"At LA-RFO, an accident is more of an aberration than a normal event.” Safety Manager Dave Stanton inspects tanks to make sure they are in compliance with OSHA game rules. U. S. Army Photo. Back to Features Page

Great safety record comes from risk management, "cloning"
By Spec. Larry Gleeson and Dave Harris, Public Affairs, Louisiana Recovery Field Office

A tree limb becomes a javelin projectile and instantly shreds a solid roof into lethal daggers; the deafening, thunderous crash suddenly transforms peacefully sleeping residents into screaming zombies whose minds battle awake, their primitive instincts ready for flight or fight.

A crane topples into a pond, and the force snaps the operator’s leg like a toothpick.

Bruised heads, compound fractures, a fortune in property damage. The impending horror is limitless without the cool head and constant vigilance of a sage safety guru whose astute wisdom and searching eyes snatch orderly routine from the jaws of potential chaos and utter ruin.

Safety Mission Manager, “Coach” Dave Stanton thinks about the unthinkable, and expects the unexpected—sinister surprises out of his reach, tragedy beyond his control and flawed behavior that defies comprehension.

He lives overseas, and he is back in the Gulf Coast region for his third tour.

“We’re always helping other countries,” he said. “However, there’s nothing more satisfying than helping our own—Americans who have been delivered a sucker punch.”

Only two sedatives allow a coach’s mind like his to rest and his body to sleep at night—cloning and something he strains to get his arms around: risk management.

The clones begin to emerge while most New Orleaneans are just waking up and smelling the coffee. Corps of Engineers safety specialists in Orleans Parish brief quality assurance employees on safety issues ranging from hydration to safe work sites to proper personal protective equipment—PPE. Reproducing safety sleuths in this manner gives Stanton hundreds of eyes.

“I have awesome people in the field,” he said. “Safety is their first consideration” on a job where, like the Big Game, “decisions on the fly” make this mission unique. He described his clones—assistant coaches—as “empowered to make decisions right there.”

It works. Construction sites across the nation report that for every 100 workers, around five are hurt badly enough that they can’t work the next day. Not so for Stanton and his grassroots clones working on the Katrina recovery. They narrow the accident rate to an astounding one-tenth—0.52—of the average.

 “This is phenomenal,” Stanton said. Like Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, if he keeps the clones fired up enough to beat everyone else in the stats, Stanton can sleep at night as the players stay healthy. “An accident is more of an aberration than a normal event.”

Safety specialist Hank Counts attributes the extraordinary safety ratio to “the constant diligence of the contactors in paying attention to our plan. We have a good safety plan. It really is a team effort. We have good team work. That is a good basis in ensuring the plan is followed. The contactors are doing their due diligence.” Football coaches call it buy-in by the players.

Every good ball club needs a team “doctor,” and this role is played by industrial hygienist Gilbert Nickelson, and before that, Capt. Richard Ramos, a special team walk-on from Fort Lewis, Wash., and before that, Vanessa Bauders of Kansas District. The designated IH manages the assessment and control of chemical and biological hazards at the worksites which may take out key players from disease or impaired health. “That role is critical,” Stanton said.

Bauders added, “Our primary focus is on regulated asbestos-containing materials—RACM—found in transite (fireproof) siding, shingles, wall systems, joint compounding, floor tiles and ceiling tiles. Overall about 45-50 percent of demolitions are RACM. The number in Orleans approaches 70 percent. The RACM must be kept wet so it doesn’t get airborne. Also, the contactors use Tyvex suits and half-face respirators when handling asbestos containing materials.  “We don’t foresee any complications from the demo work.”

Switching from cloning and football concepts, the mission takes on armed forces tactics. Incoming Staff Sgt. Robert Graham patrols Louisiana Sectors 1 & 2 daily. “We brief QAs in the morning with the issues we are battling; in the summer, it’s hydration and heat stress; we get the QAs out into the field so we can make sure the construction crews are in compliance.”

Stanton likens the safety program to a military contingency operation, working closely with the contractors to anticipate situations and hazards. In this environment it is very difficult to anticipate every situation and there are unknown hazards, and so he briefs to identify hazards.

That’s the second “sedative” that allows Stanton occasional peace. Since a risk-free environment is a either a fantasy or a financial nightmare, the alternative is risk assessment and management.

“We apply risk management to everything we do from safe driving to flagging procedures in traffic control to how we demolish structures to watching out for heat injury,” Stanton says.

Risk management and clones. To multiply clones, Stanton uses NIEHS, a training contractor, to perform critical safety training in any area needing more safety-smart clones. NIEHS has trained over 250 people on topics like asbestos, emergency operations and defensive driving.

To borrow again from the football scenario, the trainer has an option play—  players know the importance of the classroom.

But for fans of a changeup, a lot of the prep comes in what they call jobsite “tailgate” sessions.

Like a winning coach who constantly looks for a new challenge, Stanton, recalling his multiple deployments, finds that his “worst day is the day you leave,” he said. “You have the program running smoothly and you pass it to someone else. You feel a natural ownership.”

The coach’s best days?

“Every day I get to go out to the field.”