Memories of the construction site

It has been four years since the construction unit was transferred to the propaganda department. During these past four years, despite my change in role, I still often find myself back at the construction site with a camera, conducting interviews. Every time I walk through the once-familiar and hard-earned battlefield, I’m reminded of a real-life incident that took place years ago.

It was a cold winter a few years back when our company decided to expand the factory building. All the subsidiary enterprises followed the project guidelines carefully. On this particular day, after days of overcast skies, the weather suddenly cleared up, and the temperature climbed above 20 degrees Celsius. The workers, excited by the warmth, took off their wool vests and helmets. At that moment, my team was working on dismantling a gearbox on the polymerizer. I was holding a thick copper rod while my master used an 18-pound iron hammer to strike it repeatedly. During a short break, as he removed his helmet to rest, I instinctively felt something was wrong. It didn’t feel safe. Without hesitation, I put my own helmet back on my head.

Work continued. Five minutes later, something shocking happened before my eyes. Due to fatigue, my master’s grip weakened, and the wooden handle of the hammer slipped, causing the iron hammer to fly through the air in a long arc and hit my helmet directly. I only felt a heavy impact on my head. When I looked up, the 18-pound hammer had crashed into the ground below the 6-meter-high platform, sinking about 20 centimeters deep. Some of the workers nearby were stunned. One of them said, “If you hadn’t been wearing that safety helmet, you might have met Marx already!”

Even though this event happened several years ago, I still feel a sense of guilt and fear. I often wonder: what if I had taken off the helmet because of the warm weather? What if I had removed it for comfort? That would have been a disaster beyond belief. From that day on, I made it a rule to always be cautious. Every time I step onto a construction site, I remind myself whether I’m wearing a helmet or not. Even after working alongside the masters for years, this constant awareness of safety has become second nature. After thousands of projects, the concept of “safety first, prevention foremost” is like an invisible helmet in my heart, reminding me to stay alert at all times.

Now, even though I’ve moved away from the main construction site, I still wear a safety helmet whenever I enter a factory. I often see workers forgetting to wear their helmets and risking their lives. I can’t help but step forward and remind them: your life depends on that hard hat. It's more than just a piece of equipment—it's a lifesaving shield.

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