Photo By Keith Hayes | 2014 Commandant of the Marine Corps' Warrior Preservation Award, on display with...... read more read more
Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow has won the 2015 Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Warrior Preservation Award for the second consecutive year.
Ray Aguilar, MCLB Barstow safety officer, said the award is the top safety award presented by the Marine Corps. It is also the sixth time in the past eight years that the base has achieved the honor.
Marine Administrative Message 346/16 states the Warrior Preservation Award is presented to the Marine Corps installation worldwide that has made significant contributions and accomplishments in the field of safety and mishap prevention.
Aguilar said the award comes with bragging rights, a trophy and wall plaque, and a signed certificate from the Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller.
“We’ve got five of those plaques in various spots around the base,” Aguilar said. “The original award was a bronze bust of Marine Corps Lieutenant General Chesty Puller, but has now been modernized.”
The base is no stranger to being recognized for its success in reducing accidents and mishaps.
“We were the first base in the entire Marine Corps to achieve (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) Voluntary Protection Program Star status,” Aguilar said. “That was back in April of 2008. The commandant (then Gen. James T. Conway) presented us with the award during a visit.”
He said it takes some time to develop the culture of safety necessary to consistently win the Warrior Preservation Award and to achieve VPP Star status as MCLB Barstow has done.
“You’re talking anywhere from two to five years to see a turnaround to getting VPP status,” Aguilar noted. “That’s from a program that needs a lot of work to a quality program that wins awards.”
“We have always had programs to ensure safe operation of machinery and other safety aspects at work,” Aguilar continued.
“We’ve improved on all of those programs and then gone above and beyond by implementing the OSHA ten-hour general industry safety course,” he said. “The course was implemented to empower all of our personnel to be responsible for their safety and that of their coworker.”
The base has not kept the secret of its success to itself. The safety office has sent out teams of Special Government Employees (SGE) to other Military installations worldwide to assist them in achieving VPP status.
“Thanks to our efforts and mentoring other commands on safety issues, MCLB Albany, Ga., Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, Fla., and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., have all achieved VPP Star status,” he said. “We’re proud of their success because we played a large part in helping them achieve it.”
Other services have also consulted with MCLBB for safety advice.
“We’ve done a lot of work with Hill Air Force Base, Utah, over the past five years,” Aguilar said. “They recently got their VPP Star.”
“I’ve also been to Hawaii personally to advise the National Guard there on safety matters,” he added. “And SGEs have been to Guam, to mentor commands there on how to achieve VPP Star status.”
The secret to success is not really a secret, Aguilar explained. “You need to develop a safety culture. People have to talk with each other about safety and work with each other to develop that safety culture,” he said. “It makes your job easier; you become more efficient, and you start saving money.”
The base is also in the hunt, again, for the Secretary of the Navy’s Safety Excellence Award coming up this year. “Headquarters Marine Corps nominates installations for that award,” Aguilar said. “They’ll likely nominate us for that since we did so well this year.”
The Department of Defense, for the first time, is sponsoring their version of the VPP award. “The DoD has been pushing VPP for years, and now they want to recognize those commands that are doing a good job at it,” Aguilar said. “We’re doing a good job at it, so we’ve been nominated for that award. I don’t know if we’ll get it because there is a lot of competition.”
“You’ve got to do more than just want the award, you have to work hard and be persistent,” Aguilar noted. “The everyday employee has to see unsafe conditions and give us a call or take corrective action themselves to make the culture of safety a reality. The payoff is by speaking up you could save someone’s life.”
| Date Taken: | 07.12.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.15.2016 13:44 |
| Story ID: | 204100 |
| Location: | BARSTOW, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 94 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Culture of safety earns MCLB Barstow another award, by Keith Hayes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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