Summer safety campaign successful at Sheppard

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Sheppard completed another successful 101 Critical Days of Summer Sept. 4, meeting its goal of zero fatalities.

Although Sheppard finished a successful campaign, the Air Force overall had 19 fatalities during the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

James Zillweger, 82nd Training Wing chief of safety, said it was a total team effort from top to bottom that kept Team Sheppard members safe. Unit safety representatives as well as leadership at all levels worked hard to get the word out about operational and personal risk management, he said.

"Safety involves everybody," Mr. Zillweger said. "If you don't have commitment from the lowest level, it won't work."

The push to keep Sheppard members safe began May 25 with a Safety Day at each unit. An implementation plan was provided to unit safety representatives that contained information on different safety issues that seem to be more prevalent during the summer.

Information continued to flow throughout the summer, including links to 101 Critical Days of Summer articles, safety memos and newsletters.

Perhaps the most important initiative of the safety campaign came just before a critical weekend - Labor Day. Mr. Zillweger said commanders at all levels were asked to come up with potential mishap scenarios that they could face as the final weekend holiday of the summer approached. Scenarios ranged from concerns over motorcycle safety, lack of preparation before travel, use of alcohol and poor decisions by younger demographics.

But, instead of coming up with possible scenarios and leaving the exercise at that, each unit was required to coming up with a prevention plan and implement it before the weekend began.

"I think the initiative really gave the commanders an opportunity to take a look at the dynamics of their workplace, and also look at the vulnerabilities of their own unit, even on personal levels in the off-duty environment," Mr. Zillweger said. "We were impressed with the depth and the realism some of the scenarios depicted."

The initiative even drew praise from higher levels of the Air Force.

"Mr. Zillweger and his staff tasked each unit to develop their most likely mishap scenario for the upcoming weekend and ways to manage that risk," said Chief Master Sgt. Robbie Bogard, the safety career field manager at the Air Force Safety Center. "Through efforts like this we can avoid mishaps."

Even though the Air Force did not reach its goal of zero fatalities, Mr. Zillweger said the 19 deaths this year is still a remarkable achievement given that the number was 29 just two years ago. Last year, 17 Air Force members lost their lives during the 101-day time period.

Of this year's fatalities, eight were in personal vehicles, seven involved motorcycles and four were sports and recreation related.

Mark Schaffer, Sheppard's ground safety manager, said safety isn't a once-a-year message. Keeping Sheppard members safe is a daily job.

"We did really well getting through the 101 Critical Days of Summer," he said. "But let's not forget about the other 264 just-as-critical days. Every day is critical in the safety world."