NAVSUP FLC Bahrain in the Spotlight: HAZMAT

From NAVSUP FLC Bahrain

Every day, thousands of sailors perform preventative and corrective maintenance on their equipment, from aircraft to turbine generators to communication equipment. These daily tasks directly allow the United States Navy to achieve a high level of mission readiness, which is critical to maintaining maritime superiority. The Navy is also committed to the highest standards of safety, utilizing proper operational risk management (ORM) to minimize tragic events. What happens when a sailor needs to perform maintenance but the material required is dangerous to self or ship? The answer is Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Bahrain Hazardous Material (HAZMAT) team.

Petty Officer Second Class Pedro Regalado, a member of NAVSUP FLC Bahrain HAZMAT team understands the significance of the work he and his team do daily. “We know how important it is to balance the strict safety requirements surrounding handling hazardous material with efficiently providing [material] to our partners. We take both aspects very seriously, and I am proud of the service we provide. The Navy cannot steam without HAZMAT!”

The NAVSUP FLC Bahrain HAZMAT team is committed to the safe stowage, issuance, receipt, handling and verification of hazardous materials for over 132 tenant commands in the 5th fleet area of responsibility (AOR). The team is comprised of active duty personnel and government civilian employees who are subject matter experts, as well as local nationals who, under the guidance of our US employees, make the team click. Below are just a few of the areas the HAZMAT team provides excellent customer service:

Hazardous Material Management – Hazardous Material Management involves the warehousing, issuing and receipt of all HAZMAT. Utilizing NAVSUP FLC Bahrain as the main warehousing provider allows FLC Bahrain personnel to specialize in the stowage and handling of dangerous material thereby reducing the risk of mishap during these phases of the material's lifecycle. When a tenant command requires HAZMAT, they submit a request to the HAZMAT team through the Hazardous Material Management program. FLC Bahrain HAZMAT team then verifies the material is safe for the command to have on hand. If so, the material is issued. If not, then the request is forwarded for further adjudication. This process ensures the tenant command requesting material has a legitimate requirement for the material and is not taking on inadvertent risk.

Big picture, the NAVSUP experts handle as much of the material as possible, while providing for tenant commands exactly what they need to carry out the mission.

Hazardous Declarations (HAZDEC) – Customers often need to ship large equipment overseas via military air. However, large equipment may have hazardous components (e.g., transporting a helicopter that has oil in it) which if agitated could endanger the aircrew. To minimize this risk, strict stowage requirements are put into place to isolate the hazardous materials. The experts at NAVSUP FLC Bahrain HAZMAT team are trained to verify all hazardous parts are stowed correctly and certified to fly, keeping crews safe while allowing the military to move material.

HAZMAT Locker Inspections –Some HAZMAT is needed so frequently that tenant commands require to store it on-hand. As part of the ORM process, the HAZMAT is isolated from other stowage areas and kept in special lockers, known as “HAZMAT lockers.” To ensure all HAZMAT is stowed safely and all the lockers are up to specifications, the NAVSUP FLC Bahrain team provides HAZMAT locker training as well as courtesy inspections. Some of the notable requirements of stowing HAZMAT is keeping it in a cool dry place, segregating HAZMAT by like groups (corrosives, flammables, etc) and having safety data sheets on hand.

Ship Support – NAVSUP FLC Bahrain’s HAZMAT support is not confined to just the tenant commands in the AOR. The team also works closely with Command Task Force 53 (CTF-53) to provide services for all ships embarked in the 5th Fleet AOR. For example, when a large dry cargo ship orders oil to be picked up at their next port call, FLC Bahrain HAZMAT team will stow the requisition until the ship arrives, and provide shipping to them on their behalf.

NAVSUP FLC Bahrain is one of eight FLCs under Commander, NAVSUP. Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, NAVSUP employs a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 25,000 military and civilian personnel. NAVSUP and the Navy Supply Corps conduct and enable supply chain, acquisition, operational logistics, Sailors, and family care activities with our mission partners to generate readiness and sustain naval forces worldwide to prevent and decisively win wars.

Learn more at www.navsup. navy.mil, www.facebook.com/ navsup and https://twitter.com/ navsupsyscom.