Safety emphasis “Changing Direction” for the season

  • Published
  • By Shawn Jacobs
  • AED/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  Coming off a highly successful safety campaign this summer called "Break the Cycle," Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA), the operating contractor at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) wants to "Change Direction" this fall and winter.

With ATA, the number of slips, trips and falls generally increases during the months of October through February, but company officials want to see that number go down. One might blame the increase on frosty and icy surfaces, but ATA safety officials blame the jump on several culprits, including structures, material and equipment and uneven working and walking surfaces and parking lots.

The "Break the Cycle" campaign placed a heavy emphasis on exercising extra caution and preparation to reduce the number of industrial accidents, which generally trend upward each summer at AEDC. Safety officials said the program worked well.

"We closed out the fiscal year with the lowest number of injuries we've had since the contract began," Warner Holt, ATA safety manager said. "We're seeing continuous progress and we've done a lot of research and analysis to identify these periods and ... to really dig in and understand first of all what the types of injuries are and next, what's causing them and how we mitigate the risk in these particular areas."

The key to reducing slips, trips and falls comes down to paying more attention and situational awareness, according to Holt. That familiarity with surroundings is made more difficult by the fact that ATA craft employees are working increasingly in multiple facilities, instead of working exclusively in the same building.

Even though ice may not be the primary cause of falls, it is a significant factor, especially in the months of January and February. It is critical that the work force be especially mindful of the hazard during the coming months, according to Holt.

"If you see water that's standing now in the more moderate temperatures, when it
freezes that's definitely going to be a slip hazard," he said. "We've had a lot of folks reporting these issues - we've got a water leak here or there or an uneven surface that needs to be smoothed out where it doesn't hold water and that kind of thing. We're just trying to get ahead and be more proactive than reactive."

One way of being proactive is getting employees to report potential slip, trip or fall hazards, which could include uneven surfaces and parking lots, bumper stoppers, and potholes. Holt said ATA tries to maintain facilities the best it can, but with the reduced budget the fear is that it could get worse.

"The idea is to get ahead of that, get it reported and put a load of gravel in there before it becomes a serious trip hazard. There is stored energy, trip and slip hazards, bump hazards for head injuries and that kind of thing.

"Our key focus through February is on slips, trips and falls," he said. "We know that's an issue that we've dealt with, and our intent is to continue to drive down the number of injuries and keep our folks safe."

Holt advises asking the following questions to help reduce the number of slips, trips
and falls (STF).

· How do you assess your area for STF hazards? "A lot of that is the supervisor walking around with some of the craft folks periodically because things here at AEDC just seem to sprout up overnight. You'll have a project that may take place over a month or so, and there's no way can know everything that is going on."

· Where do you see water standing or wet sidewalks now? "Of course that's going to become ice at some point. We would like to say that we've got this area lit up at night where people can see, but the truth is there's no way to do that. We can't mitigate every slip, trip or fall hazard, so it gets back to paying attention and situational awareness."

· Do you use handrails when going up and down stairs? "We're trying to get our folks to intervene. If you saw me walking down the stairs with my hands full, we want
that culture where you can say, 'Let me help you with that.'"

· Do you store material properly and clean as you go when working?
"Housekeeping and safety go hand-in-hand. If you've got materials that are laid out in a walkway, you're just asking for trouble; it's just a built-in hazard. Some folks come from backgrounds where they don't have that skill - and it is a skill - to identify a
hazard."

· How can we step up to the challenge to reduce STFs? "That's just by reporting them to a supervisor or, in some cases, I've seen the employee just fix the problem [especially if it's something fairly small]. It's a constant battle, a constant fight to try to educate our work force, and remind them to be safe. Again, it goes back to paying attention, situational awareness, getting leaders involved. It's a lot about common sense, [and] our craft folks are blessed with ample amounts of common sense."

As with all the safety advice he offers, Holt wants employees to implement these tips at home as well. "We see a lot of injuries that occur at home," he said. "I hear more stories of folks who have said, 'I was doing so-and-so this weekend, and I thought about the safety aspect and sat down and did a little plan as to how I was going to get this work done [safely].