JBER occupational safety office hosts fall-protection, Safety Day

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Javier Alvarez
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson occupational safety office hosted fall-safety and Safety Day events May 24 and 25.

The fall-safety event coincided with the Air Force’s Fall-Prevention Focus – a collaboration with the Air Force Safety Center, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – to highlight fall prevention.

“We have two seasons here in Alaska, winter and construction,” said Ralph McHenry, 673d Air Base Wing occupational safety lead. “This means people are going to be outside more. They’ll be on roof tops making repairs. We want everybody to re-engage their efforts [and minimize potential mishaps.]”

Occupational safety agents at JBER teach Check3GPS, a safety initiative designed to mitigate risk and prevent mishaps, McHenry said. Before engaging in an activity, participants should ensure they have the right gear, a plan, and the proper skills.

Safety representatives took their accident prevention skills one step further during Safety Day at Hillberg and, with the help of field experts on all-terrain vehicles, kayaking, hiking, mountain biking, archery, and fly fishing, provided hands-on demonstrations and briefings.

“All of our deaths in the [Pacific Air Force’s] region were off-duty type activities,” McHenry said “Sadly, we lost six Airmen to preventable fatal mishaps in 2016.”

The way to help prevent injury can be simple, McHenry said. Before venturing into the Last Frontier, ask yourself if you have the gear, have a plan, and have the skills for what you’re doing.

The three most common injury-producing accidents at JBER are slips, trips and falls; vehicle collisions; and outdoor sports and recreation accidents, he said.

Occupational-safety Airmen provided some tips for minimizing risk of accidents.

When walking on icy or slick surfaces, don’t rush.
“Leave some accident prevention room to help you avoid accidents when driving,” McHenry said.
Explore with a wingman, he said. You don’t want to go out alone on your first trip. Go with someone who has done the activity. Tell a co-worker or supervisor if you go on a hike out on the mountains, so if you don’t show up to work the following day, they know where to start looking.

“We are a smaller, leaner force,” McHenry said. “When you’re smaller and leaner, the individual’s impact is greater to the organization.”
“The most important thing is people,” he said. “You can’t replace people. And we want to send everybody home with as many fingers and toes as they came to work with every day.”