The newly released U.S. Coast Guard Annual Safety Report (ASR) highlights measures Coast Guard has taken to keep the workforce safe during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic while providing valuable information for hazard identification and mitigation.
The Safety & Environmental Health program along with the Safety & Risk Management Councils use data from the report to identify and innovate hazard controls, resulting in improved safety and fewer mishaps.
“I am proud of how the health, safety and work-life communities have responded to the pandemic challenges and led the charge with prescriptive guidance to protect our forces and families, allowing the Coast Guard to continue to deliver critical services and sustain mission readiness,” said Rear Admiral Dana Thomas, Director, Health, Safety and Work-Life (CG-11). “From day one, our safety professionals immediately developed pandemic risk assessment tools to assess exposure risk and determine subsequent mitigation strategies to minimize viral transmission and infection. While information on the SARS-CoV-2 novel corona virus was limited, our health and safety community relied on best available data, and their experience and innovation, to develop guidance on pandemic hazard control options.”
Thomas urged units to complete the required annual safety assessment, so that safety professionals can provide you with timely hazard identification, exposure, and reduction information. Eliminating hazardous conditions is a key component of an effective unit safety program.
An on-going series of virtual safety town hall meetings offer customized information for the workforce and a forum to ask questions. These town halls serve as a sounding board for the field to ask questions and receive assurances that their actions were consistent with Coast Guard guidance.
You can view the ASR on the HSWL Service Center Safety & Environmental Health Division Portal Page: FY20 US Coast Guard Annual Safety Report. It provides consolidated information on mishap exposure, types of losses and consequences, mishap causal factors, and hazardous conditions identified by community – afloat, ashore or aviation.
The supplemental information is updated throughout the year as new hazard and mishap analysis results become available.
Glenn Gebele, Chief of Safety & Environmental Health encouraged everyone to use the safety resources available to them to prevent on and off-duty mishaps and reduce risk. Data presented in ways that’s relevant to each operational community, and can be used to develop risk assessments and crew discussions about hazard exposure and mitigation strategies.
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Questions? Contact Ed Bock, HSWL Service Center Safety & Environmental Health Division Chief at 757-628-4412.