Nick Morris Announced as General Session Presenter
The National Board announces Nick Morris, safety and motivational speaker, will address the 83rd General Meeting, May 12, in Bellevue, Washington. His presentation is entitled, How a Bad Day Turned into a Good Day.
Mr. Morris was involved in a refinery explosion in the Texas Panhandle in February of 2007. Despite suffering severe burns to his hands, face, head, and airway, he survived. The accident was caused when a leak erupted from a high-pressure propane line in an old unit in the refinery. Mr. Morris caught on fire during his evacuation when he came between the vapor cloud and its ignition source. Witnesses testify that he was a walking ball of flames for 2-3 minutes before he found a pothole filled with water and extinguished himself before help arrived from the plant.
Mr. Morris draws from this harrowing experience to teach others about the importance of safety and being alert at all times. His inspirational presentations focus on the safety efforts he made, such as following proper procedures and wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment, and how those efforts helped him do the right thing when it mattered most.
“I am convinced that the extra steps I took in my daily activities, combined with fighting apathy and complacency, helped save my life,” Morris says. “I encourage people to be a safe person, not just a safe worker, and to make choices that might save them from a painful accident or injury, both at work and outside the workplace. At the end of each presentation, my goal is to convince at least one person in the audience to take a less-traveled path that will lead them to a life of safety.”