The Spirit of Survival Haunts Your Top 5 Stories of 2013

Dec. 20, 2013
Let’s end the year by looking back at the stories that both scared and inspired us to be better.

The end of the year is traditionally a time for reflection. In looking back at all the articles we’ve written in 2013, the ones that received the highest readership dealt more with how to keep living than what we do for a living.  Survival is a universal interest, and how to do it is a topic that draws audiences, whether on TV, in a movie or on the website of a B2B magazine. 

One of our blog posts actually went viral, accounting for its spot at the top of our list of best-read features. It’s titled “Welcome to my Nightmare,” and didn’t just describe the last day in a warehouse worker’s life, but showed it. The theme was the dangers of distracted driving, and it transferred that topic from the road to the driver seat of an overloaded forklift bearing down on an oblivious pedestrian whose death taught us all a lesson in the need to constantly be aware of our surroundings.

Second on our list is actually more of a video gallery than a blog, demonstrating the Dumb Things People do with Forklifts. Although the mood of these videos is more comic than tragic, the borderline separating the two could have easily been crossed if luck or providence hadn’t intruded.  The message here is, don’t let circumstances make that intrusion necessary.

The third most clicked-upon story of the year had to do with the bureaucrats who like to think of themselves as guarantors of your safety: the folks at OSHA. In “Reigning Cats and Dogs at OSHA,” we remind you how important it is to take responsibility for your safety and to remind OSHA that you’re committed to doing that. We tell how a large group of conscientious objectors made OSHA reverse its decision to alter one of the few programs that actually make people glad there’s an OSHA.

Coming in at fourth was a blog about a government agency many employees are glad it keeps their employers in check: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC. "Rethinking Criminality's Expiration Date" was the account of how the livelihood of productive warehouse employees with criminal records in their distant past was suddenly threatened by a change in the employer’s relationship with 3PLs. The employer was BMW, and they unknowingly stepped into an unwanted spotlight.

Number five is a perennial favorite of MH&L readers: Our annual Salary Survey. This report not only tells you how much money others in your position are making, but also what those above and below you are pulling down. This feature includes quotes from your colleagues about what’s wrong and what’s right with what you and they do.

Thankfully, for 2013, there was a lot that was right with what you do for a living. We at MH&L wish you more of that peace of mind for 2014—as well as peace on earth.