CHAPTER 8
SAFETY AND DAMAGE CONTROL
1.
2.
Describe
Upon completion of
the procedure for
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
this chapter, you should be able to
conducting a
3. Describe how
do the following:
to conduct survival training.
preliminary investigation involving personal
injury or death.
4. Identify the duties of the departmental damage
control chief petty officer (DDCCPO).
Describe the supervisor’s responsibilities for
the Navy’s safety program.
This chapter covers areas of safety and
damage control not included in the Basic Military
Requirements through Military Requirements for
First Class training manuals. It includes the
procedure for conducting an investigation in the
case of personal injury or death and a review of
supervisory responsibilities in the safety program.
It also covers the damage control requirements
of the departmental damage control chief petty
officer (DDCCPO). Since safety is related to
survival, this chapter also introduces you to the
survival training you are expected to conduct as
a chief petty officer.
PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
OF INJURY OR FATALITY
One of the many potential jobs you may be
required to undertake is to conduct a safety
investigation of a mishap, personal injury, or
fatality. The requirements for safety investigations
are set forth in OPNAVINST 5102.1C. The proce-
dures you, the investigator, should follow are
contained in the Handbook for the Conduct of
Forces Afloat Safety Investigations, N A V-
SAFECEN 5102/29. This section of the chapter
will provide a brief description of the investigative
procedures for a mishap.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The commanding officer will appoint a
qualified investigator of the appropriate paygrade.
In many cases, the appropriate paygrade means
the division leading chief petty officer (LCPO).
The LCPO is often appointed because of his or
her special qualifications. For example, the LCPO
may have a highly specialized knowledge of the
equipment that failed or a personal knowledge of
the people and procedures used. The commanding
officer is also responsible for ensuring a thorough
and complete investigation is conducted.
Your responsibilities include answering the
following questions: What? Where? When? How?
and Why? Notice that you are not trying to find
WHO caused the mishap. Your job is to make
an objective inquiry to learn the circumstances and
causes, not place the blame.
Each mishap indicates a failure or defect in
a person, a piece of equipment, an environmental
condition, a procedure, or a combination of these
items. You should thoroughly examine each
situation to determine all causes, both primary
and contributory.
An important concept for you to understand
is that mishaps and injuries are two separate and
distinct occurrences. An injury is not the mishap;
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