Critical Days of Summer 2011 - Local Mishap Trends Published July 11, 2011 17th Training Wing Safety GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- This week of the campaign is being used to update personnel on the status of the Critical Days of Summer Safety Campaign efforts. As of July 8, we have had six fatalities across the United States Air Force, three involving motorcycles. The six are synopsized below and are currently under investigation: · Member operating a PMV-2 (motorcycle) lost control while trying to pass a PMV-4(four wheeled vehicle) and crashed · Member operating a PMV-2 lost control and struck a guard rail · Member was walking along a sidewalk and was struck by a PMV-4 · Member swimming at a beach was caught in an under tow and drowned · Member operating a PMV-2 crashed while attempting to stop for a draw bridge · Member kayaking on a local river drowned while attempting to rescue a kayaker in trouble Although none of the fatalities involved Air Education and Training Command personnel, we must not let our guard down as we are approximately half way through the Critical Days of Summer. Goodfellow experienced a 13 percent reduction in total mishaps, 120 compared to April through June 2010 when we had 138 mishaps. Although we saw an overall reduction, we did see more serious injuries reported this quarter. We had 15 injuries (six on-duty and nine off-duty) which resulted in time away from work (Class C) compared to 12 the previous year. The injuries resulted from horseplay, standing on furniture, climbing and descending, lifting, tripping over obstacles, softball, basketball, and three motorcycle mishaps. We also saw a slight increase in mishaps requiring more than first-aid with a total of 40 Class Ds. Sixty one percent of our reported mishaps fell in the category of sports and recreation, 73 mishaps in total. For sports and recreation, we need to focus on reducing our running and basketball injuries through awareness and controlled play respectively. Safety is everybody's responsibility and our goal will continue to be mishap elimination. We must continue to apply risk management to all we do both on- and off-duty. Therefore, remember to always assess your situation, consider your options, and take appropriate action. (Samuel Spooner and Will Harding both from 17th TRW Safety Office contributed to this article)
