By Joseph Freemon
Industrial Environmental Programs Division

Amy Morgan, an environmental protection specialist, has been awarded the Naval Air Depot Safety Professional of the Month award for May.

Morgan was nominated for her role in developing an aviation safety and environmental tool that monitors and tracks the shelf life and use of flight critical materials — sealants, adhesives, etc. Development of the program has been a work in progress here for several years.

According to her award citation, Morgan “... discerned through analysis provided by data generated from the Hazardous Materials Management System that shelf life and laboratory inspections of flight critical hazardous materials were being
mismanaged. These materials could then be issued for production use and application to various aircraft and components repaired and/or overhauled by the depot. She quickly notified all applicable personnel and management. She further followed through with tenacious concern to bring this issue to resolution.”

Morgan and her coworkers developed what is now known as the Hazardous Material Management System. Her individual efforts and the efforts of those around her have put the depot at the forefront of all the other DOD depots and services in developing a tracking system that provides real-time data on the chemical components used daily in the industrial process of reworking aircraft and manufacturing aircraft parts.

The Navy and all other DOD services have worked individually and collectively with software contractors to develop a user-friendly tool to help eliminate the toil, burden and human error associated with the increasing demands for an accurate reporting system.

HMMS has become a primary instrument for protecting service men and women who fly our aircraft products daily from inadvertent use of “outdated or shelf life expired flight critical material” in the overhaul and repair of aircraft and aircraft components. This system also functions to meet the demands of the ever-tightening federal, state, DOD and local environmental laws and regulations.

There are several software systems currently in use by the DOD, but the depot considers this one to be the best. That was underscored by the recent acceptance of the HMMS for use in materials management by the Fleet Industrial Supply Center and its contractors here at the depot. The “passing of the torch” from the depot to the FISC for materials management emphasizes how critical this function is. A lot of time and energy was devoted to ensure that these important, lifesaving features are clearly understood and applied by the new HMMS users team.

Morgan received the May safety award for being at the forefront of development of the aviation component of this new safety tool. However, her part could not have been accomplished without the help of her other teammates, Keith Clark, Alex Davis, Cliff Game, Dale Gillikin, Beth Holland, Debbie King, Alex Long, Stacy Luker, Michelle Burroughs and Michael Taylor.

Although the award was presented to Morgan, recognition is deserved by all who were involved with the development of HMMS and those artisans who use it daily in production. This is a proven system and the command is proud of its employees who provided this tool to help prevent human error and help eliminate the chain of events that can lead to a mishap or quality escape. Congratulations to Amy and her teammates for doing an outstanding job of keeping this depot and its customers safe.

“We always hear loud and clear about the mistakes we make,” said Commanding Officer Col. John Gumbel at the award presentation. “But for every one of those that we have, there are probably hundreds who are doing the right thing. It’s time to begin recognizing those people.”

-30-

Cutline: Amy Morgan was named the May Aviation Safety Professional of the Month award for her role in developing a hazardous material management system. (Photo by Mike Barton)