VPP Corner: Use Anymouse to report unsafe activity

Photo By Keith Hayes | The Hazard Recognition form located next to any "Anymouse" safety suggestions box aboard MCLB Barstow allow space for a reporting employee's name, but can be filled out anonymously. Any safety or health concerns indicated on the cards are evaluated by employees at the Base Safety Office and acted upon if warranted.  

BARSTOW, CA, UNITED STATES

09.08.2016

Story by Keith Hayes 

Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow

It’s a funny name for a serious subject, but the “Anymouse” boxes found at various locations around Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow can lead to a swift remedy for safety and health hazards.

Dave Ramsey is a health and safety specialist with the MCLB Barstow Safety Office, and one of his responsibilities is to check the various safety suggestion boxes found at both the Nebo side and the Yermo Annex of the base.

Marked as “Anymouse”, the boxes are used by employees to report any safety problems they may find around base that have not been addressed by the usual chain of command.

Ramsey said the whimsical “Anymouse” name originated with the U.S. military. That statement is reinforced by a Marine Corps Order from 2007 which notes the Anymouse Safety Reporting Program has been around among Marine and Navy aviation personnel since the 1950s.

“The box was supposed to be marked ‘anonymous’,” Ramsey said, “but it came out misspelled ‘anymouse’, and the name stuck.”

Any employee who sees an unsafe or unhealthful activity anywhere aboard base can drop a Hazard Recognition Form in the “Anymouse” box, and the base safety office will take appropriate action, Ramsey said.

The Tazewell, Tenn., native urges employees to follow the proper chain of command by going to your supervisor first.

“If you’re not satisfied with that, then you go to the ‘Anymouse’ boxes,” Ramsey said.

The “Anymouse” box is also as close as your computer.

“You can go directly into (Enterprise Safety Applications Management System), go in to ‘my links’ and you’ll get a pop-up window, and go to ‘report unsafe/unhealthful’ and follow the prompts,” he said.

The ESAMS gives an employee the option to file anonymously, Ramsey said.

“Then the base safety office determines if the issue warrants an investigation, and if it does they put a notice of ‘unsafe, unhealthful action’ on the bulletin board near where this hazard is located,” he said. “That notice will have a number of the complaint on it, and you can use that number to follow up on it in ESAMS to see what action has been taken.”

Hazard recognition cards dropped in the “Anymouse” box do get results.

“The last hazard we took action on and corrected through the ‘Anymouse’ complaint system was at (railhead operations),” Ramsey said. “The pit in the roundhouse where the locomotives go in for servicing has chains looped between poles around the pit. One of the employees thought the chains were too low, and someone could fall into the pit.

“An ‘Anymouse’ Hazard Recognition Form was dropped in a box. We took a look at it and agreed with the employee, and sent this observation on to management and management took care of it right away,” he said.

“If you’re unsure whether something should be reported to ‘Anymouse’, just do it and let the safety office technicians determine if it should be investigated,” he said. “Because sometimes the smallest things turn out to be something that could seriously hurt someone, and because you never know if the life you save could be your own."

• Date Taken: 09.08.2016
• Date Posted: 09.08.2016 13:21
• Story ID: 209071
• Location: BARSTOW, CA, US