Welcome to the AUX Safety Program Web Site

The Coast Guard Auxiliary is fundamentally a Safety Organization.  Our principal missions are Recreational Boating Safety and assisting the Coast Guard with their mission of maintaining safety throughout the maritime domain. Accordingly, our goal, on the water, in the air or on land, must be that there is no harm, that everyone is safe, always.

To reduce mishaps, accidents, injuries, harm, hurt and pain, to make us safer and to improve readiness and availability, the Coast Guard Auxiliary is collectively embracing an enhanced Safety Culture. 

To foster this, we have implemented a national Safety Management System (SMS), which is a formal, top-down, business-like approach to developing safety policy, managing risks, and assuring and promoting safety. 

Such a Safety Management System is one of the priorities of our Strategic Plan and it’s included in a Commandant Instruction. 

The foundational elements of any Safety Management System, sometimes called “the four pillars”, include Safety Policies, Risk Management, Safety Assurance and Safety Promotion.

We must have the right safety policies, rules, and guidance, in place. And we must apply appropriate risk management principals, assessing and mitigating risks as necessary.

We must know, with some degree of assurance, that our safety procedures are working and how we can improve, for there is always something to learn and always room for improvement.

And we must teach the safety lessons that we learn, and promote safety throughout the organization, in order for this to be effective.

Every Auxiliarist must know this: It is OK to report and discuss mishaps and mistakes without concern for retribution, reprisal, penalty, or punishment. If you mess up, ‘fess up. We all learn.

This is called a Just Culture, and it is the foundation, the bedrock of a solid safety culture. A Just Culture makes possible a Reporting Culture, where people are comfortable reporting mishaps, mistakes, and hazards. Such reporting informs us and allows us to learn and improve and grow and adapt as necessary.

The sum of all of this is a Safety Culture, where each of us embrace safety as a personal value. This Auxiliary-wide approach to thinking about safety, a true Safety Culture, is what we are trying to begin.

We invite you to explore our web site.  We will post safety information and resources which we hope you will find helpful.