{"id":31435,"date":"2023-10-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=31435"},"modified":"2023-10-17T06:42:39","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T06:42:39","slug":"afsbn-germany-safety-expert-helps-eliminate-injuries-occupational-illnesses-mishaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=31435","title":{"rendered":"AFSBn-Germany safety expert helps eliminate injuries, occupational illnesses, mishaps"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Tony Padilla, the workplace and occupational health safety specialist for Army Field Support Battalion-Germany, inspects a railhead for potential safety concerns during Operation Trident Spear. Padilla said in the safety world, it\u2019s important to be proactive, not reactive, to help prevent unnecessary safety-related injuries.
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\n Tony Padilla, Army Field Support Battalion-Germany\u2019s workplace and occupational health safety specialist, brought his critically important skills to Latvia during DEFENDER 23 when AFSBn-Germany was tasked with the mission to run an Equipment Configuration and Hand-off Area and issue hundreds of Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 vehicles and equipment pieces to exercise participants.
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VILSECK, Germany \u2013 With extreme winter weather conditions quickly approaching, cold-weather injury prevention and severe-weather driver\u2019s safety training are extremely important. And the workplace and occupational health safety specialist from Army Field Support Battalion-Germany clearly knows why.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have new personnel arriving from the U.S. all the time, and many of them are from the southern states so they don\u2019t get the extremely cold winters that we get here,\u201d said Tony Padilla, AFSBn-Germany\u2019s safety specialist. \u201cAnd our cold weather here in Bavaria is different than that of Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland and the D\u00fclmen Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to give them all the tools they need. For example, this is the phone number you call to see if there\u2019s impending severe weather conditions approaching. This is the website you can use to see if there are delays due to poor road conditions. This is the phone number you can call in case of a car-to-wildlife strike,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cSo, I try to give them those tools in case something like that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Padilla has been very successful in getting the word out, thus far. Across the 405th Army Field Support Brigade, he\u2019s provided cold-weather injury prevention and severe-weather driver\u2019s safety training to nearly 200 personnel during six separate training sessions in the last couple of months, with more planned each week. And it\u2019s not just people in his community of Vilseck and Grafenwoehr, Germany, who benefit from his training, either. He\u2019s provided training to personnel stationed in places like Latvia, Poland, and across Germany.<\/p>\n

When it comes to winter driver\u2019s safety training, specifically, Padilla said he quickly identified a need for growth. The video that many Soldiers watch as part of their mandatory training to operate non-tactical vehicles on German roadways is extremely outdated. So, Padilla reached out to Logistics Readiness Center Bavaria and LRC Ansbach and asked them what winter driver\u2019s safety topics they would like to see included and what areas they think are important.<\/p>\n

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\n The U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center created this flier to stress the increased levels of safety hazards during periods of cold weather. In addition to the seasonal driver\u2019s safety training, the center, as well as Army Field Support Battalion-Germany\u2019s Tony Padilla, provides instructional knowledge on numerous other safety-related topics.
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\n The U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center created this flier to help Soldiers and other Army community members be better prepared to drive during extreme winter weather conditions. According to the center, a well-developed safety program can help to prevent injuries, occupational illnesses and mishap losses.
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Based on this input and what his battalion commander identified, plus what Padilla also felt was important, he developed a set of slides for a thorough and systematic winter driver\u2019s safety training presentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about braking. We talk about fog. We talk about black ice. We talk about the differences between traveling on the autobahn and traveling on secondary roads, and much more,\u201d said Padilla, who\u2019s been working as a workplace and occupational health safety specialist for more than 21 years.<\/p>\n

In addition to the training sessions, Padilla said he also sends out emails with safety tips and safety updates two to four times a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor instance, last week I sent out an email and said that next week, starting on Sunday, the temperature is going to drop drastically. We\u2019re talking about 20 degrees or more, so you need to watch out for patches of black ice. You need to make sure your windshield wipers are still operational, and you need to have plenty of wiper fluid. And you may need that scraper to scrape any ice off your windows,\u201d Padilla said he stated in email.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd low and behold, today the new deputy to the commander came into the office and said \u2018you know what? I wasn\u2019t expecting that much frost. Usually in the states we just use the windshield wipers to clear it off, but here I had to scrape it,\u2019\u201d Padilla said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to anticipate,\u201d said Padilla, who served 22 years as an active-duty field artillery Soldier before retiring and becoming an Army civilian safety specialist. \u201cIn the safety world, you have to be proactive and not reactive. If you\u2019re reactive, you\u2019re likely already investigating some type of mishap or accident that may have injured one of your teammates.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addition to the seasonal driver\u2019s safety training Padilla provides, he also provides instructional knowledge on numerous other safety-related topics \u2013 not only across the 405th AFSB but to multiple other community organizations. For example, he recently conducted fire and carbon monoxide safety training with one of the Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Bavaria, and he\u2019s planning to conduct Halloween safety training in the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

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\n Tony Padilla, the workplace and occupational health safety specialist for Army Field Support Battalion-Germany, demonstrates how to correctly operate a fire extinguisher. Padilla recently conducted fire safety and carbon monoxide safety training with one of the local Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Bavaria, and he\u2019s planning to conduct Halloween safety training in the next couple of weeks.
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\n Tony Padilla discusses how to check a fire extinguisher to ensure it is fully operational and ready for use. Padilla is the workplace and occupational health safety specialist for Army Field Support Battalion-Germany. In addition to fire safety and prevention training, he has conducted six sessions of cold-weather injury prevention and severe-weather driver\u2019s safety training in the last couple of months, with more to come.
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Padilla is also a member of the D\u00fclmen APS-2 sitework safety council. Along with U.S. Army Garrison Benelux\u2019s department of public works, the military police and the fire department, plus the contractor who works there, Padilla helps to address potential safety hazards and other issues and establishes abatement plans and ways to improve workplace safety at the site.<\/p>\n

Some of Padilla\u2019s primary duties as AFSBn-Germany\u2019s safety specialist include:<\/p>\n