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Fort Campbell received high marks on Army Materiel Command’s Safety Program Assessment March 22-26, with both U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Campbell and Army Field Support Battalion-Campbell making a strong impression.
The installation was the first to receive the full-spectrum evaluation that covers all areas of the Army Safety Program: rail safety, strategic planning, industrial safety, motor vehicle safety, public/off-duty/Family safety, explosive safety and radiation safety.
“Our assessment confirmed that we’re on track and we’re doing the right things here,” said Harvey Jones, director, Installation/Garrison Safety Office. “We are moving forward along the glide path that our commander has set for his safety program on this installation.”
Fort Campbell was specifically chosen to help AMC prepare for upcoming assessments at Installation Management Command, or IMCOM, and U.S. Army Sustainment Command, or ASC, this summer.
“We have a good-sized AFSBn here with a full-time safety professional who’s assigned to the AFSBn, so it gives us a good way to look at that,” said David Pickerell, industrial safety manager, AMC. “We also have a good medium-to-large sized garrison here at Fort Campbell, so it gave us the ability to look at two good examples of downtraces for ASC and IMCOM.”
Before AMC arrived, Jones and his team developed a two-week plan around AMC’s safety checklist to prepare for the inspection. He said that decision was critical because it was Fort Campbell’s first AMC assessment, and their standards differed from the more familiar IMCOM assessments.
“By doing a deep dive and using the checklist as the foundation, we found areas prior to their arrival where we were short of meeting the required performance levels,” he said. “Without that, I wouldn’t have known, nor could we have created a plan of action to where we started addressing those prior to them showing up, and that plays a huge role.”
Those efforts improved an already strong safety program, and AMC representatives identified several best practices from Fort Campbell to communicate to ASC and IMCOM leadership. Pickerell said ladder safety, lockout/tagout procedures, the hazard communication program and confined space were among them.
George LeFevre, operations safety manager, AMC, said he was particularly impressed with Fort Campbell’s emergency management program and comprehensive environmental guidelines.
“The emergency action plan itself and the support that the emergency management team at the garrison level provides to subordinate commands, I think that’s absolutely a best practice,” LeFevre said. “There are monthly and quarterly trainings working together, and it seems like it’s a real team effort. They’ve sent out templates to make things standardized across the command, so I think that’s a huge best practice to share with IMCOM.”
AMC also offered recommendations on how Fort Campbell can improve, such as strengthening off-post communications and operational testing for rail team leads, correcting infrastructure findings from a 2017 rail safety inspection and improving arc flash hazard procedures.
Although AMC identified some room for improvement, representatives found Fort Campbell a high-performing installation when it comes to safety measures.
“Overall, the AFSBn and the garrison are running a well-organized and maintained safety pro-gram,” Pickerell said. “They were all cooperative and easy to get along with.”
Installation leadership credited Fort Campbell’s workforce for the strong assessment during two out-briefings with AMC March 26, and Jones said the Fort Campbell Safety Program is critical in creating a hazard-free environment for everyone on post.
“I knew that we had a great program because we have a great team of safety-conscious employees across the board,” said Lt. Col. Sean R. Wilson, commander of AFSBn-Campbell. “All of the professionals within our organization are very safety-conscious and responsive to situations where ‘we need to do this,’ ‘we need to train on this’ or ‘I need this certification.’”
Colonel Jeremy D. Bell, Fort Campbell garrison commander, said the collaboration between units helps ensure high performance standards across the garrison.
“People make programs,” Bell said. “The success of any program is based on the ownership of the leadership, and I have the utmost confidence in our employees.”
The goal is to improve and apply what we’ve learned from the assessment, he said.
The Fort Campbell Safety Program provides oversight, guidance and support to enhance the safety of all Fort Campbell Soldiers, Families, civilian workforce, retirees and visitors.
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2021 15:41 |
| Story ID: | 392983 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL , KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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