Defense News: Safety Training Courses Available for FY23, Assess Needs Now for FY24 Quotas

Source: United States Navy

To find solutions, NAVSAFENVTRACEN analyzed its training quota dashboard. The center determined that it needed to improve communications to reduce unfilled seats and encourage commands to assess their safety training needs critically, said its learning standards officer, Amanda Carter.

“The dashboard is a truth serum that exposes gaps that may potentially hinder readiness,” she said. “The best intervention was for us to step up our game when we communicate with our stakeholders.”

To help reduce unfilled seats, and ensure complete transparency, NAVSAFENVTRACEN now provides a list of no-show students in its bi-weekly communications with Echelon II naval organizations, to supplement a spreadsheet generated from its training quota dashboard. (Echelon II naval organizations report to leaders who report to the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)).

The spreadsheet includes data for planned quotas and fleet quota needs, with newly added data sets not available before that indicate remaining open quotas to assist naval organizations with closing gaps caused by no shows.

This fiscal year, NAVSAFENVTRACEN will offer 420 occupational safety, industrial hygiene, environmental protection and emergency management courses. More than 14,000 Navy and Marine Corps students will receive training if all quotas are filled.

However, several FY23 first quarter courses face cancellation due to low enrollment, including “Safety Programs Afloat,” “Hazardous Material Control and Management,” “Hazardous Substance Incident Response Management (HSIRM)” plus the HSIRM Refresher course. Visit the training center’s website for the course schedule and enrollment guidance. If a course is needed, reserve a quota using the enterprise Navy Training Reservation System (eNTRS).

At the same time, NAVSAFENVTRACEN asks that Echelon II commands complete their FY24 safety training needs assessment as well as coordinating with subordinate commands no later than Jan. 31, 2024. The needs assessment is a planning tool that allows the training center to determine the best use of resources to meet stakeholder training needs.

“We encourage organizations to assess their needs with a critical eye,” Carter said. “In a fiscally constrained environment, it is hard for us to respond to requests for additional quotas mid-year if the needs assessment does not accurately project needs.”

The official FY24 Needs Assessment is assigned as Tasker ID: DON-221024-596S – Request Echelon 2 commands provide NAVSAFENVTRACEN with FY24 quota needs.

NAVSAFENVTRACEN course offerings support ‘safe to operate and operating safely,’ the Navy’s lynch pin within its newly renewed Safety Management System (SMS). The SMS encourages a safety focus and mindset that embraces self-assessment and self-correction to manage risk and maintain accountability.

Naval Safety Command (NAVSAFECOM) implements the SMS, which aligns with the ‘Get Real, Get Better’ initiative directed by CNO. The SMS relies on four key takeaways: safe place, safe people, safe property and materiel, and safe processes and procedures.