Los Padres Embarks on Its Safety Engagement Journey

  • Compiled by Joseph F. Pasinato, Jr.
Photograph of several men and women sitting in groups while holding and looking at documents.

During a Safety Engagement session in Santa Maria, this home group discusses the practical implications of the empowerment card.

Across Los Padres National Forest, employees are embarking on a Safety Engagement journey intended to shift the emphasis on safety from a program to a core value and change the way we think, talk and act relative to safe practices.

Beginning in September, a series of eight-hour Safety Engagement sessions have been held on each of the districts to introduce the safety "Signpost" and its centerpiece, the "Intention Statement." The Intention Statement ("The More Safer We Are. ... the More Successful We Are") is encircled with five practices—or strategies—that map out the way forward to reducing injuries and eliminating fatalities.

Safety plays a prominent role for every Los Padres employee; however those employees whose job is predominantly performed behind a desk tend to receive less safety instruction than their field-going counterparts. The Safety Engagement sessions provided an opportunity for a wide-ranging discussion where all employees shared experiences and insight with their coworkers.

Moreover, the time spent discussing effective conversations and unintended safety outcomes generated considerable dialogue centered on how the Forest could improve its safety record and reach Chief Tidwell's stated goal of zero injuries and zero fatalities. Participants were in agreement that sharing "close calls" and reporting near misses through Safe Net was a productive means for addressing and correcting unsafe practices.

Santa Barbara District Ranger Doug Dodge was the Forest's Lead Facilitator. Dodge led Safety Engagements on each District, and had a unique perspective on the tenor of the sessions.

"We all recognize that safety is an integral part of our work, and that we are continuously striving to improve how we approach it," he said shortly after leading his seventh Safety Engagement session earlier this month. "The fact we're discussing this new framework is another step in that ongoing process of looking out for ourselves and one another."