Photo By Scott Sturkol | Fire Safety Inspector Curt Ladwig speaks to attendees to the Fort McCoy Safety and...... read more read more
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Fort McCoy held its meeting of the Safety and Occupational Health Advisory Council for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 on Oct. 28 at the installation.
The SOHAC is an installationwide council that shares ideas and concerns about all things safety for not just garrison team members but also tenant organization members, Installation Safety Office officials said. The council doesn’t just discuss basic safety subjects, they also discuss infrastructure, climate, and weather. They also discuss the potential risks and hazards the post could see in coming months or even years.
Leadership present at the meeting included Maj. Gen. Joseph Ricciardi, commanding general of the 88th Readiness Division and senior commander for Fort McCoy; Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez-Ramirez; Fort McCoy Deputy Garrison Commander Lt. Col. Mike Corkum; Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Calarco, garrison command sergeant major; office and directorate leaders; and other installation personnel.
Ricciardi started the meeting with some opening comments, then Installation Safety Manager Ed De Leon took over.
De Leon spoke about facility inspections, which were completed for fiscal year 2024, and went over building manager responsibilities; the importance of having an evacuation route posted; completing monthly fire extinguisher inspection; and to do safety assessments of your workplace, such as looking at the use of extension cords/power strips, general housekeeping, clearing exit paths, and more.
De Leon also discussed focusing on winter safety as the colder winter months approach. He noted that people should have their workplace prepared. People should know where to put salt/ice melt and its proper use, remember to shovel walkways, use footwear appropriate for weather conditions; and to know the correct use of space heaters.
Following De Leon’s lead discussion on these and several other subjects, Fire Safety Inspector Curt Ladwig with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Emergency Services Fire Department gave a presentation about fire prevention and safety that covered fall safety, Thanksgiving safety, and holiday safety items.
“If you don’t take anything else out of this presentation today, take this. … Fire prevention is education,” Ladwig said. “We need to teach people, boys and girls, mothers and dads, grandmas and grandpas, how to be fire safe. My job is not to go out and find things that are wrong. My job is to teach you how to be fire safe.”
Ladwig discussed just how he teaches people to be fire safe.
“We teach you how to build a fire evacuation plan,” Ladwig said. “We provide hands-on fire extinguisher training. We do CPR training, and we do first-aid training.”
Ladwig explained further about an evacuation plan.
“Fire prevention is education, so the first thing you want to do is you want to have an evacuation plan for not only here at work, but also at home,” Ladwig said. “You sit down with the family, you draw up a plan, how are we going to get out, where we are going to go. The most important part of an evacuation plan is a meeting place. We need to know, if we get to your house, and it’s on fire, that everyone is safe. My job is not to fight fire, life safety is number one.”
Ladwig also discussed smoke detectors.
“Install smoke detectors,” he said. “The theme of National Fire Prevention Week this year was dealing with smoke detectors. They should be at every level of your house.
“They need to be tested,” Ladwig said. “Just like anything, they only work if they’re tested to make sure they’re working. Change the batteries every six months.”
Ladwig said a great time to change smoke detector batteries is the same days when the time changes take place in the spring (March) and fall (November).
“Put a new battery in your smoke detector,” he said. “Change your clock, change your batteries.”
Ladwig also detailed several other fire prevention subjects, such as proper use of extension cords, proper operation of space heaters, holiday lights safety, and more.
At the end of the meeting, all of the leaders each gave a few comments about the importance of safety and how the meeting is a good place to review those needs. Ricciardi was attending this meeting for the first time and gave his perspective.
“This is a community, and it takes this participation, this involvement for this,” Ricciardi said. “I thank you for participating today and putting this together.”
Ricciardi challenged everyone, garrison and tenant organizations, to think about safety coverage in all places and spaces.
“At the end of the day, it’s all of our responsibilities as leaders to provide a safe working environment, living environment, (and) training environment for the Soldiers, families, and employees,” Ricciardi said.
The next Fort McCoy SOHAC meeting is planned for mid-January 2025.
To learn more about the SOHAC, contact the Fort McCoy Installation Safety Office at 502-898-3403.
Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the My Army Post app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
| Date Taken: | 11.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.01.2024 16:38 |
| Story ID: | 484494 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 6 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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