Safety Pause

There has been a trend of tragic events that has led the CNO, Adm. John Richardson to announce a Navy-wide Operational Pause. We should all take this moment to reflect on how we can each improve our individual ability to support our mission.

Although we do not yet know the results of this investigation and we should not prejudge, there is something that is always true; complacency is an enemy.

We must not allow complacency to creep into our daily assigned tasks. Complacency can blind us to potential hazards and deficiencies. Risk is inherent in everything we do and success and failure can be dependent on our individual ability to properly identify these risks and work to mitigate them. Please take a moment to review Operational Risk Management (ORM) processes.

It is also critically important that NPS Personnel report hazards to the safety office. We want to investigate and mediate any hazard discovered to prevent mishaps before it can affect our readiness and negatively impacts our mission. There are multiple tools available on our website for reporting hazards including options to report anonymously if you chose to do so.

Vigilance and Situational Awareness are important instruments to success in everything we do.

Tim Blanton  

Director, Navy Crane Center, Naval Facilites Engineering Command

“   A trend of negative events has caused OUR NAVY AND MARINE CORPS to take a pause. Some personnel have noted that this is operational, some have noted this is isolated to a certain area, some have said it really does not have any relationship to me and the way I do my job for the Department of the Navy. Once again, this is OUR NAVY AND MARINE CORPS TEAM.

 

Whether you are in uniform, civilian, or contracted, this is OUR NAVY AND MARINE CORPS TEAM. Lives have been lost, capacity and operational capabilities have been reduced, and flexibility to project forward has been diminished. We should collectively pull together and determine not if, but how I, as a single individual working within the greatest fighting force on this planet, can improve the day-to-day safety of our assigned tasks, and in the same breathe, improve the efficiency of our individual support to OUR NAVY AND MARINE CORPS.

 

Don't take the view that this is not an area that affects me!

 

It comes back to fundamentals. We, individually and collectively, should strive to recognize minor anomalies in our individual taskings, stop when anomalies are recognized, document them, and correct them. We must share the anomaly issue with others so that the issue does not happen to others and the potential of the anomaly growing into something of larger concern is arrested.  ”