Danger ahead; safety in mind: 319th Logistics Readiness Squadron

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Xavier Navarro
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE,N.D. --  The 319th Logistics Readiness Squadron manages the distribution of materials, fuels and vehicles; they maintain their drive to succeed by motivating Airmen to be "razor sharp" no matter what heavy load they might face.

The vehicle maintenance shop repairs and maintains government vehicles while the fuels shop supply fuel to planes, trucks and other means of transportation. The traffic management office receives cargo ranging from ammunition to RQ- 4 Global Hawk parts. LRS has sections that are critical to the mission and at the same time has risky work situations. 

2nd Lt. Thane Hillig and Master Sgt. Jason Cantu, 319th LRS unit safety representatives, are the commander's eyes when it comes to safety. Both supervise five sections in the squadron to ensure all 194 Airmen have up-to-date safety training.

"We make sure that if someone has any safety issues, we take care of that," said Hillig. "Any safety mishap happens at work has to be reported for record purposes and also lets us identify trends in the squadron."

Last quarter the squadron had 13 mishaps of which 11 were sports-related injuries, two were due to weather incidents and zero work related accidents.

"In January we had a sit-down with all our section and flight safety representatives and told them that we will start performing quarterly safety checks," said Cantu. "We want to see if they need anything from us or if they are getting negative or positive feedback."

Steering away from potential hazards, Staff Sgt. Gary Cushing II, 319th LRS vehicle maintenance craftsmen, coordinates with other organizations on working with chemicals.

"There are certain chemicals that are needed to have training on," said Cushing. "Public Health provides us Powerpoint slides that inform us the hazards of chemicals we are using on motorized vehicles."

Airman 1st Class Walter Harwell Jr., 319th LRS fuels lavatory technician, gives reasons why procedures should be done properly.

"There are a lot of things that can go wrong with fuel, believe it or not," said Harwell. "If you do not clear the static electricity when fueling, there is a possibility you will ignite the fuel."

Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Kaufhold, 319th LRS NCO in charge of cargo movement, explains why Airmen should pay attention to what they should not wear at work.

"You are not allowed to wear rings or watches when packaging or crating items," said Kaufhold. "Tools can catch on the items and can cause further injury."

LRS has been able to eliminate most of the potential hazards due to risk management and having a culture based around safety. 

"One of my co-workers at another base was crushed by a dump truck because he skipped one step," said Cantu. "It takes one person to skip a step to lose their life and that is why I have always taken safety as a serious matter."

(Editor's note: This is the second in a series of three articles telling how different units on Grand Forks AFB approach the subject of safety.)