The Army is once again observing National Safety Month during June, and this year leaders and safety professionals will have an opportunity to benefit from a recent partnership with the National Safety Council.
The Honorable Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment), recently formalized an Army-wide enterprise membership with the NSC, which sponsors National Safety Month annually. The membership will allow leaders, Soldiers, safety professionals and civilian employees unlimited access to the NSC's vast resources, including safety webinars, podcasts and safety multimedia.
Dr. Wellesley Scott, director of Consulting Services for the National Safety Council and also a colonel in the Army Reserve, said he expects the partnership to assist both organizations in meeting their common goals.
"This partnership allows us to bring together two goals that are very much the same," Scott said. "The goal of the NSC is to prevent injuries and save lives, and that's what we do in the military as well."
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Farnsworth, director of Army Safety and commanding general, U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center, said the partnership will provide leaders at all levels access to information that otherwise might be difficult to obtain.
"The NSC has an outstanding research capability," Farnsworth said. "Their robust resources allow them to focus on areas we might miss due to time and funding constraints."
The NSC, which also partners with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is currently targeting trends in distracted driving, accidental prescription poisoning and falls. While these topics may reflect nationwide trends, they are also an issue throughout the Army, according to Scott.
"The issues are the same," he said. "What's a little bit different is the mindset of the military. Sometimes we think we think we should take greater risk because of our operational mindset. The important thing about safety for Soldiers in any capacity is to protect yourself and protect others around you to bring everyone home safely."
Farnsworth agreed, emphasizing that while National Safety Month is an important observance for the Army, safety is a 24/7 way of life.
"We're highlighting safety this month, but we should be practicing risk management every day in our operations process," he said. "We need proactive leaders to instill these ethics and morals in our Soldiers, especially in regard to preventing off-duty accidents."
Scott said he hopes the partnership will be mutually beneficial for both the Army and NSC.
"We like to see successes, because by seeing them, it says this works," he said. "I think the military can be a leader for the rest of the nation."
Leaders, safety professionals and individual Army users must request a member identification number from the NSC to access exclusive content. The point of contact is Debra Ferris, director, Safety and Health Solutions Government Sector, at debra.ferris@nsc.org. Requestors should include their name, title, organization, street address and telephone number in their email, and can expect delivery of their code within 48 hours.
The USACRC launched its annual National Safety Month campaign June 1, with multimedia products available at https://safety.army.mil.
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