Zero fail mission: Marine Corps Air Facility rated one of the safest places in the nation

Photo By Valerie OBerry | A new flag will fly above Quantico's Marine Corps Air Facility marking their achievement of being one of the safest places to work in the United States.  

QUANTICO, VA, UNITED STATES

10.05.2017

Story by Jeremy Beale 

Marine Corps Base Quantico

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) recognized MCAF, home of the Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), on Oct. 5 as a Star Worksite, thus making the installation one of the safest places to work in the nation.

The air facility became the 59th command within the Department of Defense (DoD) to reach the prestigious star status. Previously, this notoriety was only given to a select few private and federal agencies each year which displayed world class safety and health management systems and maintained injury and illness rates below national Bureau of Labor Statistics averages. However, in November 2013, Marine Corps Installations Command issued guidance that all Marine Corps Installations were to actively participate in the VPP and pursue Star Status.

MCAF began its rigorous journey to receive Star Status in January 2014, as installation leadership and management, Marines, civilian employees and American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1786 joined together to apply VPP principles into an already solid safety culture.

In June 2017, MCAF welcomed the OSHA Region III VPP Assessment Team in to conduct a top to bottom review of the command safety program and evaluate it against VPP standards. During this review, several best practices were identified, which paved the way to their most recent achievement of becoming a Star Worksite, the most impressive thing, according to OSHA, was the safety culture.


According to Lt. Col. Daniel Murphy, MCAF commanding officer, every member of the MCAF team has a key role to play in the safety program. Safety is a force multiplier, as the more the team invests into their safety efforts, the greater their mission readiness will be.
In order to work together, MCAF needed to ensure every member of the command had the necessary tools and information to be successful, but more importantly, each and every person that makes up the MCAF team needed to have a vested interest in VPP, the safety program, and the men and woman they work with.

The VPP efforts at MCAF were spearheaded by Michael Hancock, MCAF installation safety manager and VPP site coordinator, who, through the tenure of three commanding officers, guided the command through the VPP process from start to finish. Many of the best practices were attributed to his innovative thinking, and for his efforts he received the OSHA Commendation Coin, which represents OSHA’s highest employee honor for outstanding efforts on behalf of the nation’s workers.

“In my opinion, Mike is hands down, one of the best safety managers in the Marine Corps. The tools he has created to help us achieve Star Status are certainly worthy of duplication around the Corps,” Lt. Col. Murphy said as he addressed the audience at the ceremony

One of those tools Hancock created is the free VPP mobile smartphone application to ensure everyone at the facility could have key safety program elements at their fingertips. The smartphone application allows individuals to immediately report hazards and unsafe work conditions, conduct safety training, identify Personal Protective Equipment requirements, conduct work center self-inspections and access numerous tools intended to create a safer working environment and workforce.

“The purpose of the safety smartphone application is to make sure everyone feels engaged and connected to the safety office and safety program. These days, people spend a considerable amount of time on their smartphones, so it seemed logical to leverage that behavior in our VPP efforts to improve our safety program,” Hancock said.

Other best practices identified were the Command Safety Awards Program, the Annual Risk Mitigation Plan (a tool used by management to provide strategic guidance to their employees based on trend analysis and identified job hazards), and the VPP Star Passport, which creates opportunities for greater employee involvement.

“I simply came up with the ideas,” Hancock said. “The Star Award is a testament of a team coming together and creating a world class safety program. Each individual in this command is deserving of this award!”

According to Maj. Gen. Vincent Coglianese, commander, Marine Corps Installations Command and assistant deputy commandant of Installations and Logistics, there is never an excuse for injury or a loss of life because someone isn’t paying attention.

Coglianese, attended the event because he felt the accomplishments made at MCAF were “that important.” He said he could not wait to go back to the commandant and brag about what he witnessed at MCAF.

However, Coglianese was not the only individual impressed by MCAF’s accomplishments as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Maureen Sullivan was also welcomed to the facility.

“There are thousands of ways to get injured on the job and you made that a rare occurrence,” Sullivan said. “You demonstrated that being safe is a mission enabler.”

For the facility’s efforts, DoD recognized MCAF with a framed certificate detailing their accomplishment as a VPP Star Worksite.

Nevertheless, it was Loren Sweatt, deputy assistant secretary and assistant secretary of labor for OSHA who handed Murphy the VPP flag and honorary plaque.

“From your first day as a Marine, it may not seem like it, but the Corps instills safety in each one of you because the Corps doesn't let you do a push-up or fire a weapon without providing guidance,” Sweatt said. “By achieving the star status, you have displayed your continued commitment to those around you”.

As Murphy received the VPP flag he emphasized the importance of the facility’s continued efforts.

“Keeping the Star Status is a vital part of all of our missions now because receiving the star is not the end, but the beginning,” Murphy said. “We will not go backward and with the honor of the Star Status comes not only the understanding, achievement and requirement to sustain the Star, but the responsibility to share our best practices and strategies with others.”

Each individual at MCAF was told to take pride in the flag, which should inspire the Marine Corps Base Quantico community to continue to strive for safety excellence through their VPP efforts as well.

MCAF Quantico now joins the ranks of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia and Marine Corps Support Facility, Blount Island, Florida as VPP Star Sites.

(This story was also contributed to by Michael Hancock).

• Date Taken: 10.05.2017
• Date Posted: 10.30.2017 08:11
• Story ID: 253286
• Location: QUANTICO, VA, US