Spring is here and summer is right around the corner. What do these seasons bring? Vacation! Time to get away from your normal routine, maybe go camping, fishing, take in a few baseball games. So you may be asking… what does this have to do with work?

It is important to remember to stay focused when you are at work, this is a dangerous industry. Stop thinking about an exciting adventure that is on the horizon, and when returning from a relaxing vacation, your attention needs to shift back to the task at hand. Distractions can cause us to to resort to automatics and forget what we are doing. Have you noticed when you first start a vacation, sometimes it takes a day or two to really unwind and relax? Is your brain still in work mode? The same applies when you come back to work from a vacation. Your brain may still be in vacation mode. When working with rail equipment this unfocused mental state could be disastrous.

Take the time to remind your employees who have upcoming vacations and those who are returning from their time off, to remember they are at work and to stay focused. It could prevent a tragedy.