SINGAPORE -- The month of June is Safety Awareness Month and the Singapore Area Coordinator (SAC) held its annual SAC Safety Fair June 2, to help raise awareness about the importance of safety in the workplace, at home and during recreation.

The two-hour event, featured displays from community organizations such as the Singapore Police Force, Navy Gateway Inns and Suites, Morale, Welfare and Recreation Fitness and Aquatics, Child Youth Programs, the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps (food safety) and the Centerra Group (industrial safety).

"If you take a look at the tenets of operational risk management, safety is in everything we do here," said Thomas A. Rhea, SAC Safety Program Manager. "There is always a concern for safety in the office, in the warehouses, and even at home."

Another example Rhea explained, in terms of safety in the office, was ergonomics.

"If you take a look at what most people do here, it's office work," Rhea said. "So ergonomics can be a big hazard here. Actually anything over six hours continuously can eventually cause damage."

According to Rhea, in an attempt to mitigate office-related injuries, the SAC Safety Office conducts free ergonomics surveys for individuals in the Sembawang Naval Installation (SNI), if so desired.

Another featured display at the safety fair was the MWR Aquatics information booth. Jeni Lewis, MWR Aquatics Assistant for SAC, was on hand to promote aquatic safety as a whole but also emphasized the importance of the parent's role in keeping their children safe.

"The biggest factor in promoting aquatics safety is keeping our children safe," Lewis said. "Even though we have extra life guards on duty here, it is always important that parents keep an extra eye on their children."

Lewis explained that if their children can't swim, parents should stay with their children and be familiar with the pool rules as they are an important part of aquatics safety.

This year's fair was an important event to spread the word about workplace safety, according to Rhea. In FY 2016, the majority of workplace mishaps in the SAC community were slips, trips and falls.