‘101 Critical Days of Summer’ wraps up, Fall Safety Campaign in swing

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Team Mildenhall's 101 Critical Days of Summer campaign wrapped up Labor Day with zero fatalities. Air Force-wide there were 14 fatalities, a number which, according to base safety officials, is down from previous years. 

"This is the best in a decade. We've never had such a low number of fatalities (in the Air Force)," said Tech. Sgt. Joshua Franklin, 100th Air Refueling Wing Ground Safety technician. "RAF Mildenhall didn't have any fatalities. The highest (category of mishap) we had was Class C, which means someone lost a day, or several days, of duty - which is fabulous for having several thousand people stationed here." 

RAF Mildenhall suffered 13 safety mishaps between Memorial Day and Labor Day, which is higher than in previous years. According to Sergeant Franklin, Five of the 13 mishaps were on-duty including a burn and a couple of fender benders. 

"Someone was changing a generator with oil in it, and they got burned," he said. "That's a really bad thing - we shouldn't be having any on-duty mishaps at all. Other mishaps involved government vehicles and a lack of attention to detail - driving into towbars, and backing into things. Those are ones that we definitely want to prevent. 

"You spend about two-thirds of your time off duty and a third on duty," Sergeant Franklin added. "You should always have less on duty mishaps, because there are always more controls, rules and supervision. Off duty, everybody does different things - different hobbies, people drive a lot, which is where we get most of our traffic mishaps, everybody commuting in and out of work or going on leave." 

Off duty mishaps included someone falling off a ladder doing house maintenance, and sports injuries such as sprained ankles and torn ligaments. 

There were also two severe motorcycle injuries. One person broke his ribs and damaged his spleen requiring its removal. He missed three weeks of work. Another was in training, and dislocated her shoulder. She lost four days of work. 

"We had more minor mishaps, but no major mishaps - that in itself is a success," he said. "We had nobody die, and everybody came back to work eventually."
With 101 Critical Days of Summer now over, a new safety campaign is now in place Department of Defense-wide. 

The Fall Safety Campaign started Sept. 2, and runs through Nov. 30. It was started because the defense department has lost 40 percent more people to traffic fatalities in the fall than in the summer during fiscal years 2005 through 2007. 

The aim of the campaign is to concentrate on personal safety at home and work, as POV-related mishaps tend to increase significantly between September and November, said Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Blount, 100th ARW Ground Safety technician. 

It aims to continue the momentum of the 101 Critical Days of Summer and work to reduce fatalities in the fall. Though it covers a variety of topics, its main emphasis is on traffic safety. 

Editor's note: For more information, call Sergeant Franklin at DSN 238-2255.