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Safety conference informs, educates

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Maynelinne De La Cruz
  • 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs Office
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Seven representatives from Cannon Air Force Base attended a conference in San Antonio, Texas that hosted thousands of people from across the country in an effort to improve the safety and health of others. 

The 25th Annual National Voluntary Protection Programs Participants' Association empowers the American workforce to step up to the challenge of becoming a safer society as more than 50 workshops were being held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center Aug. 24-27. 

The workshops consisted of Voluntary Protection Program related topics as well as basic safety and health and environmental themes. Topics also included Motivating Employees to Think and Act Safely, Accident Investigation, and Violence in the Workplace-No One is Immune. 

Safety doesn't just stop at the workplace. VPP encourages all to implement some programs into their homes. One workshop called Off-the-Job Safety: Injury Prevention for Employees and Families caught the attention of many. It provided information on how to safe-proof your home with help from the website Mysafehome.org. The site features a tour of a virtual 3-D home that you can scope and probe for ways to improve your own. 

"Safety and health affects all Airmen. Preventing injury and illness to our people and damage to our equipment ensures we have the resources to accomplish our assigned mission. The Air Force already has a very robust safety and health program. We are continually looking for methods to improve our performance," said Vance Lineberger, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Environment, Safety and Occupational Health. 

Conference attendees gained knowledge of new ideas, met and shared perspectives with their peers, and had their questions answered by trained safety professionals. In turn, they would bring a new outlook on how to prevent accidents while keeping employees motivated. 

One way to stimulate employees is to award those who implement an excellent safety and health program and keep their workplace a disaster free zone with the highest level of VPP recognition by being awarded STAR status. Star status is not an easy thing to come by. Most companies commit to years of improvement before being honored with it. 

"Though it is hard to achieve Star status it is well worth it. One company at the conference reported that they have attained one million hours without a reportable incident at their work site," said William Keely, 27th Special Operations Wing VPP Coordinator.