A (truly) CAUTIONARY TALE

...Speaking of safe spaces, my old magazine Maclean's publishes an obituary that reads like a latterday Hillaire Belloc. Alas, every word is true:

Dean even wore safety goggles when playing with Nerf guns. "They might be foam, but they could still take your eyes out," says Kelly. "That's called instilling safety."

Dean never grew out of his cautious ways. After moving to live with Kelly and his stepfamily in Hinton, Alta., at age 12, he preached to his friends about safety while driving four-wheelers and dirt bikes. "He always made me wear a helmet," says one of his best friends, Brian Scotland. "I hate helmets. Somehow I listened to Dean." Dean was equally prudent at home. He never turned on the lawnmower without boots and eye protection, and "there's safety stickers all around our house," says his stepbrother, Brendan Bieker...

On work sites, Dean never removed his hard hat or safety harness, not even at lunch...

When their son, Kingston, was born in September 2014, Dean became known as the world's safest dad. He insisted on buying a $300 car seat, with help from his grandmother, Donna Smith. "He had to get the top safety brand," says Donna. Worried that Kingston might knock his head on a sharp corner, Dean moved all four coffee tables out of the living room.

Dean was installing a safety handrail for mill employees to cross a tower without needing to wear a harness. "It was literally to make it 100 per cent safe for them," says Kelly. According to Kelly, Dean's safety lanyard got caught in the coupling of a motor and sucked him into the machinery. Alberta Occupational Health and Safety is investigating the death. Dean was 23.