Sleep deprived? Join the club
April 27th, 2012 | Health Life at Sea Navy Safety | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Long, odd work schedules and cramped berthing don't make getting decent shut eye easy, as these sailors faced aboard the submarine Virginia. (Navy photo)
Apparently it’s not just the Navy that has a sleep problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 41 million American workers aren’t getting enough Zzzzs. That’s nearly one in three workers.
“Not surprisingly, workers who work the night shift are more likely to not get enough sleep,” according to Dr. Sara Luckhaupt of the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, who authored the study.
Those workers pulling more than 40 hours on the job each week also are more apt to get less sleep than what medical experts say is needed to stay alert, avoid fatigue and remain mentally sharp. The study found that four in 10 night shift workers say they don’t get enough sleep, but that’s not surprising of course.
Lack of sleep is linked to all sorts of ailments, including diabetes and obesity. Sleep deprivation, and the inherent problems that come from it, is disconcerting to Navy officials seeing the rising popularity of sleep aids to make up for the deficit in sleep and supplements like “go pills” to help keep someone awake. Navy safety officials told a Combat Operational Stress Conference audience in San Diego last year that fatigue was the culprit in 85 percent of mishaps caused by human error, and lack of decent sleep was the main driver.
The worst community at avoiding the issue? The surface fleet, despite various efforts to try different watch sections to try to curb fatigue and get more alert watchstanders. Long days at sea, prolonged flight operations, and nontraditional workdays can lead to more disrupted sleep and more fatigue. Eight hours of sleep? Mission impossible. Short naps instead? Not always seen as professional, although there’s growing research of its value in keeping folks alert. This 2006 thesis by a student at Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., found big benefits of naps at least 20 minutes long.
But the 24/7 demands of naval service mean the mission continues, regardless. Still, you wonder sometimes why being a sailor (and actually, any military service member) isn’t among the best jobs.
Very close call
October 5th, 2011 | Carriers Navy Safety Video | Posted by Joshua Stewart
You could just as easily be reading an article about two George Washington sailors who were killed on the carrier’s flight deck.
While there was certainly a few sky-high heart rates and a couple of strings of profanity, everything turned out fine after the sailors wandered onto the deck as an F/A-18 Hornet approached for landing. Whoever decided to wave the plane off undoubtedly went to bed knowing that they earned their pay.
The video is from Sept. 25 while GW was on scheduled patrol in the Pacific.
Keep it safe this weekend
September 2nd, 2011 | Alcohol abuse Naval Safety Center Navy Safety Sexual assault prevention and response | Posted by Bill McMichael
Let’s get straight to the point: one sailor and one Marine died during Labor Day weekend 2010, and 52 sailors and Marines were injured, some of them seriously, in motor vehicle mishaps or off-duty activities, according to the Naval Safety Center. Most, the Safety Center says, were completely preventable had proper risk management practices been followed.
This annual three-day weekend begs for some party time. In its 2011 Labor Day Weekend Briefing Points, the Safety Center asks sailors and Marines to remember that if alcohol is on the menu — there won’t be many parties where it’s not, right? — that “moderation and responsibility are keys to success.” If you or someone you know has one too many, a cab only costs a few bucks. That’s a lot less costly than what getting behind the wheel could cost: a DUI ticket, jail time, a fine, loss of driving privileges — or, in the extreme, injury or death.
The Safety Center also points out that according to statistics, alcohol is often a contributing factor in sexual assaults. “Alcohol is no excuse for criminal behavior and everyone is expected to manage the risk to avoid being a victim or a perpetrator,” the center says. The center also asks sailors and Marines who see trouble brewing or witness inappropriate conduct toward another person to “take action, get assistance, get involved to prevent an assault!”
Ike’s return is on track
July 14th, 2011 | Aviation Carriers Flight deck certification Maintenance Maritime operations Navy Photos Safety Shipyard Unmanned carrier landing | Posted by Bill McMichael
The carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower is enjoying a noteworthy and productive post-availability period at sea.
On July 2, Ike, operating off the Atlantic coast, was the scene of the first fully hands-free carrier landing as an F/A-18D modified to emulate the in-development X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System aircraft touched down under control of an onboard computer network linked to the plane. The aircraft was manned in case something went wrong, but the pilot kept his hands off the controls, the Navy told my colleague Joshua Stewart. See his story in the July 18 Navy Times.
Four days later, the carrier and Air Wing 7 completed flight deck certification, just a week after taking the flattop’s first arrested landing since its 2010 deployment to the Arabian Sea in support of the war in Afghanistan — only three weeks after Ike left Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va., after completing a nine-month planned incremental availability.
On July 7 in Washington, D.C., the carrier was given the Secretary of the Navy’s Safety Excellence Award for large deck combatants.
Meanwhile, the carrier — enjoying a no-fly day Thursday, according to AIRLANT — continues operations in the Atlantic, qualifying new fliers from Fleet Replacement Squadron fliers.
An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the “Gladiators” of Strike Fighter Squadron 106 performs an arrested landing July 13 aboard the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower. // U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Parde.
Saving lives this summer
May 20th, 2011 | Liberty Marine Corps Mishaps Naval Safety Center Navy Personnel Safety | Posted by Bill McMichael
Announcements of annual safety campaigns may for many go in one ear and out the other, but the Naval Safety Center’s summer campaign, which officially begins Memorial Day weekend, is an opportunity for Navy leaders to hit the deckplates and hammer home the message that it’s possible to have fun without taking life-threatening risks. Last summer was the Navy’s safest on record. Still, 14 sailors and 14 Marines lost their lives in motor vehicle and recreational mishaps. That was a big improvement over the five-year average of 44 total off-duty deaths each summer. But still …
Leaders can find all sorts of useful materials with which to reinforce the message here.
“Live to play, play to live.” Here’s to a safe summer!
Getting safer
March 29th, 2011 | Class A mishaps Liberty Naval aviation Naval Safety Center Navy Personnel Photos Physical training Privately owned vehicles Safety Shore duty Statistics | Posted by Bill McMichael
Officials have to be encouraged at the trend toward a safer on- and off-duty Navy, indicated by near-mid-year Naval Safety Center statistics. We type those words with a big “knock on wood,” of course. But with the fiscal year — which began Oct. 1 — nearly halfway gone, it’s looking like the Navy is shaping up, safety-wise — at least in terms of major mishaps, and on- and off-duty deaths.
Check the trends for the fiscal year through March 23, referred to in the following as “at this point”:
Sailors assigned to the amphibious assault ship Makin Island attend a holiday safety brief in the Harborside Gym at Naval Base San Diego on Nov. 24, 2010. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jason Perry
Class A afloat mishaps: two this year compared to four a year ago. The rate, per 100 ships per year, has dropped from 2.72 to 1.41. The rate for all of FY 2010 was 1.62.
Class A flight mishaps are down slightly, from four at this point last year to the current total of three. There were seven in all of 2010 — a rate per 100,000 flight hours of 0.78. Compare that to a 10-year average of 14.1 Class A flight mishaps annually, and a rate of 1.37.
Class A ashore on-duty mishaps: none this year compared to one at this point last year, with a rate per 100,000 persons per year of 0.00 compared to 0.60 at this point last fiscal year. There was only one such mishap in FY 2010, but nine in FY 2009.
Total Class A on-duty mishaps are down for the year, at this point compared to last year, but already half of the FY 2010 total. There’ve been nine to date compared to 14 last year at this point; the current rate is 5.55, running slightly ahead of the FY 2010 rate of 5.18.
Physical training fatalities: Still at one, as we reported in March, compared for five at this point last fiscal year. The rate, per 100,000 persons per year, is 0.62; it was 3.02 at this point last year. The 10-year average is 4.9 deaths and a rate of 1.25.
On-duty fatalities are way down: There’ve been three so far this fiscal year compared to 11 at the same point last year, when the rate per 100,000 persons per year was 6.65 compared to the current 1.85. In all of FY 2010, the rate was 4.32.
It’s in the area of private motor vehicle deaths that must be especially encouraging to Navy officials, however. Traditionally the biggest off-duty killer of military personnel — from fiscal years 2001-2008, nearly 67 sailors died annually in PMV mishaps — the fiscal year total to date is eight, compared to 12 at this point last year. At that rate, the fiscal year total would be but half of FY 2010′s 32 deaths.
Four-wheel PMV deaths are down sharply as well: the year-to-date total is three, or half of last year’s year-to-date total. The current rate per 100,000 persons per year of 1.85 is well below both the FY 2010 rate of 5.18 and the 10-year average of 9.27. Motorcycle deaths are also down: four this year so far, vice five last year, compared to 13 for all of FY 2010.
Off-duty and recreational fatalities — which do not include vehicle-related mishaps — are running even: three deaths last year and this year, to this point. The overall trend is positive, however; the current rate per 100,000 persons per year is 1.85, while the 10-year average is 4.47 — 17.4 deaths per year.
The only negative statistic, in fact, is in the category of Class A on-duty motor vehicle mishaps. There’ve been two so far this fiscal year vice none during FY 2010, period. The rate this year to date is 1.23 per 100,000 persons per year; the 10-year average is 0.58.
The sliding PMV numbers look good. But a continued focus will be needed to keep them that way. Summer approaches, when vacation and leisure time mean more off-duty travel time and increased risk, officials say.
Safe start to the fiscal year is good news
November 9th, 2010 | Navy Physical training Safety | Posted by Bill McMichael
One sailor has lost his life — outside of combat — so far in fiscal year 2011, which began Oct. 1. Any such loss — this one occurred during a physical training-related incident in late October — is tragic. But it’s the only one so far. And that’s a big improvement over the same period last year, the Naval Safety Center’s April Phillips says. After the first two months of fiscal year 2010, the Navy had already seen three on-duty fatalities, five personal motor vehicle fatalities and one off-duty recreational death. The Safety Center does not track fatalities caused by enemy fire.
Despite that rough start, fiscal year 2010 ended with record low numbers of Navy fatalities and Class A mishaps in “many” categories, Phillips reports. The improved start to this fiscal year, the center’s commander says, is due to sailors taking more responsibility for their actions.
Clearly, personal accountability is a big reason the mishap numbers are improving,” said Rear Adm. Arthur J. Johnson. “Whether it’s the risk of driving while fatigued, riding a motorcycle too fast or over-extending themselves during off-duty activities, sailors realize that they have choices, and they are choosing to manage those risks. They are accountable to themselves and their shipmates, and they’re making decisions that lead to success.
But with the approaching holidays comes the potential for increased mishaps, when sailors are more likely to travel long distances to visit family members and friends, Phillips reports. There are tools available to reduce such risks, such as the Travel Risk Planning System (TRiPS). TRiPS is an online risk survey accessed through Navy Knowledge Online. More than 200,000 TRiPS surveys have been completed to date, and there hasn’t been a single fatality for any sailor traveling on an approved assessment, Phillips says.
Johnson says the improving trends are more than just statistics.
“It’s not just a number when we talk about reducing fatalities and injuries,” said Johnson. “We are enhancing our mission readiness.”
Then start screaming
October 26th, 2010 | Blogs Navy Photos Safety | Posted by Bill McMichael
No, not a Halloween post — although Slide No. 4 in the Naval Safety Center’s “Signs of the Times” Vol. 6 contains elements of a good ol’, cheezy horror flick: Revenge of the Crocodilians!
The slide show (http://safetycenter.navy.mil/ — midpage, “Signs of the Times #6, a PowerPoint doc) is a collection of similarly bad yet humorous or tongue-in-cheek signage that underlines the importance of labeling hazards clearly and effectively — and taking even official-looking warnings (at least, the civilian versions) with a grain of salt. It’ll take a few seconds to download with a good connection, but it’s worth it.