Page 21 - West Virgina 811 Magazine 2020 Issue 2

‘_ ' b|'sher's

lthere is any one seeret ol sllccesst it lies in ottr ahility to listen to the other

persons view and then ttntlerstand things lrorn that persons perspeetire as

well as ottr own.

Etleetiye datnage prevenlion is not now nor will it ever he, about litnitittg
liahility when there is an incident. Efieetiye darnage prevention is an infinitely
rnore serions hnsiness. To he stteeesslttl in arlmieving it. we rnnst ehange the
eonyersations arottnd tahles lrotn the tnaintenanee oltraditional positions and
vizws to developing new and ettltnrally appropriate ones.

Actepling invilalions to ereate eonsenstts atnong stakeholders ean he prodttetwe.
contintting to see soltttions throngh only one lens rather than working to ehange
the rnltttre oldarnage prevention at large is ronnterprodnetire.

The old “help me get this throttgh and I'll help yott get yonrs throttgh" is

D Z tt.nda.nentally wrung. his not the one tor oarnage prevention any note than

eharity is a ettre lor poverty. we tttttst work rarelttlly to eontintte to identity and
reaeh ottt to all stakeholders. it rnay not he possihle to wait lor all the yariotts
stakeholders to eotne to the tahle as organizations, espeeially it the stakeholders
are printarily eonrerned with how it afiztts the individual organization.

This etzort is ahottt protesting Vila] ttndergrottnd laeilities and rnore itnportantly
proteeting the lives and property of the ritizens of ottr state. If we are really
working to hest serve their inlerzslsr then we'1lhave their ttndying appreeiation
and sttpport.

If they perceive we have rnore interest in protecling ottr tttri than in protetling
their hornes, l arn eonyinred well find they dont rnttrh eare ahont rorporate
liahility, the legal or teehnieal sttperiority of one group over another. rttt
eonyineed the narnes oi the “big guns‘ that intpress us are ttnknown to this silent
majority or eitizens who have plaeed their trnst in its.

rrotn excavator to regnlator and {tom operator to legislator, lets work diligently
every day to earn the trttst or our rititens.

II is itnpossihle not to he hopeittl httt eorning together is only a heginning. Many
will lind listening to opposing perspeetiyes dileenlt. so in many ways‘ keeping
together is real progress. Listening to nnderstand eaeh other is the only hope we
have to aehieye real ronsensns. That will prove to he hard work. httt it keeping
together is pmgresst then working together is the path to sneeess.

withottt dehatzy rntteh work has heen done and there is still rntteh to he done.
ottr sneeess will depend on getting people involved with an infinite eapaeity to not
know what tan'l he done.

lzntorrernent laws have heen passed in many states as well as here in west
virginia. Bul rnost have also learned that as dileettlt as it was to get legislation
passed, it rnay have heen the easiest part ol the proeess. Now what we rnnst

do is make the new legislation work. it will still reoptire reaehing ont to all
stakeholders, learning to httild the hridges that have heen torn down oter the
years and sotnehow throttgh all the dialogue. hnilding an environmenl ol ttttttttal
trttst and respeet that ran only he aerornplished throttgh a lair efiectivz and
transparent progratn.

while it will take sorne states longer to aehieye this goal than others, rrn
eonyinred we ll get it done‘ heeattse l helieye in ttsl 3

2020 Issue 2 west I/lrglmti an . 19