LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Virginia –
Safety -- the word probably doesn’t get you excited or incite any passion. When you go to work in the morning, the first thing you think about is probably NOT safety.
But safety is important, and if you’re part of the Air Force family, you have a responsibility to not only safeguard the billions of dollars of inventory we have, but also to ensure the safety of our most important and invaluable asset -- our people.
Pay attention to safety programs
Wings implement their own programs -- ground safety being one of the more well-known safety focuses.
“Too many vehicular accidents result from people speeding, drinking and driving, not wearing seat belts, or any combination of those,” explained Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Ennis, ACC chief of ground safety.
There are wing programs to reduce drinking and driving, ACC-driven initiatives to target those not wearing seat belts, and even Department of Defense-wide regulations about using only hands-free cell phones while driving on base.
These programs exist to reduce the number of vehicular traffic accidents.
But the success or failure of a safety program is not always a result of the program, which explains why some programs thrive at some bases and flop at others.
“At some point programs stop saving lives -- people do,” said Col. Creid Johnson, Air Combat Command director of safety, who explained that a program is only good if people choose to follow it or not.
Implement safety in rules and instructions
Flight and weapons safety are the other two components of safety, and they focus more on written instruction and safety procedures while working.
“Historically, the biggest safety problem is a failure to follow technical data and instructions,” said Michael Lawhorne, ACC chief of weapons safety.
Mr. Lawhorne’s job is to ensure that safety is considered and written into procedures and operations plans, striving to address any and all potentially harmful or dangerous safety issues.
“If guys decide not to follow the rules, it’s hard to correct,” he said.
Encourage Airmen to be good wingmen
In the Air Force, we pride ourselves on taking care of our people.
A large part of the problem is not watching out for each other said Colonel Johnson, who cited an example of four individuals who were in a wreck. The three who were wearing their seat belts survived and the one who wasn’t didn’t.
Where was his wingman?
If you see something that seems unsafe or dangerous, speak up. Better to err on the side of caution than to take unnecessary risks.
Learn from the past
“We’re always looking at the past to fix the future,” said Colonel Johnson.
If the goal is to learn from the past, the Safety Office exists to do just that -- and the figures prove Colonel Johnson’s theory is successful. In 2002, ACC lost 20 Airmen in four-wheel vehicle accidents and there has been a steady decrease each year, with only 11 fatalities last year and only one so far for 2006.
“Our job is to keep senior leadership informed of the status, effectiveness, and compliance of installation programs and members,” said Colonel Johnson.
The Safety Office monitors, evaluates and analyzes the safety issues across the command to ensure that mistakes are learned from and safety incidents are reduced.
“We share information with the command, spread the wealth of information and correct deficiencies,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Surowitz, flight safety division.
Think safety!
The common theme when discussing safety is that it all boils down to the individual. You can have all of the programs and safety procedures in place, but they are useless if people don’t think, practice and employ safety everyday.
“It’s all about good common sense,” said Col. Johnson, who said that each person has a responsibility to consider safety.
Whether or not you work with a multi-million dollar aircraft, or expensive equipment or supplies, you are still responsible for the safety of a priceless Air Force asset -- yourself.