.
2016.
This article gives quite a bit of scenarios on how the high risk taking could have been
avoided in the construction work field. It talks about how dangers in the construction
work field can be reduced and completely avoided. This article would back up the idea
that it is possible to avoid accidents or even reduce them.
Theavgeeks. "Shake Hands With Danger (1980)." YouTube. YouTube, 03 Jan. 2013.
Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
This film is about the dangers that take place in the construction work field and how to
avoid those dangers. It is a safety film that gives construction workers a visual on what
the consequences can be if they do not follow safety protocol. This film is where the
casual arguments will come from which is why it is imperative to use.
"Workplace safety blitz." Herald Sun (Melbourne) n.d.: Newspaper Source.
Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
This source offers statistics about the number of deaths that are occurring due to shortcuts
that are being taken in the work industry. It also gives direct quotes on what worksafes
Chief John Merritt has to say about it. This source will be wonderful to use because it
talks about how taking shortcuts puts lives at risk and increases business costs.