The Waterline July 5, 2012
Vol. XXIX No.27
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NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION
Staying safe amongst the flames By Benjamin Christensen, NDW Waterline writer While in the midst of the Fourth of July season, it's easy to imagine what the quintessential activities associated with it would be: grilling and other "flammable" outdoor fun. But, as an even more critical part of the 101 Critical Days of Summer, the midsummer days present their own challenges to safety with barbecues and some risky outdoor activities. Many preventable mishaps impact service members' operational readiness during this time. Starting with grilling, according to the Naval Safety Center (NSC), while thankfully there have been no fatalities resulting from grilling accidents from fiscal year 2007-2011, there have been 49 mishaps involving Sailors and Marines. The victims of these mishaps spent nearly 80 days in the hospital, losing 384 work days, and spending 470 days on light duty. The emphasis on these statistics, according to NSC, is that many of them could be easily prevented. From a presentation on grilling safety by NSC, here are two case reports on how accidents occurred: one incident in-
volved someone who used gasoline to help ignite the grill. It exploded and burned him from his waist to his neck and arms. In another incident, this time involving a gas grill, the electric spark igniter didn’t work. Gas was allowed to flow for approximately 30 seconds and the mishap victim used a cigarette lighter to start the grill resulting in an explosion. It can be obviously noted that a lot of the activities involving grilling and fire involve simple common sense in order to prevent mishaps. Gas and charcoal grills should never be used indoors: even if a fire does not spread, a potentially deadly buildup of carbon monoxide and other gases can occur. To prevent fire spreading, according to the NSC, keep the grill at least 10 feet away from siding, decks and railings. Keep it out from under eaves and overhanging branches. As noted earlier, gasoline should never be used to help start a charcoal grill; use only an instructed amount of lighter fluid and never apply lighter fluid to hot or already ignited coals as it can cause a dangerous flare up. One major aspect of fire safety involves the most vulnerable amongst a group: children.
U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Jennifer L. Jaqua
Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Jesse D. Eldridge and Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Jason B. Van Patten grill lamb chops and hamburgers during a steel beach picnic aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). George H.W. Bush is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility on its first operational deployment conducting maritime security operations and See Flames, Page 5 support missions as part of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn.
Award Presented to Human Resources Office-Washington for 5th Consecutive Year By Benjamin Christensen and MC2 Kiona Miller, NDW Public Affairs The Human Resources OfficeWashington (HRO-W), located at the Washington Navy Yard, received the conflict management and mediation recognition award at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar June 26. The Labor and Employee Relations (LER) department and the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) department worked in conjunction to help managers and employees focus on the mission of their commands, rather than spending time and resources in administrative adjudication of workplace conflicts. “The award itself is extremely rewarding,” said Kelly Majiros, one of HRO-W's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program coordinators. “I think it can be easy to overlook how intensive and time consuming the work
can be, and our staff worked very hard.” Majiros emphasized that the HRO-W leadership has worked tirelessly to ensure that their staff is properly equipped to utilize ADR models in conflict resolution. "They really promote and support the staff to make sure that they are trained, so they can then educate our customers on the benefits and values of ADR," said Majiros. Each year the Department of Navy’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Program evaluates the effectiveness of Human Resource Offices and recognizes those who achieve or exceed the Conflict Management and Mediation Model (CM 3) standards. There are four areas in which the DoN tests to ensure that the program's standards are compliant: a staff properly trained in ADR, ensuring that staff is trained to provide training to customers, that staffs utilize ADR tech-
niques consistent with Navy guidelines, and that they utilize relevant data systems. Consistent with DON policy, HRO-W offers mediation and facilitation to managers and employees so that workplace disputes may be resolved quickly. ADR is designed to improve relationships and provide closure by utilizing realistic options. HRO-W has ensured an ADR staff is available to resolve disputes, provide conflict management training, and ensure ADR mediators are certified and that they maintain their mediator competency. CM3 was designed to measure the Human Resources Offices efforts to achieve an effective ADR program. This year Human Resources Office-Washington received formal recognition for its efforts in promoting, establishing and utilizing ADR techniques. The LER department’s primary focus is resolvedisputesatthelowestlevelpossibleandto
use resources like mediation to avoid arbitration, or a court hearing. According to Majiros, ADR techniques are used whenever possible as theyavoidmorecostlyortimeconsumingways of dispute resolution, such as litigation. According to Majiros, many participants in HRO-W's promoted ADR are satisfied with the results. She highlighted that instead of an adversarial process, they promote the mediation process which restores working relationships instead of finalizing the break-up of those relationships. Kim McManus of HRO-W attended the Workplace ADR Conference onboard MCAS Miramar to accept the organization’s award. This is HRO-W’s fifth consecutive CM3 Award. Naval District Washington joins the Department of the Navy Alternative Dispute Resolution Program in congratulating HRO-W for this achievement and honor.
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