CAAA Receives Excellence in Explosives Safety Award

By Mr. Thomas Peske (AMC)April 24, 2013

Crane Army Ammunition Activity
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

CRANE, Ind. -- The offices of the Secretary of the Army and Chief of Staff of the Army announced Crane Army Ammunition Activity received the Excellence in Explosives Safety Award for the fiscal year 2012.

The award reflects the dedication toward safety while working with explosive material and devices by all of the CAAA employees.

"I am extremely proud of the CAAA workforce on earning this Department of the Army level safety award. Handling ammunition and explosive material is an inherently dangerous business, so our employees understand how critical safety is in everything we do," CAAA Commander Col. Linwood Clark said. "They have developed a safety culture in which there is a zero tolerance of mishaps. It is something that our veteran workforce passes along to every new employee that comes to work here."

CAAA's culture of safety can be seen in its employee safety council, its morning safety meetings and its dedication to following programs like SafeStart. It is a Star Site for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Program.

"This award does not just reflect doing things the right way, it reflects all of our personnel going home to their families every night. That is the greatest reward of being safety conscious. I congratulate them all," Clark said.

According to CAAA Safety Director Bob Gillis, this was the first time the CAAA employees earned the award at this level of competition. CAAA received the Excellence in Explosives Safety (Brigade Level) from the Army Materiel Command for fiscal year 2011.

The award is a competitive award among all installations in the U.S. Army as a part of the Army Safety Awards Program. The Army Safety Awards Program is accountable for recognizing outstanding work in the field of safety by individuals as well as by units. According to Department of the Army Pamphlet 385-10, Army Safety Program, both individuals and units must have made significant improvements and contributions to accident prevention efforts, among other criteria, to be considered for an award.

"This is a wonderful program that allows us to recognize those Soldiers, civilians and organizations going the extra mile for safety," Brig. Gen. Timothy Edens, director of Army Safety and commanding general, USACR/Safety Center, said. "It's a way for senior Army leaders to thank them for their critical role in helping preserve our force, and hopefully inspire others to follow suit."

CAAA was established in Oct. 1977 and is a subordinate of the Joint Munitions Command. The Army activity maintains ordnance professionals and infrastructure to receive, store, ship, produce, renovate and demilitarize conventional ammunition, missiles and related components.

Related Links:

CAAA on the Web

CAAA on Flickr

Army Safety

CAAA on Facebook