Summer safety: It's not just another 101 critical days Published May 19, 2011 By Staff Sgt. Chad Thompson 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- After a winter filled with cold weather, snow and several red road conditions everyone here at Osan is putting away their winter weather gear and looking forward to a warm and safe summer. This season brings with it one of the most crucial times of the year - the Critical Days of Summer. The 2011 CDS safety campaign began May 27 and runs through Sept. 6. Formerly known as the "101 Critical Days of Summer" this year's campaign will be no different than previous years - it's all about thinking intelligently and acting safely. "The critical days of summer is the largest and longest running campaign," said Tech. Sgt. Shawn Malcolm, 51st Fighter Wing ground safety NCOIC. "This traditionally marks the start of summer travel, outdoor activities and a time when mishaps statistically start increasing." The motto of the Pacific Air Force's 2011 CDS campaign is, "I can save my own life," which aims to create a positive environment leading to responsible and safe behavior for Airmen and their families during this peak summer season. Sergeant Malcolm said the wing safety office CDS campaign always seeks to reduce the number of accidents that occur during this period by having people think and use better operational risk management techniques. "Dumb, different or dangerous -- means don't do it," he said. "Eighty percent of all mishaps are due to human error. Most occur from someone who has skipped a step or forgot something in a checklist or thinking something small didn't need to be done." If there is an activity someone hasn't tried before or something they haven't done since last summer, it might be a good idea to take a little extra time and "A-C-T" accordingly, Sergeant Malcolm said. ACT is an acronym that stands for - assess the risk; consider the options and take action. "This is the time of year where people are getting their motorcycles out of storage and pulling that barbeque out of the garage and without doing a thorough inspection there is increased risk of something going wrong," Sergeant Malcolm said. Slow down, pay attention and use better situational awareness to reduce the risk, he said. Staff Sgt. Wynee Diaz, 51st FW safety office, said bicycle safety and wearing earphones when 12 feet from vehicular traffic are some of Osan's biggest safety issues right now. "Many mishaps can be avoided if someone puts a little more time and effort into thinking about what they were about to do," she said. Sergeant Diaz said the investigations of previous mishaps have shown most accidents could have been avoided had the individuals used the wingman concept, personal risk management or better judgment to minimize the risk or eliminate it all together. Since 2005, there have been more than 108 Air Force fatalities recorded and of those, 74 were directly related to personal motor vehicle accidents. "Private motor vehicles are the number one killer in the Air Force," Sergeant Malcolm said. "Four times as many people are killed by motor vehicles than in war." This means every time someone gets behind the wheel of a car they are taking a calculated risk. Not wearing a seatbelt increases that risk even more; add in alcohol or driving tired and it makes it even more dangerous. Enjoying time off through recreation is important to everyone's mental health and morale, but keeping safety and good situational awareness in mind during the summer is also very important. This is why the 51st FW safety office has created a summer full of safety tips and a challenge for the safest squadron on base this year. The "Summer is Hot" campaign is made up of sixteen modules, one covering each week of the critical days of summer. Some areas of focus during this campaign will be motorcycle safety, bicycle safety, fun in the sun, swimming and boating safety, barbeque and firework safety and outdoor fire safety. Each week will reiterate the overall goal of accomplishing zero preventable accidents, Sergeant Malcolm said. Along with the focused training the safety office will be challenging each squadron to be named the safest squadron on base. For more information on the CDS campaign contact your unit safety representatives or call the wing safety office at 784-1842.