US Army Garrison Japan receives Safety Excellence Award Streamer

Photo By Candy Pafford | The presentation of the Safety Excellence Award Streamer during the Commander’s Update Briefing is the latest example of the safety culture mindset at US Army Garrison Japan (USAG Japan). (Courtesy photo from US Army Japan's Safety Office)  

CAMP ZAMA, KANAGAWA, JAPAN

02.21.2018

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Garrison - Japan

The presentation of the Safety Excellence Award Streamer during the Commander’s Update Briefing is the latest example of the safety culture mindset at US Army Garrison Japan (USAG Japan).

The Army Safety Excellence Streamer is presented to organizations that have completed the following requirements from Army Regulation (AR) 385-10:
- 12 consecutive months without a Soldier or unit at-fault Class A or Class B accident;
- achieved 100% Risk Management training; and
- completed an Army Readiness Assessment program (ARAP), which is a Web-based program that provides battalion equivalent and above commanders with data on their organization's readiness posture by assessing its safety climate and culture.

USAG Japan has a combined workforce of 2,150 personnel; 1,783 of those, 84%, are our local national partners who do the bulk of the work that keeps the garrison running so efficiently and accident free. The USAG Japan workforce is spread across Honshu, the Japan mainland, covering 10 distant work locations and logging over 437,000 work hours without a major accident or injury.

The Risk Management (RM) training requirement is a simple achievement for US personnel because AR 350-1 only requires a one-time completion of this computer based training. However, USAG Japan takes that a step further by providing RM training to our host nation workforce during their intake indoctrination, providing the training in Japanese to ensure all of our workforce receives this one-time training in their native language.

Completing the ARAP allowed the Garrison Commander to hear his workforces’ thoughts on the climate and safety culture of the garrison during his initial 90 days of command. In an effort to ensure all of the workforce was included, the Installation Safety Office provided translated questionnaires to the directorates and their workplaces across Honshu. This ensured that the workforce not only understood the context of the questions being asked, but could provide statistically reliable feedback to the commander through their responses.

These efforts are just a day in the life of the USAG Japan workforce. From the workers out on the jobsite ensuring they are wearing the right Personal Protective Equipment, to the supervisors who ensure the procedures are followed, to the directors who instill a climate of safety from the top down by ensuring the right equipment and training is made available to their employees, the Army Safety Excellence Streamer is a symbol of all the hard work and dedication that our workforce brings to the job every day.

For more information about safety topics at USAG Japan, call the safety office at SDN: 315-263-4464.

• Date Taken: 02.21.2018
• Date Posted: 02.20.2018 19:30
• Story ID: 266595
• Location: CAMP ZAMA, KANAGAWA, JP