Congratulations to all members of PA Wing. We were among the first Wings in CAP to complete the Annual Safety Survey for all units and the first large wing to report all units complete before the deadline.

As a reminder, the monthly unit safety meetings are reported on-line only via E-Services.   If you need help with this call me and I will walk you through the process.

The Commanders Safety Policy is a one time process for each unit commander. It needs to be renewed each January and if the commander hasn't changed all you need to send to Wing (with a copy to Group) is a statement saying "No Change". In addition the original Policy Letter should be posted on your unit Safety Bulletin Board.

The Unit Safety Schedule needs to be completed by January of each year. It is just a listing of what you will be discussing each month for the upcoming year. The ONLY REQUIRED subjects are ORM and the Safety Day. The other 10 meetings are your choice. See below.

   If you need assistance on any safety issue, give me a call anytime.

Safety Day 2012 - As mentioned in the previous E-Safety Newsletters, all units must complete the National required safety day in Jan, Feb or March. Many units have completed their Safety Day training for this year. There are several items needed for this requirement. First, this training takes the place the October Safety Day. It was changed to these three months to avoid conflict during our normally busy month of October. It involves dedicating a meeting to discussing safety items that pertain to your unit and operations. Once completed the unit safety officer or commander inputs the data into e-services just like any safety meeting. What is important is that under name of training it must state "Annual Unit Safety Day" as the title. If you have a member attend another unit's Safety Day, make sure that the unit visited records your member on their attendance sheet. That will automatically record your member on your roster as completed the training. If a member misses the annual training, the unit will suspend the member until he can make up the missed day. And that is it.

Safety Schedules - Just a reminder to the unit safety officers and commanders. Each unit is required by National to have a safety schedule published each year by January indicating the intended schedule of safety briefings for the entire year. It is a simple document that states the date and subject for all the briefings for the year. It comes from the unit safety officer and/or the unit commander. A copy gets posted on the unit safety board and a copy gets sent to the Group safety officer who reviews the plan and sends a copy on to the Wing safety officer with the other units in that group and the Groups Safety Plan. I should add that the schedule can be changed if a more important subject becomes evident for that month. No notification to the group or wing is required. The whole process takes no more than 15 minutes to complete.

I will attach a copy of the Wing safety schedule as an example.  PA_Wing_Safety_Schedule_2012.pdf

ICE

The subject for this month's Safety Newsletter involves Ice. No not the ice that you have in your drink. This ice is what falls from the sky or gets attached to surfaces either on the ground or in the air. Ice on the ground is caused when the air or ground temperature is at or below freezing. I will not go into the causes of freezing rain, ice pellets, sleet or rime ice. You can review that in many resources available on the internet or books. What I want to discuss is what you do if you encounter these conditions. If you are driving a vehicle and find that road surface is turning into ice the best and only solutions is to park the vehicle in a safe place and wait for the conditions to improve. Wait for the salt trucks to do their job. I have also heard people say they can go anywhere in their 4 wheel drive vehicles. That maybe true, a 4 wheel drive vehicle can get you moving, however I need to point out that all all-wheel, 4 wheel drive vehicles stop the same way as a two wheel drive vehicle. Tire makers have tires that are rated for driving on ice but if you read the fine print on the warranty they do not guarantee your safety if you choose to drive on ice. Well here are some suggestions involving ice. If you go outside and you slide down your driveway, crawl back to your house and have more coffee. If you put your hand on the railing and its covering in ice, go back inside. If you have to chop the ice off your car, go back inside. If your locks and/or door are frozen shut, go back inside. I guess you get the idea. Let's consider another thought. You have a four wheel vehicle with chains on all four wheels and the tires are rated for ice and snow. Do you go out? You say yes, you are really prepared for the conditions. But what about the other guy, is he as well prepared as you are? Think about that.

Lets talk about another aspect of icing. You are in an aircraft. Rime ice forming on wing or aircraft control surfaces is not a good thing. Here prevention is the key concept. Don't fly into it or if you encounter icing get out of the area as quickly as possible. If you have an aircraft that has the proper equipment to handle ice, do you know how to use it and is it working correctly?

AOPA Safety Resources
A host of Web resources to make you a safer pilot - For those unit safety officers looking for alternate means for pilots who miss their monthly safety meetings, try these from AOPA.

SAFETY - Everyone is a Safety Officer!