2008 Annual Report - West Virginia Army National Guard - U.S. Army

West Virginia National Guard Annual Report 2008
Directorate of Safety and Aviation
The West Virginia Army National
Guard (WVARNG) Safety Program mission is
to preserve war fighting capabilities and protect
force readiness through training, promoting
and providing a safe and
healthy environment for all
personnel, on or off duty.
The WVARNG
has made a shift from
past practices in the
safety arena. The State
Safety Office conducted
72 Occupational Safety
and Health ( OSHA)
inspections during 2008. Utilizing the Life
Safety Codes and the 29 Combined Federal
Regulations (CFR) for our inspections, safety
awareness in the workplace was our goal to
teach to supervision in every installation,
armory and maintenance facilities.
Our office conducted a 30 hour 1st
Line Supervisors General OSHA course
along with the Additional Duty Safety Officer
Course and the response from the Supervisors
who attended, is make this training available
to all Supervisors. We are planning in
2009 to conduct multiple iterations of this
safety training. The WVARNG Safety and
Occupational Health
Strategic plan has
numerous goals
and objectives
which are being
accomplished
by Commanders
at all levels.
One goal of the
WVARNG is
that soldiers and
employees utilize Composite Risk Management
techniques as an integral part of day to day
operations to reduce losses and mitigate the
effects of hazards. Utilizing Composite Risk
Management has aided in the reduction of our
accident rate.
A success story paying big dividends
to the WVARNG is our Motorcycle Safety
Awareness Program. The WVARNG has 21
Rider Coaches and 2 Rider Coach Trainers
that have the responsibility and
capability to conduct multiple
Basic Rider’s Motorcycle
training course at different
locations on the same weekend
to each soldier and employee
of this command that rides a
motorcycle.
The WVARNG program
also trains the soldiers and
employees of the West Virginia Air National
Guard in which we conducted 13 Basic Riders
Training Courses along with 2 Rider Coaches
Courses this past year. The WVARNG has
two soldiers that are Certified Motorcycle
Basic Course Train the Trainer Instructors.
The entire United States currently has only
two hundred twelve instructors which are
primarily Civilian Instructors. The Active
Army obtained the quotas and paid for the
expenses to train these two soldiers and which
the Army now has to ask for help from our
program in the development of Sport Bike
Rider Coach Instructors for the entire Army and
Army National Guard. We are very proud that
the Army has to ask for our help in the
development of their Motorcycle Safety
Awareness program.
The WVARNG Motorcycle Safety
Program has exceeded the requirements
established by the Department of the
Army and the National Guard Bureau.
The WVARNG has set the benchmark
for all other fifty three National Guard
States and territories of where their
Motorcycle Safety Programs should excel
to so to protect their readiness posture. The
WVARNG Safety and Occupational Health
continues to work in unity to provide safe and
healthy workplaces for the employees and
soldiers of this command.
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