UCR — Unsafe Conditions on Barge Deck

[Title]
UCR — Unsafe Conditions on Barge Deck

[Verse 1]
Morning came brittle on the Wasi line,
Blue steel sleeping under river shine,
Coffee went cold in a paper cup,
Somebody said, boys, don’t rig that up.

The deck had a glaze you could barely see,
A thin little lie from the freeze-thaw sea,
Boot heel slipped once and it never came back,
One sharp cry, then the world went black.

[Pre-Chorus]
We resumed the lift,
Didn’t write it down,
Thought that a warning
Could be talked around.

[Chorus]
U-C-R, icy conditions on the barge deck,
Someone fell, and we all looked back,
The river don’t care what the foreman said,
Unsafe Condition Report, a man is dead.

U-C-R, put the failure in the record,
Name the hazard, failed the sign,
Sometimes grief looks like paperwork
Stamped after the broken line.

[Verse 2]
There’s a bridge in the weeds with a lifetime face,
Waiting on cranes and a better place,
Old iron dreams of the far bank shore,
But the river don’t care what the plans are for.

We had men with chains and a barge below,
We had frost in the seams and a sideways snow,
We had pride in the way that the old crew knew,
Till pride met the sound of a body through.

[Pre-Chorus]
We kept the task,
Took a gambler’s chance,
A bad day ends
With an empty stance.

[Chorus]
U-C-R, icy conditions on the barge deck,
Someone fell, and we all looked back,
The river don’t care what the foreman said,
Unsafe Condition Report, a man is dead.

U-C-R, put the failure in the record,
Name the hazard, failed the sign,
Sometimes grief looks like paperwork
Stamped after the broken line.

[Bridge]
Corrective action:
Sand and salt,
Raised-stop threshold,
Shared and taught.

Root cause:
Weather moved fast,
River steel
And culture’s past.

Preventive action:
Listen, learn,
Deck inspection
Before the turn.

And if the old boys laugh,
Call them in instead,
I’d rather hear them cussing
Than pray for the dead.

[Verse 3]
I used to think a warning was a weakness shown,
Till I watched the medics and the phones all glow,
A hard hat hanging by an empty chair,
His name in the file and his coat still there.

So sign the report with a shaking pen,
Then gather your crew and go home again,
There’s honour in stopping before hearts break,
There’s mercy in learning what risks not to take.

[Final Chorus]
U-C-R, icy conditions on the barge deck,
Someone fell, and we can’t go back,
The river don’t care what the foreman said,
Unsafe Condition Report, a man is dead.

U-C-R, put the failure in the record,
Name the hazard, draw the line,
Sometimes love looks like paperwork
Filed before the next in line.

[Outro]
On the Wasi River,
Under winter stars,
We write this line
So it stops at scars.

U-C-R.
Unsafe conditions.
Barge deck.
Work stopped.
One name missed.