Tobyhanna Army Depot, PA –
A national organization recently recognized industrial workers for embracing a safety-first lifestyle while working at Tobyhanna Army Depot.
Amentum employees earned the National Safety Council’s (NSC) Perfect Record and Occupational Excellence Achievement awards based on their 2020 safety performance.
“This safety recognition was a team effort and could not have been attained without the hard work and dedication of the staff, leaders and employees,” said Supply Technician Charles Baker, Amentum team leader.
The perfect record award recognizes individuals, companies, units and facilities that have completed a period of at least 12 consecutive months without incurring an occupational injury or illness that resulted in days away from work or death. The occupational excellence achievement award recognizes organizations with injury and illness records better than or equal to 50 percent of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for their NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) code, and have had no fatalities during the calendar year.
Tobyhanna and Amentum place a high level of importance on the safety beliefs, values and attitudes shared by members of the workforce. By joining forces with the organic industrial base organization, Amentum’s contracting field team (CFT) delivers enhanced capabilities including a full suite of services and solutions to support critical needs.
“We are proud of our team at Tobyhanna Army Depot,” said Paul Andersen, vice president of environmental, health and safety at Amentum. “Our employees at Tobyhanna have the leadership and support of a management team that value’s them and is committed to ensuring they have a safe workplace.”
Team leaders are responsible for sharing information and ensuring everyone has the proper protective equipment to do their jobs. CFT personnel consist of machinists, sheet metal workers, painters, equipment cleaners, and cable fabricators who work on the shop floor. Their numbers expand and contract with the size of the workload available on the depot.
Communication is the organization’s strongest attribute, according to Jim Strawbridge, Amentum quality/safety supervisor. He explained that Amentum provides safety briefings, notices, bulletins, and training to the workforce.
“I strive to motivate employees to work safely and remind them not to take unnecessary risks,” Baker said. “Safety information is shared during daily meetings.”
John Eames continuously checks to make sure team members have the personnel protective equipment (PPE) they need.
“Employees are well aware of the task hazard assessments and what is needed to do their job safely,” the team leader said. “They never hesitate to report a safety issue or suggest better PPE that will allow them to do the job safer.”
Amentum supplies whatever the employees need for safety, according to Joseph Polny, team leader. Polny spends time on the shop floor ensuring workers follow standard processes and wear proper PPE.
“This is a remarkable achievement for the size of the workforce,” said Dan Hopkins, Amentum site manager. “Our employees are oftentimes working side-by-side with depot personnel. We have solid partnership and collaborate with the host safety office to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
The NSC is a mission-based organization that works to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing efforts on the workplace, roadway and impairment. The nonprofit safety organization works to create a culture of safety in the workplace and at home.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for C5ISR systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C5ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.
Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post-production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales, and global field support to our joint Warfighters.
About 3,700 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to empower the Soldier with winning C5ISR capabilities.