New safety plan to hit Fairchild Published Oct. 29, 2007 By Airman 1st Class Kali L. Gradishar 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. (AFPN) -- A new side of safety will be seen here in the coming days, months and years as the Voluntary Protection Program makes its debut. Fairchild will be the third base in Air Mobility Command to implement the program. The VPP is a program that is "designed to recognize outstanding safety and health programs," said Capt. Daniel Heaney, the base VPP point of contact. The intent of the new program is to provide a new way of thinking about safety. "The way that safety works now is from top to bottom. It deals with preparing for inspections," said Captain Heaney. "This new program empowers and encourages people to be more safety conscious. It's not an inspection, it's a process." The program is capable of enhancing the base mission in many ways, both monetarily and functionally. "We are excited about the prospects of implementing VPP. It will shift safety from a program managed by an office to a culture implemented by every Airman," said Col. Thomas Sharpy, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander. "This shift will definitely have an impact on our ability to support the mission, because reducing mishaps will increase combat capability." The Department of Defense spends approximately $10 to $20 billion on preventable incidents, which goes towards things such as worker's compensation, damaged equipment and medical bills, said Captain Heaney. In a letter from Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley, it is emphasized that "in order to win the war on terrorism, recapitalize and modernize our weapon systems, and develop and take care of our Airmen, we simply cannot afford the workplace mishap status quo. Every year we suffer tens of thousands of lost workdays from mishaps that erode our workforce productivity." The process to implement this new safety process has already begun for Fairchild. A team comprised of three AMC representatives, a Pentagon representative and safety personnel from other bases are scheduled to visit Fairchild Oct. 29 through Nov. 2. The team will conduct a work side analysis, visiting base facilities and interviewing various base personnel. "The team will be here to see where Fairchild stands," Captain Heaney said. "Toward the end of the visit, they will compile the information gathered and brief the information to base leadership." They will then provide the base with a gap analysis, an examination of how Fairchild rates on the safety scale. Elements of the gap analysis will be red, yellow or green depending on current observations. "The goal is to get the gap analysis in the green and in one to three years, turn in an application for 'star status' but developing the culture may take up to ten years," said the captain. "We want to make this a part of life." Captain Heaney noted that pilots and crew members did not always check for foreign object debris on the flight line, but nowadays it is an action that comes without thinking. Somewhere along the line, people started adopting this behavior of picking up FOD, said Captain Heaney, and that is the goal with the VPP, to make it a natural, day-to-day thing. "Implementing VPP here will enhance our ability to make safety a part of Team Fairchild's culture. Safety is the foundation that allows our mission to succeed -- this makes VPP an important part of our mission," said Colonel Sharpy. "In short, the Volunteer Protection Program will enable our Airmen to more safely accomplish the mission." Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) View the comments/letters page