Don't forget to stay safe through the holidays

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nadine Barclay
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  As we close in on this holiday season, the prospect of festivities, outdoor recreation opportunities, and much-needed down time makes it easy to wrap up our personal safety and store it away.

On average, 38 people die each year due to skiing and snowboarding mishaps alone. With so many ski resorts right next door, Aviano leadership encourages Airmen to have fun but to keep safety in the forefront.

"Airmen need to know the inherit risks associated with the various activities they are participating in," said Chief Master Sgt. Laten Williams, 31st Fighter Wing command chief. "In order to mitigate the risks you must understand what they are to help avoid them completely."

During the last fiscal year, Aviano had fifteen snowboarding and three skiing related mishaps between December 2008 and March 2009. According to the 31st FW safety officials, these mishaps resulted in a total loss of $64,342 of Air Force funds and more than 210 duty days in which members were unable to meet mission requirements,

"Safety definitely plays a key role in the mission's success," said Chief Williams. "We need every Airman to be mindful of their safety because when one is gone due to a safety mishap the whole team suffers."

Essentially, every unit commander and first sergeant runs an individual safety program based on the unit's needs.

"We typically see a rise in mishaps during the first and last quarters of the year, due to the amount of outdoor recreation activities available to the Aviano community", said Tech. Sgt. Scharalene Carroll, 31st FW Safety NCO in charge of ground safety. "Commanders and first sergeants manage their own squadrons' high risk activities safety programs; however, wing safety can provide them with additional information for outdoor activities."

When a mishap happens off base, the member, member's supervisor, or unit safety representative has 24 hours to report the mishap to the wing safety office. If an Airman is involved in a mishap while on-duty and on base, they must notify their unit safety representative and immediately report the mishap to the wing safety office so that a safety investigation can be initiated. The individual involved in the mishap then has five days to complete a USAFE Form 281 electronically.

"It is our goal to keep every Airman safe and doing what we've trained them to do," said Chief Williams. "It is very important for us to give our Airmen the tools to help them remember to practice risk management in everything they do on-or off-duty. It takes the whole team to produce optimal results during evaluations, inspections, deployments and while at home station."