FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. – In partnership with the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety & Health, or ADOSH, the Garrison Safety Office recently held three separate safety trainings for installation personnel.
The courses offered were Confined Space & Fall Protection for Directorate of Public Works employees, ADOSH-centric training presented to the Garrison Employee Safety Committee, and Job Hazard Analysis which was open to all personnel.
About four months ago, Steve Fairbanks, garrison safety officer, attended a local training with ADOSH, and asked if they would be interested in developing a relationship with the fort and conducting training sessions here.
Since ADOSH is a state organization, training instructor Jim Wright needed to obtain permission from the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration, or OSHA, before he could conduct training on the fort.
“Federal OSHA doesn’t have a training officer in the area, so they appreciate that we could fill in” Wright said. “The process was very easy, my supervisor called them, and they said, ‘yeah, go ahead.’”
The goal is to have Wright come out every six months to offer the ADOSH training to installation employees in the hopes of making everyone’s workplace safer.
“People hear from [safety officers], and their supervisors all the time about safety,” Fairbanks said. “But to hear it from an outsider who goes out and sees citations and violations, [it] validates the things that we’re finding. With [Wright] coming out, I think it’s going to add weight and help improve our safety program.”
Wright said he plans to conduct training courses here “as often as needed.” He also said he prefers conducting his training courses in person because he feels it’s a more effective method when it comes to discussing concerns about safety.
Throughout the duration of the relationship, Fairbanks wants to ensure a variety of training courses are available to employees and that they address the needs and concerns of people in attendance.
Fairbanks knows safety is something at the forefront of many employees’ minds after receiving the results from the latest Army Readiness Assessment Program survey.
“The employees were asking for safety training, and that’s really on each organization to provide their own,” Fairbanks said. “But I felt like it was important, if they’re asking for it and we aren’t doing it, then we need to look at avenues to do it.”
As the relationship continues to grow, Fairbanks and Wright both hope to accomplish similar goals by providing valuable training to employees across the installation and having management buy-in to ensure a safe workplace.
“I hope this turns into something where I can be down here once a quarter to help these guys out,” Wright said. “The fact that the Army has transitioned to a safety council is huge. My time spent wearing a uniform, we didn’t have that for our civilian employees. To me, this is a huge step in the right direction to keep their folks safe.”
“Our goal is to get more employee involvement … where they can come and ask questions and receive honest feedback,” Fairbanks said.
Following the third class of the day, Wright was presented a coin by David Tiedemann, deputy to the garrison commander, who thanked him for his time and for continuing to build this partnership into the future.
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Fort Huachuca is home to the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th Army Signal Command and more than 48 supported tenants representing a diverse, multiservice population. Our unique environment encompasses 946 square miles of restricted airspace and 2,500 square miles of protected electronic ranges, key components to the national defense mission.
Located in Cochise County, in southeast Arizona, about 15 miles north of the border with Mexico, Fort Huachuca is an Army installation with a rich frontier history. Established in 1877, the Fort was declared a national landmark in 1976.
We are the Army’s Home. Learn more at https://home.army.mil/huachuca/.
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