Photo By Master Sgt. Joseph Vine | Capt. Brian Moore, deputy director of Task Force Safe, speaks to service members and...... read more read more
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BAGHDAD - A soldier plugs in his laptop to charge its battery before he rushes off to work. He leaves the laptop on his bunk as he steps out the door. A few hours later that laptop starts to overheat since the sheets on his bed block the vent for the fans inside. The laptop then heats up to the point it catches the sheets on fire, the blaze growing exponentially to engulf his entire room.
This real-life scenario, represents how easily one of the most dangerous non-combative situations can occur for service members and civilians deployed to Iraq. Preventing disasters like this from repeating is the goal of Task Force Safe.
“Task Force Safe’s primary mission is to make Iraq a safer place for soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and contractors,” said Capt. Brian Moore, from Port O’Conner, Texas, and deputy director of TF Safe. “We currently conduct about 900 inspections per week and offer a two-day electrical and fire awareness class every month to ensure the safety of everyone.”
With more than 239,000 electrical inspections in military and civilian facilities and 37 electrical and fire safety classes given, TF Safe continues to spread awareness in order to mitigate electrical
and fire incidents throughout Iraq.
“Electrocution and electrical fires are real threats that should be everyone’s concern,” said Moore.
There have been 19 fatalities in Iraq as a direct result from faulty electrical wiring, overloaded circuits and improper
grounding.
“It was too many people dying due to negligence,” said Moore. “I hope that we get the awareness out there of some of the safety hazards we’re still seeing in regards to electrical and fire safety.”
“We still see three power strips daisy chained together with two refrigerators, a microwave and a TV running off of one power strip,” he said. “Most of the things that we see are human error.”
Since TF Safe was established in 2008, the inspection pass rate has increased 24 percent and the re-inspection pass rate is
92 percent.
In addition to inspections and classes, TF Safe has also distributed
approximately 1.9 million electric adapters and 572,000 power strips across Iraq.
“We’re getting the word out there and people are reporting hazards and helping to correct them,” said Moore.
“We get on average three to seven reports of shocks per week and 95 percent are static electricity shocks,” he said. “Someone drags their boots across the rug, grabs the doorknob and received a slight shock. In the States no one would report that but here they do.”
TF Safe will continue with its primary mission of safety in Iraq and plans to inspect facilities and conduct courses through September 2011.
| Date Taken: | 01.31.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.05.2011 04:50 |
| Story ID: | 64868 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 133 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Task Force Safe educates service members, civilians, by MSG Joseph Vine, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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