'Safe and Sound' week events at Fort Leonard Wood

By U.S. ArmyOctober 10, 2018

Fort Leonard Wood forklift skills test
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- Fleet Management Expansion Leonard Wood participated in the 2018 Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Safe and Sound Week August 13-19, 2018.

FMX Leonard Wood is a field level maintenance operation site that is part of the Field Support Operations Directorate in the Integrated Logistics Support Center of U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command.

FMX provides maintenance support for all U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command training-based equipment in order to ensure that equipment is available to train Soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood, Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Lee, Virginia and Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

OSHA Safe and Sound Week is an annual nationwide event raising awareness and understanding of the value of safety and health programs. The 2018 campaign focused on three core areas: management leadership, employee participation, and finding and fixing hazards in the workplace using a systematic approach.

In the spring, a volunteer committee established a "Safety from the Top Down" theme. During the weeklong event, leaders exchanged their business attire for work clothes and performed maintenance tasks alongside employees, gaining a better understanding of workplace hazards.

"When supervisors take the time to view the task from the maintainers' perspective, supervisors may come to the realization that there is a safer way to perform that particular task. Just as importantly, leadership is able to identify and ensure that we are providing the right environment and safety resources to our employees in order to mitigate accidents," said Melony Cardoza, FMX Leonard Wood TACOM Support Officer.

The committee also hosted an employee Safe and Sound interactive safety day. Personal protective equipment displays were created where employees could examine up close the types of PPE required for various tasks.

The combat, construction and heavy wheeled maintenance shops also held hazard demonstrations showcasing proper vehicle mounting and dismounting, machine pinch-point locations, lockout procedures, and other equipment-specific dangers.

Ben Engelson, an Automotive Mechanic with Transportation Support Maintenance at FMX Leonard Wood said, "I really enjoyed the equipment displays. They allowed me to see what other maintenance sections are doing, and I actually learned some hazards they face."

Employees were given the chance to test their skills in several safety challenge competitions. Some challenges required teams, while others were individual events.

The Hazard Identification Challenge was a popular team event. This challenge required teams of employees to find and describe staged safety hazards in a maintenance bay and provide corrections to eliminate or reduce the hazards.

"I held many safety positions in my military career and that is one of the best safety events I have been involved in," said Lane Cierley, Automotive Mechanic, Transportation Support Maintenance.

Another event was the Forklift Skills Challenge.

Forklift operators maneuvered through an obstacle course to collect a pallet having a tennis ball perched atop an orange cone. The operator then had to finish the obstacle course and place the pallet containing the cone and tennis ball on a flatbed trailer. Points were awarded for conducting a pre-inspection equipment check, proper forklift mounting and dismounting, and maintaining load stability by keeping the tennis ball atop the cone.

PPE and Spill Response events rounded out the challenge competitions.

Judges scored each event using standardized criteria. The team or individual having the highest score in each challenge were recognized, and individuals who demonstrated outstanding safety performance were awarded a Department of the Army Achievement in Safety certificate.

"This event was a success, measured by the willing participation of the workforce and all the favorable comments expressed throughout the day," said Clayton Nagel, Supervisor Quality Assurance Specialist, volunteer Collateral Duty Safety Officer, and leader of the FMX Leonard Wood Safe and Sound Committee.

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