Naval Safety Center (NAVSAFECEN) recently announced the fiscal year (FY) 2020 winners of the Chief of Naval Operations Shore Safety Awards, which recognize outstanding support and achievement in safety and occupational health.
 
Large Industrial: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Wash.
Medium Industrial: Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center, Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan.
Small Industrial: Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Mayport, Fla.
Large Non-Industrial: Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport Division, R.I.
Medium Non-Industrial: Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Wash.
Small Non-Industrial: Naval Station Everett, Wash.
Fleet Operational and Support Unit Ashore: Assault Craft Unit 5, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
 
“The winners, as well as all nominees, are commended for the significant contributions they made toward reducing mishaps, increasing mission readiness and preserving our most precious asset – Sailors and Marines,” said Rear Adm. F.R. Luchtman, NAVSAFECEN Commander.
 
An ALSAFE issued by NAVSAFECEN states that the seven winning commands “excelled in their implementation of the safety management system, achievements in high-velocity learning and other initiatives to reduce mishap trends and costs, and demonstrating strong safety leadership. They were the most innovative and enthusiastic in marketing safety and promoting a superior level of safety culture within their commands.”
 
Each winner will receive a plaque, and NAVSAFECEN will forward two shore units as Navy nominees for the Secretary of the Navy Safety Excellence Awards.
 
The following summaries from winners’ submission packages highlight the accomplishments that led to their selection (excerpts edited for readability).
 
Large Industrial: Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Wash.
Dating back to FY 2002, with a total case incident rate (TCIR) of 17.2 (number of work-related injuries per 100 full-time workers during a one-year period); the facility has consistently and continually reduced year-over-year incident and lost time rates to 4.38 in FY 2020. Despite a low number of mishaps, the facility continues to strive for a minimum 4% reduction annually. To date, in calendar year (CY) 2020, expectations were shattered with an overall 15% reduction in injury rates from CY 2019.
 
Medium Industrial: Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center, Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan
Four of the center’s shops (SRF Cl06, Sl06, C380 and S392) installed a Dawn to Dusk Safety Coverage Program. Safety inspectors and ship’s safety inspectors provide coverage that spans the entire spectrum of work from dawn to dusk, including Saturdays, as well as after-hours fire prevention and response training for an emergency response to ship’s crew. By providing this high level of coverage and training, the program ensures that the ships in an availability status receive top-level safety coverage throughout the day and after normal work hours keeping the ship and its crew safe.
 
Small Industrial: Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Mayport, Fla.
Civilian mishaps were reduced by 42% from FY 2019 to 2020. Supervisors proactively conducted regular walk-through inspections of their respective spaces to identify and eliminate unnecessary hazards, resulting in a remarkably low number of findings. The center has maintained a low incident rate by identifying and correcting a large number of less significant hazards, risk assessment codes (RAC)-4 and RAC-5 before becoming more significant hazards, RAC-1 and RAC-2. Supervisors proactively maintain a safe work environment.
 
Large Non-Industrial: Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport Division, R.I.
The division saw a modest decline in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable injuries in FY 2020. Over the past few years, both the OSHA TCIR and the Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) Rates have remained well below the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018) national average for similar industries of 0.8 and 0.3, respectively. (DART is a mathematic calculation that describes the number of recordable injuries and illnesses per 100 employees that resulted in days away from work, restricted work activity or job transfer.) Civilian mishaps were reduced by 16% from FY 2019 to 2020.
 
Medium Non-Industrial: Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Wash.
TCIR and DART rates remained constant from FY 2019 and 2020; however, total mishaps decreased by 64%, from 153 in FY 2018 to 55 in FY 2020. The base has started using a quick response (QR) code system to report hazards. Employees can use their smartphones to scan a QR code that is on the safety bulletin boards or business cards, fill in the hazard information, and send it to the base’s safety department. The business cards are hard cards that employees can attach to badges for quick use. The QR code method is a much easier and efficient way for employees to report hazards.
 
Small Non-Industrial: Naval Station Everett, Wash.
Civilian lost workdays continuously decreased from 111 in FY 2018 to just two lost workdays in FY 2020. Mishap Prevention Plans, employee involvement in hazard recognition and a culture of safety first contributed significantly to the reduction and severity of injuries.
 
Fleet Operational and Support Unit Ashore: Assault Craft Unit 5, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The unit’s safety program is responsible for Navy Safety and Occupational Health (SOH) requirements for both shore and sea components. With nearly 4,000 flight hours and over 1,000 formal and controlled work packages (verifications of maintenance); safety professionals have diligently worked to increase safety awareness and training, resulting in only 15 on-duty, Class Charlie and below mishaps for FY 2020. Ten of the mishaps were personnel injuries, a 17% decrease from FY 2019.