News

Putting Safety First

  • Published
  • By Lanorris Askew
  • 78th ABW/PA
The rise in temperature during the lazy days of summer has historically gone hand in hand with the season's rising number of off-duty mishaps and Robins is looking to head off tragedy during the 101 Critical Days of Summer by ensuring all its Airmen have the tools to make smart choices.

The 101 Critical Days of Summer campaign, which officially runs from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, has been the Air Force's largest safety push for more than two decades. Aimed at educating Airmen on how to stay safe during the summer months, the campaign urges greater vigilance and awareness of personal safety.

David Decker, ground safety manager, said Robins will unofficially kickoff its local campaign today with an informal base-wide Safety Day.

"We've left it up to commanders as far as what time during the day to talk safety issues," he said.

Because the 101 Critical Days of Summer campaign is a concerted effort to reduce mishaps and fatalities by raising awareness for all Air Force members and their families, the safety day will allow leadership the opportunity to get some face-to-face time with the workforce and impart some safety knowledge.

"The 101 Critical Days of Summer is the period when we have the most mishaps and accidents so we try to push out as much safety information as we can to commanders and supervisors to pass along to the workforce so that we can all have a safer summer," said Lt. Col. Jeff Schwoob, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center chief of safety. "We want to get as much knowledge as we can out there."

Col. Theresa Carter, 78th Air Base Wing commander, agreed.

"We stress the 101 Critical Days of Summer to raise people's awareness of the inherent risks associated with summer activities, from driving long distances to participating in recreational activities that are more dangerous," she said. "If you look over the last five years, 37 percent of all Air Force fatalities occurred during these 101 days, even though it represents only 27 percent of the calendar year. Moreover, the week of July 4 and the last week of August, when everyone tries to get in that last bit of vacation time, both had a mishap and fatality rate 50 percent higher than any other week during the 101 days. So this campaign is about getting people to take a step back, reconsider their course of action and apply sound risk management principles. After all, losing one Air Force member, military or civilian, is one too many."