“Safety is a team effort,” said Col. Timothy Hickman, garrison commander during a Safety and Occupational Health Advisory Council meeting held Oct. 17.
Hickman was commenting on his unit receiving a safety excellence streamer.
Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Brie Kotula placed the streamer on the garrison colors.
“The safety excellence streamer is awarded to an organization by the Department of the Army and Installation Management Command for completing an (Army Readiness Assessment Program” questionnaire, said Joe Colson, Installation Safety Officer.
The garrison also had to have 12 consecutive months without experiencing a Soldier/unit at-fault Class A or B mishap and have 100% completion of risk management training.
The ARAP is an online survey of unit employees that provides commanders with data on their formation’s readiness posture through seven categories including safety programs.
Finishing the ARAP was “extremely challenging” due to the number of garrison employees who needed to take a break from the high operational temp of keeping the post running and take the assessment and training.
“It’s great that we’re getting awards, and I really want us to encourage that, because Fort Jackson has a very dangerous day-to-day mission in a lot of respects – and we do it well,” Hickman said to the garrison and unit safety officers at the meeting. “So, I want the post to be recognized for the efforts that your teams put into making it a safe environment for training Soldiers, and for the civilians to provide all the services they provide on Fort Jackson.”
According to the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center the streamer can be displayed for one year at which time the unit would have to reapply for the award.
Also at the meeting five garrison employees Keith Baxter, Lillian Black, Christopher Jolly, Glenn Podewil and Patrick Tinneny, received safety certificates of appreciation and Capt. Tyler Aycox, Provost Marshal Office operations officer received a safety certificate for his support to safety efforts.
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