Safety is our #1 priority Published May 16, 2007 By Col. Steve Arquiette 60th Air Mobility Wing commander TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Safety is and always will be my number one overarching priority. The well-being of our Airmen and the integrity of our multi-million dollar equipment depend on it. It must also be your number one priority. On May 4, all three wing commanders at Travis and the President of the Union, John Santry, signed a proclamation implementing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Program in an effort to reduce the number of preventable injuries and illnesses. Safety is a readiness force multiplier. Following VPP's proven success in the civilian world, the Department of Defense hopes to reduce safety incidents by 75 percent through a program aimed at empowering all personnel to identify safety concerns and to implement safety improvements. In today's Lean Air Force, all Airmen, from the lowest ranking member to the highest, have the power to enact change. Just as you are empowered to submit suggestions to the IDEA program and initiate an Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century Lean event, you are empowered to make your workplace a safer place to work. YOU have a stake in the success of these programs and a responsibility to help improve our Air Force. VPP is not designed to add another additional duty or take additional time. Like AFSO 21, this is a culture immersion to be incorporated into the way we carry out our mission. We empower everyone to make our jobs safer. As a result, we will save man-hours previously lost to injuries and save repair time to machinery previously lost to accidents. Ideally, we will liberate money for other programs while also keeping Travis Airmen safe and ready to deploy. I heard a story recently about a safety self-assessment report that came back from one of our squadrons. Highlighted as a danger on the assessment was a 5-gallon jug of water stored on the top of a shelf which had the potential of falling and hurting someone. Ten days later, when the safety issue was followed up, the safety monitor was asked why they didn't just move the jug to a safer location rather than marking it on the assessment. During those ten days, nothing was done with the jug and Airmen were needlessly put in danger of injury even after the problem was identified! With this new program, the focus is put on the individual to take care of these problems that don't require outside assistance. Since an unsafe environment affects everyone equally, Airmen are urged to address safety and health concerns regardless of their rank or position. To assist, we are providing outlets for anonymously reporting safety concerns. Please feel free to contact the VPP hotline at 424-SAFE (7233) or the VPP email at 60AMW.VPP@travis.af.mil for those who don't feel comfortable with confronting a higher ranking individual. We all have the power to enact change. We just need to go out there and do it! More details of this exciting initiative will be available soon. BE PROUD! BE SAFE!