What is the cost of safety?

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Christopher Van Hoof
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing safety commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  As we ride full speed ahead through sequestration and continuing resolutions, our leaders are making many tough decisions on where and how to spend money with tighter budgets.

The conversations about tiered temporary duties and mission-critical items have continually led me to ask the same question: What is the cost of safety?

The Air Force Safety Center keeps records of every reportable mishap and there is almost always an associated cost. Many people probably don't realize if you injure yourself, whether on- or off-duty, and go to the emergency room, there is an associated cost of $120 tied to the safety mishap.

If you are placed on quarters due to the mishap, the cost goes up to at least $375 per day. Permanent and partial disabilities add significant costs. The worst case scenario of a fatality has a minimum $125,000 cost associated with it.

One could argue that these objective costs are relatively low when compared to the rising costs of health care. To give these costs some perspective, from January to March of this year, the 60th Air Mobility Wing had 158 mishaps at a cost of $177, 578. That is an average cost of $1,124 per mishap or $1,973 per day. Also, there can be other associated costs with lost workdays related to the injury. These costs, such as project delays and canceled meetings, may not have a financial number associated with them.

Hopefully, the question on everyone's mind is "What can I do to help?" First and foremost, it is understood not every mishap is preventable. Before beginning a new activity, take a moment to ask yourself the following questions: What am I about to do? What could go wrong? How can I mitigate or eliminate the risks associated with this activity? What is my experience level? Does this activity require any specialized training?

Asking these simple questions will ensure you have at least considered what could go wrong. This will also allow you to perform the activity as safely as possible.

Timely reporting is also necessary so wing safety can accurately track mishaps to formulate trends and provide the necessary advisory actions to help prevent future mishaps.

According to Air Force Instruction 91-202, if you are involved in a mishap, you must report it through your supervisor to wing safety within 24 hours. Timely, accurate reporting allows leadership to properly determine where to spend our precious dollars in regards to safety concerns and hazards.

The bottom line is as we look for new, innovative ways to accomplish the mission with less people, less tools, less training and less money, we must always ensure we do not forget about the importance of accomplishing the mission as safely as possible.