Safety: More than just 101 critical days Published Sept. 1, 2009 By Airman 1st Class Alexandria Mosness 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFNS) -- Just because you "fly a desk" in an administrative work area, doesn't mean you don't have to worry about safety. In fact, according to 86th Airlift Wing safety officials here, one of the more extreme mishaps that happened this year took place in an administrative environment. One unlucky person found out firsthand how dangerous a paper shredder could be when she lost her pinky finger and part of her ring finger in a paper shredder. To prevent incidents like this from happening in the future, safety personnel have a goal to keep everyone informed and educated. With the close out of the 101 Critical Days of Summer coming on Sept. 7, the 86th AW safety staff reminds Airmen that safety is important year round. It's always time to think and make the right decision. "Our job is to prevent mishaps in the workplace," said Lt. Col. Bayne Meeks, 86th AW safety chief. "We are preserving the Air Force's capability because when there is ground, air or any type of mishaps, it affects the mission. If the people are injured, then we are not concentrating on our primary mission." While the Airmen in the safety office know they cannot be everywhere at once, their hope is to get their safety messages out so Airmen will make the right decision. "Part of our job as the safety office is to promote making good decisions to prevent future mishaps," the colonel added. "If we can instill a sense of discipline and good decision making into the Airmen and raise operational risk management, then we can decrease a lot of the mishaps." From aircraft crashes to the shredder incident, it is often attention to the simplest details that can prevent mishaps. "The worst safety mishap I have seen has been a fatality and it was because of a little mistake," said Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Kelly, 86th AW safety superintendent. "An Airman was guiding a vehicle to back up and instead of standing to the side, he stood directly in the back and was caught in between the wall and the vehicle when it went in reverse, resulting in a fatality. It just shows you the little things can truly make a difference." Once a mishap occurs, safety office staff members have 30 days to get out their process report for determining the cause of the mishap. "We are second-hand responders at the scene," Colonel Meeks said. "We have a very thorough investigation. We factor in the circumstances, and at the end, send out the report with why the mishap occurred." To help cover all operations, the safety office is broken down into three different sections: ground, weapons and flight. "We have an aerospace and operational physiology officer and technician assigned to proactively address human factors in ground, flight and weapons safety programs through education and consultation," said Capt. Ross Canup, 86th AW safety aerospace and operational physiologist. "You've heard the saying 'to err is human.' Human factors are understanding why those errors happen and designing systems to prevent those errors." Practicing safety is a fulltime job, and the safety office staff offers many programs to help educate Airmen on how to make the right decision and to be better prepared. "Some of the things we are involved in are training Airmen on fatigue management, sleep hygiene and attention management," Captain Canup said. "We also train our flight crews on the hazards of high-altitude exposure, spatial disorientation and night vision goggle use." One big misconception with the safety staff is that they are trying to ruin everyone's fun, Sergeant Kelly said. "We are just trying to ensure a safe working environment for everyone," he added. "One of the most common things we see is surge protectors plugged into other surge protectors. This is a fire hazard. While we know everyone is pushing to do the mission, you still have to do it the right way." With many people working in their jobs for many years, they can start to believe they know how to do everything, but this should not deter Airmen from doing their job correctly. "Follow the safety procedures and don't become complacent in your job," Sergeant Kelly said. "A lot of people cut corners to make the job go by quicker, but then a mishap occurs. Often, the result of the investigation shows it was caused by that small step they thought they could skip." For Fiscal 2009, there were five on-duty ground fatalities across the Air Force. But, there were 44 off-duty ground fatalities including 22 vehicle fatalities, 16 motorcycle fatalities, two pedestrian and bicycle fatalities and four non-traffic fatalities. The last off-duty fatality occurred Aug. 16. By Fiscal 2012, the goal of the secretary of Defense is to see a 75 percent reduction in fatalities.