Remember safety during ORE

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman David Dobrydney
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  The 48th Fighter Wing is about to enter its final exercise before the Operational Readiness Inspection.

Even though Airmen at all levels will work hard, 48th FW Commander Col. John Quintas also wishes to remind everyone to keep safety in mind at all times.

"Unsafe practices lead to mission failure," said Colonel Quintas in a recent message to the wing. "In order to succeed, we must conduct our business within a culture of safety.

This message is not lost on the 48th FW Safety Office, which is constantly looking at ways to encourage safer practices.

"At times, there's a false sense of urgency in the work centers ... cutting corners and rushing in order to get the job done," said Lt. Col. Jeff Alexander, 48th FW chief of Safety.

Colonel Alexander said everyone wants to do well in exercises and impress the inspectors but emphasized that inspectors will applaud Airmen performing their jobs correctly in accordance with established rules and technical orders.

"Job safety equals job competency," said Colonel Alexander. "People need to know that not following the TO's and cutting corners is not doing their job well and that's a culture change we need to instill in people."

Even when Airmen are doing their jobs correctly, fatigue can be another pitfall. Colonel Alexander cited a study conducted at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, that illustrated how working long days over a sustained period slowly degrades a person's abilities.

"After three or four days, they reach a point where their performance is impaired," said Colonel Alexander.

Because they are already tired, he recommends Airmen working long hours use their off-time wisely.

"Down time is a time to recover so you can return Monday ready to fight again," he said.

The bottom line is Airmen need to look out for each other and recognize when they are nearing their limits.

"Everybody has the ability to call a "safety stop" regardless of the exercise," said Colonel Alexander. "It's incumbent on the supervisors to look their people in the eye and make sure they're up to the tasks we're asking them to do."