A diver in Mobile Bay told me to always check the spool piece myself, and it saved my neck.

We were on a pipeline job last spring, and the lead diver handed me a spool piece he said was 'good to go'. I remembered the old hand's advice, gave it my own once-over, and found a hairline crack in the weld that would have split under pressure. How many of you make it a rule to do your own final check on every piece of gear, no matter who says it's ready?

4 comments

4 Comments

susan_allen2mo ago

But isn't that just common sense?

carr.luna2mo agoTop Commenter

Common sense like @susan_allen said? Nah, it's a life rule. Trust but verify, period.

casey2682mo ago

Okay but calling it a life rule feels a bit much. Like, do you really need to verify everything your best friend tells you? Sometimes trust is just trust. Making it a hard rule for every single situation seems exhausting.

rowanw913d agoMost Upvoted

Building off what carr.luna said about trust but verify - that's exactly it. The whole point isn't that you don't trust your buddy, it's that nobody's perfect and mistakes happen even with the best intentions. Like, your mechanic might be great but if he's tired or distracted that one time, you're the one who pays for it. Same with a line cook checking if your steak is medium rare - they're human too. That extra 30 seconds of looking something over yourself is nothing compared to the headache of finding out the hard way.