Spotlight on Safety: Remember Your Red Wagon

When many of us were kids, we each had our own little red wagon. It was about 2 ft long, 1 ft wide, and 4 in. deep. We used it to haul whatever needed hauling, whether that was a load of stuffed animals on their way to a backyard tea party or action figures and their equipment. Sometimes we let our parents use it to carry us and our gear to parades, fairs, or the beach. Red wagons were, and still are, great tools. However, they do have one limitation: their small size.

We learned some interesting lessons about maximizing the amount we carried in such a small vehicle. For instance, we found we could put more stuff in it when it was sitting still than when it was in motion, and that more things would remain in it when we walked than when we ran. Often, we would have to retrace our steps to retrieve something that had fallen out, and place it at the top of the load.

Remember your old red wagon when considering your workload and time. We load up our tasks in a little time-management wagon. If we speed up or hit bumpy ground, or if other people overload the wagon, things might fall out, forcing us to go back, retrieve the lost items, and replace them in...