Safety Bucks Program kicks off

The purpose of the program is to increase safety awareness throughout Navy Region Southeast installations by rewarding safe acts that go beyond normal day-to-day operations. It uses an immediate reward as the incentive to good safety deeds.

"It helps both MWR and Safety and it is a positive program rewarding the good instead of punishing the negative," said Debra Simeone, Safety and Occupational Health manager at Naval Submarine Kings Bay. "It will be a good motivator for personnel on base. The motivation should increase awareness of their surroundings. It will hopefully help them to see things they normally overlook because safety is now part of their thought process."

All base employees should apply safe work practices in their daily operations. Recognition should be given to individuals and departments for attaining an excellent safety record and providing and supporting the Voluntary Protection Program.

Behaviors that are acceptable for an award of an MWR Safety Buck include: identification of unknown hazards in the workplace, providing additional safety guards that enhance a job, taking initiatives to correct a known hazard such as a broken guard or any other good deed is determined by the Safety Buck distributors.

All Safety Bucks are serialized to determine their authenticity along with a signature of an authorized party. The commanding officer, executive officer and command master chief can also sign Safety Bucks.

Each Safety Buck is worth five dollars and is redeemable at any MWR facility. It can be used to buy foods and non-alcoholic beverages and other recreational goods and services. Each buck must be signed and no change is given on items under the five-dollar limit.

"This program helps publicize our facilities to personnel that normally wouldn't use them and anything that gets people in our facilities is a bonus," said Alice Hurley of Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay Morale Welfare and Recreation. " It is a winning situation for both the MWR and Safety Departments and will hopefully make the base a safer place."

For more information on the Safety Bucks Program, contact the Safety Department at 573-9318.