days must receive an egress system checkout before performing any aircraft maintenance. The egress/environmental work center and the other maintenance work centers maintain records of system checkouts. including date given, date due, and the signature of the AME performing the checkout. The plane captain must make sure that new personnel assigned to him or her for training have a current egress system checkout before entering the cockpit. ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE (ESD) CONTROL/PREVENTION PROGRAM ESD is the transfer of electrostatic charge between bodies at different electrostatic potentials. This is caused by direct contact or induced by an electrostatic field. ESD-safe areas are required in such areas as supply. production control, and maintenance shops. In these areas, the technician is tied to a soft ground that reduces high current flow for personal safety. The QA division ensures the following guidelines are followed in the work center. All work centers involved in avionic maintenance and handling of ESD-sensitive assemblies have ESD training programs. ESD protective equipment and materials are used to ensure personnel  and equipment  safety. WARNING For personnel safety, all energized equip- ment must be isolated from the work station mat and other conductive material. TRAINING PROGRAM The Navy places great emphasis on effective and continual training. A supervisor in a maintenance activity has an ongoing responsibility for training his or her personnel. An efficient training program minimizes the loss when experienced maintenance personnel transfer from the activity. Since the activity's operational readiness depends largely on the capability of the maintenance department, the quality of the training program is important. In-service training is a command responsibility. Since this training represents a major contribution to the Navy’s overall training effort, a systematic in-service training program must be conducted. In-service training is conducted in two methods-formal and informal. Formal in-service training is conducted through formal lectures and computer-based training (CBT). Informal in-service training is conducted through the performance of on-the-job training (OJT) and the completion of Personal Qualification Standards and required reading. As a plane captain, you will be exposed to all types of training. Portions of this training will improve your skills as a plane captain and prepare you for further advancement. Other portions of this training, such as fire fighting, may, in an emergency situation, save your life. You should always learn all you can in any training situation. HEARING CONSERVATION PROGRAM Hearing loss is a source of concern within the Navy, both ashore and afloat. Hearing loss can occur from exposure to impulse or blast noise (gunfire, rockets, etc.) or from continuous or intermittent sounds, such as jet engines or machinery noise in industrial-type activities. Such loss may be temporary, disappearing after a brief period of nonexposure, or it may become permanent through repeated exposures to intense noise levels. Hearing loss caused by exposure to hazardous noise and the high cost of associated compensation claims pose a significant problem, which requires action to reduce or eliminate hazardous noise levels. Your responsibilities as a plane captain make it impossible for you to avoid noise in day-to-day flight operations, but you are provided with the means of protecting your hearing. Always wear your sound attenuators (often referred to as ears) and follow the rules for noise exposure for the type of aircraft you are working on. The hearing conservation program is outlined in Navy Occupational Safety and Health Program Manual, OPNAVINST 5100.23, and has established as its goal the elimination and prevention of hearing loss. RECOVERY AND RECLAMATION OF CRASH-DAMAGED AIRCRAFT Aircraft accidents/incidents involving exposure to gross amounts of salt water. fire-extinguishing agents, or other corrosive agents require emergency action to 5-28