thedrifter
09-05-07, 04:46 PM
Safety taken seriously at MCLB
Investigation into Marine death continues
By AARON AUPPERLEE, staff writer
BARSTOW — Despite an ongoing investigation into the death of a Marine on its grounds last week, the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow continues to receive recognition for safety.
The base was to have received two awards from the Marine Corps for its safety record on Wednesday — a record, according to base safety inspector Ray Aguilar, that is rather flawless.
“It doesn’t happen,” Aguilar said of a major work-place related mishap at the base. “Safety is ingrained at every level.”
On August 27, the body of Pfc. John Harris, 21 — a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton but doing maintenance work at the MCLB — was found. Details regarding Harris’s death will not become available until after investigators with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service finish their investigation, Rob Jackson, an MCLB spokesman said.
“That was an unfortunate incident, and one that is very rare,” he said.
Aguilar, who oversees the safety of approximately 600 civilians and 100 Marines, said that accident rates at the base are about a third lower than similar private sector industries. An impressive figure, he said, considering operations at the base include police and fire protection, heavy machine maintenance and rail traffic, areas Aguilar called “high-hazard.”
“We get out to every work station and check,” Aguilar said. “And in those high-hazard areas, we’re out there several times a year checking those things out.”
Mangers conduct quarterly safety checks; employees conduct monthly checks, he said.
Because the base employs civilians and Marines, regulations set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and ones used by the military apply to the base. Aguilar said the base uses 47 different safety programs, some which aim to keep Marines and civilians safe on the roads home from the base.
Deaths from private vehicles, not military vehicles, make up a major of Marine mishap fatalities, according to national statistics provided by the Marine Corps Safety Division. In fiscal year 2006, 65 Marines died in private vehicle mishaps. 17 of them due to alcohol.
Jackson said before Marines leave the base for holidays or long weekends, they have to take a mandatory safety course. One element heavily stressed in the course, Jackson said, was the dangers of drinking and driving.
According to officials at Camp Pendleton, who will not comment about the death of Harris, the Marine was part of a six-person crew sent to Barstow to do maintenance work on amphibious assault vehicles. He was not working with civilians on the vehicles.
Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or aaron_aupperlee@link.freedom.com
Total non-combat deaths in the armed services for fiscal year 2006
Army 243
Navy 76
Marine 87
* Air Force numbers not available.
Sources: US Army Combat Readiness / Safety Center, Naval Safety Center
Ellie
Investigation into Marine death continues
By AARON AUPPERLEE, staff writer
BARSTOW — Despite an ongoing investigation into the death of a Marine on its grounds last week, the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow continues to receive recognition for safety.
The base was to have received two awards from the Marine Corps for its safety record on Wednesday — a record, according to base safety inspector Ray Aguilar, that is rather flawless.
“It doesn’t happen,” Aguilar said of a major work-place related mishap at the base. “Safety is ingrained at every level.”
On August 27, the body of Pfc. John Harris, 21 — a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton but doing maintenance work at the MCLB — was found. Details regarding Harris’s death will not become available until after investigators with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service finish their investigation, Rob Jackson, an MCLB spokesman said.
“That was an unfortunate incident, and one that is very rare,” he said.
Aguilar, who oversees the safety of approximately 600 civilians and 100 Marines, said that accident rates at the base are about a third lower than similar private sector industries. An impressive figure, he said, considering operations at the base include police and fire protection, heavy machine maintenance and rail traffic, areas Aguilar called “high-hazard.”
“We get out to every work station and check,” Aguilar said. “And in those high-hazard areas, we’re out there several times a year checking those things out.”
Mangers conduct quarterly safety checks; employees conduct monthly checks, he said.
Because the base employs civilians and Marines, regulations set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and ones used by the military apply to the base. Aguilar said the base uses 47 different safety programs, some which aim to keep Marines and civilians safe on the roads home from the base.
Deaths from private vehicles, not military vehicles, make up a major of Marine mishap fatalities, according to national statistics provided by the Marine Corps Safety Division. In fiscal year 2006, 65 Marines died in private vehicle mishaps. 17 of them due to alcohol.
Jackson said before Marines leave the base for holidays or long weekends, they have to take a mandatory safety course. One element heavily stressed in the course, Jackson said, was the dangers of drinking and driving.
According to officials at Camp Pendleton, who will not comment about the death of Harris, the Marine was part of a six-person crew sent to Barstow to do maintenance work on amphibious assault vehicles. He was not working with civilians on the vehicles.
Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or aaron_aupperlee@link.freedom.com
Total non-combat deaths in the armed services for fiscal year 2006
Army 243
Navy 76
Marine 87
* Air Force numbers not available.
Sources: US Army Combat Readiness / Safety Center, Naval Safety Center
Ellie