Quest for Zero puts year-round focus on safety

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Debbie Lockhart
  • 50th Space Wing Public Affairs
SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. --  Schriever's Safety Office has been busy promoting Quest for Zero, a new, Air Force-wide safety campaign designed to personalize safety messages and keep personnel safe year round.

Quest for Zero recently replaced 101 Critical Days of Summer as the Air Force shifts its focus to on-duty, year-long mishap prevention and awareness.

"The intent of the Quest for Zero campaign is to put an emphasis on year-long, on-duty safety," said Tech. Sgt. Alejandro Torres, 50th Space Wing ground safety manager. "The Critical Days of Summer [campaign] put a focus on off-duty safety, risk management and staying safe at home, but we want to make sure you make it home the way that you came in to work, without any injuries, mishaps or deaths."

This campaign is intended for every Airman to take part in and affords the opportunity to highlight the day-to-day hazards they face at work and at home.

"Each month we work with unit safety representatives and commanders to highlight an individual. We tell their story, explain what they do for the unit, what their unit does for the base and how safety is important in their job," said Torres.

The safety office hopes to personalize safety messages and drive home the importance of realizing, and embracing, the fact that safety is a team effort.

"We can't do this ourselves," said Torres. "We want to spread this message and get people more involved. Our target audience is people here on this installation, but we want to share [our initiative] with the rest of the command."

Quest for Zero provides a platform for Airmen; regardless of rank, career field or installation; to help each other reach the goal of zero mishaps, injuries or deaths all while maintaining mission readiness.

"Readiness is paramount to the mission, and the safety of every Airman is critical to ensuring that readiness," said Maj. Gen. Kurt Neubauer, the Air Force chief of safety. "When Airmen embrace the Quest for Zero motto - my job, my life, my choice - they are, in a real way, fulfilling their commitment to mission success."

This campaign covers more than safety inspections - it is a chance for base personnel to get to know each other and understand how their work impacts each other and the mission.

"We are learning about each other through the Quest for Zero campaign," said Torres, "but it's not just outreach - if it is Civil Engineer's month, we'll do more inspections for them and we'll provide more information on CE related topics."

The campaign focuses on safety everywhere on base, and to do this supervisor involvement is paramount. Supervisors are charged with ensuring their work areas are safe by completing spot safety inspections and reporting mishaps when they occur.

"It's important to not become complacent," said Torres. "We all get complacent at times - we fall over, we get hurt but we want to try and prevent those things from happening through awareness which is what Quest for Zero is all about."

For more information on Quest for Zero visit www.afsec.af.mil or contact the Safety Office at 567-2848.