MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- The base commanding general kicked off a new safety campaign July
19, targetting to suppress the accidental deaths or injuries of roughly
2,200 Marines each year -- the size of a Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Major Gen. Edward Hanlon Jr. met with noncommissioned officers to
introduce the initiative, designed to help Marines think first before getting
involved in any endeavor. The campaign emphasizes operational risk
management in a bid to reduce preventable fatalities by 25 percent in
fiscal year 2001.

Among other causes, the campaign aims to reduce traffic accidents, the
leading cause of accidental deaths among Marines. Traffic accidents
claim an average of 56 Marines per year.

"If we teach operational risk management to all Marines in school and
during training, it should help," said MajGen. Hanlon. "We need Marines
to help make this happen."

The mission of the safety campaign is to provide commanders a strategy
to incorporate safety preparedness into any mission to reduce mishaps.
The plan involves two major steps.

The first step is introducing the plan to the command and ensuring all
Marines within the unit are aware of the program, said MajGen. Hanlon.
He urged staff noncommissioned officers to introduce the plan in
classrooms and in the field. It is designed to make Marines safety
conscious and aware of risks, whether they're in town or going to the
field.

"The emphasis is on operational risk management," said Nancy
Cockerham, safety director, Joint Safety Center. "Marines need to
change the way they think. They need to treat safety like a mission and
be proactive. If you make sure you teach it, things will change."

Changing the way Marines think about safety is the objective of
operational risk management. In essence, it is a decision-making tool to
increase operational effectiveness by weighing risks versus benefits in
any situation.

The second step of the plan will infuse safety into operational culture
and add a safety structure in all Marine Corps organizations. Also, it's
designed to identify "high-risk" potentials. One program to aid in
identification and treatment of "high-risk" personnel is Semper Care.

Leaders use a step-by-step process to identify root causes in individuals.

Those root causes can then be addressed to prompt positive changes in
behavior and attitude before a mishap occurs.

Major Gen. Hanlon said: "This should formalize the concept of Marines
helping Marines and should provide a tool that effectively strengthens
small-unit leadership and helps avert human-error mishaps with prompt
and positive action."