Instilling Safety Awareness

By RETIRED CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 4 MICHAEL HAMPTON, 36th Engineer Brigade, Joint Base Balad, IraqJuly 1, 2011

As we traveled down a main supply route, our lead vehicle struck one of these deadly devices. “Blast, blast, blast!” is what we heard over the headset, followed by, “Rollover, rollover, rollover!” Sitting in the patrol’s second vehicle, I saw it all " the blast and the vehicle rolling " but I was helpless to prevent the horrific chain of events. As per our battle drill, the remaining vehicles continued to their security positions and conducted secondary sweeps.

Upon reaching the disabled vehicle, we jumped from our MRAP and sprung into action, hitting the ground with weapons drawn. We were unable to open the rear hatch to extract the team because the combat lock was engaged. Looking through the hatch window, I saw every member of the team was unconscious. It was evident several had been thrown around inside the vehicle. My immediate thought was, “You’ve gotta be kidding me. No seat belts?”

Unfortunately, this scenario plays out every day. We’re losing more Soldiers to acts of negligence than combat operations. Why? A theater engineer brigade is a unique organization with many diverse missions (route clearance, construction, bridging operations, etc.) that pose numerous challenges.

In the age of modularity, a brigade, battalion and even a company can deploy into a hostile environment without its indigenous units. The elements that now have the possibility to fall under our commands, besides the regular Army units, include National Guard and Reserve components from the Army and Air Force as well as multinational coalition forces. The most important of these challenges is to instill the same level of safety awareness in all of these units.

With a formation comprised of thousands of Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen, how do you instill a common practice that may be foreign to some of these service members? There are several key factors to help you be successful in this endeavor: command influence/leadership engagement, dissemination of a viable safety program and battlefield circulation.

Leadership

Leadership engagement is the backbone of a successful safety program. Show me Leaders who are engaged in their safety program, and I’ll show you a successful safety program. While conducting accident investigations as a safety representative, if I found the program was broken (no policies or procedures, no subordinate Leader engagement, no training, no safety awareness), I typically found the command was apathetic.

“Green-tab” emphasis is a vital part of a successful program. Units that have a program without policies and procedures in place can still be effective if the leadership is engaged, but the converse is not true. Written procedures alone do not make a successful program; the application of those procedures by Leaders does. Having a safety professional in the ranks will help get the program online and compliant with military standards, but there is no substitute for leadership involvement.

Dissemination of the Program

Another critical key factor is disseminating the program to subordinate units. This does not imply that simply pushing data to them electronically is sufficient. We must travel to their locations, sit down with Leaders and have face-to-face conversations. As a safety professional, your approach is critical at this point. Like any first encounter, there is a “feeling-out” process as you and the Leaders get to know each other. You are also there to ensure subordinate commanders understand the full spectrum of their safety responsibilities.

Another important note here is an accident investigation should not be the first time Leaders get acquainted with their safety manager. You should personally make every effort to engage units before they enter the theater or your formation.

(For example, I travel to Kuwait to meet with the command teams of each battalion and company coming into theater under this command. I encourage battalion additional duty safety representatives to link up with individual companies coming into the theater that will fall under their command.) I, as the brigade representative, visit each company that falls under a battalion command during their relief-in-place process for an introduction and in-brief with their command group. During this meeting, I aim to establish an engaging climate.

Commanders are Leaders and mission focused; they rely on assets to accomplish their missions, whatever their assigned task may be. You have to become one of those assets for them and not the stereotypical inhibitor. Offer training for their safety representatives and formations, policy production, answer data requests and assist them in developing programs to improve their organization’s effectiveness and overall operation.

Another critical piece of this encounter is to ensure them you will never forward information to your commander without first briefing them. For example, “Sir, I will brief you and your team on anything I am going to take back to the commander that your team may have to explain.” If you cannot out-brief them immediately, then hold the data " unless it is life threatening " until you have a chance to contact them.

I have found that commanders at all levels are more responsive if you allow them to correct deficiencies on their own without the notification of their bosses. If the correction cannot be made at that level, it needs to be elevated anyway. If it can be handled at their level, there is really no need to report it to the commander " unless it is life threatening and appropriate actions have not been taken to mitigate the hazard. As a safety representative, it’s your job is to keep issues off the commander’s desk, not put them on.

Battlefield Circulation

A third key factor is battlefield circulation. This is executed by all Leaders and safety representatives. I attempt to visit each formation every month. My visit, along with commanders, senior NCOs and subordinate safety representatives throughout the formation, instills genuine concern of well being and involvement in each Soldier’s life.

Conducting route clearance or personal security missions is not in my mandate, but it is absolutely necessary to get to know what the Soldiers go through and the issues they face on a daily basis. Route clearance, construction projects (vertical or horizontal), bridging and dive operations are all part of this multifaceted organization, and you must learn the intricacies of each mission.

As the theater engineer brigade, we have elements throughout the Iraq Joint Operations area. This geographical dispersion demands extensive travel " normally five days out of every week for the entire year. This is important and pays huge dividends, as it allows commanders and organizational members to gain trust in you. Be responsive; an asset is no good to a commander if they cannot get their hands on it. If a commander needs your assistance, go to him or her. This demonstrates a strong sense of purpose and personal commitment.

Conclusion

As Leaders, it’s our responsibility to instill safety awareness in the Soldiers in our command. These three key integration components are essential in establishing a safety program that meets or exceeds standards and demonstrates a genuine concern for the units we support.