It pays to be safe

from the photos of some of the ‘competitors.’

Eileen Craig our new Social Secretary organised the Raffle, which is always a good ‘money-spinner’. Tea and coffee were served by volunteers, led by Wendy Edminson, so everyone was catered for and at the end of the day, I think everyone went away happy.

The 7 October was the Annual Dinner/Lunch, our next major event held at the Sandmartins Golf Club. We decided that we would hold it at lunchtime as was our last one; which has several advantages allowing more people to attend.

I occasionally have a look round the old Garrison, now Arborfield Green to see how things are progressing and there can’t be much more for the developers to do. I took a picture of the block of flats, on the area previously occupied by Baillieu Sgts’ Mess, overlooking the old cricket pitch. I say old, because there was a game of football taking place on that ‘hallowed ground’, so well looked after in the past by Major Peter Beeken.

Our membership has held steady, with new members coming on board, these being Neil Coupland and Ann and Steve Clubley; joining in the past two months. Recently I have met some former REME soldiers in the area and as you would suspect there are many more, who potentially could have joined us. Unfortunately for various reasons, they haven’t.

By the time this goes to print it will soon be Christmas! So best wishes to everyone.

Arborfield Green new flats

Unit News

It Pays to be Safe! Major Mark Jeffery Awarded Commander Field Army’s Commendation

Scribe: Major Iain Walker SCOTS, SO2 Mechanised Infantry

On Monday 10 October 2022, Major Mark Jeffery was awarded a Commander Field Army’s Commendation by Major General Simon Hamilton at Army Headquarters for his efforts to efficacy of preventive measures. Changing culture is challenging, but he did so with energy, skill and vigour for the betterment of all our people. He fully deserves this recognition of his efforts. imbue a quantifiable change in safety reporting and culture whilst From all in the Programmes Directorate and wider Corps, Many OC REME Workshop at 17 Port and Maritime Regiment (17 P&M congratulations! Regt). By acknowledging that reporting of safety incidents was low due to the perception of the burden of paperwork required, he introduced a simple yet effective method to initially record an incident, rectify any faults, and then follow up with the paperwork and formal notification 24hours later. This dramatically increased the reporting of safety related incidents, allowing for them to be resolved whilst still allowing his personnel to operate; maintaining the efficiency and long-term safety of the unit. By ensuring near misses were recorded and dealt with, this in turn reduced the number of safety related issues.

His citation reads:

Major Jeffrey is commended for his exceptional leadership and contribution as the OC REME Wksp for 17 P&M Regt and his influence over the way safety is considered more widely across 104 Log Bde. He was committed to changing individual and unit values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behaviour that led to a dramatic decrease in safetyrelated incidents across the Brigade. He forged a culture founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the importance of safety and by confidence in the Major Jeffery (right) presented his CFA’s Commendation by General Hamilton