Spilled milk
 Photo: Patricia Hedrick, Fermilab |
Almost in time with the rhythmic open-mouthed chewing and the occasional call for more ketchup during lunchtime at Fermilab's day care center comes the repeated mantra, "Careful of your milk." Caregiver Cindy Kane knows all about the constant battle against spilled milk. “It was especially bad about a year ago, when we had this one little boy who spilled his milk every single day,” says Kane. “We sat next to him, we reminded him to be careful, and we moved it up above his plate after he took a sip, but something always happened.”
Then, one morning, Kane walked into her classroom to find a hand-lettered sign hanging in the window: “We have worked 1 day without a spilled milk accident.” The tongue-in-cheek sign was a variation on the familiar notice “We have worked days without a lost time accident” that greets workers and kids as they enter the center each morning. The sign, created by caregiver Janet Jelonick, was a reminder that safety has become an integral part of life at the national laboratories.
"Introducing the importance of slowing down and exercising caution to kids at a young age is important," Kane says. "But it's also difficult. We usually last zero or one day without a milk accident, and we've never surpassed three days. But we're trying!"
Kelen Tuttle
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