Safe Workplace and Safety News

OSHA formalizes two new ways to participate in the VPP.

On Friday OSHA published the final changes to its Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) in the Federal Register. Among other enhancements, the changes allow participation by companies with mobile workforces.

The VPP, the agency's recognition initiative for workplace safety and health excellence, will provide new options for construction contractors and other employers who may have employees at various locations. Other VPP changes for eligible organizations include a streamlined application process, outreach and mentoring, and onsite workplace evaluations.

"OSHA is proud to recognize the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safety and health," said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Thomas M. Stohler. "These program revisions will allow more companies to participate in the VPP, which has contributed to improved workplace safety. Since 2001, participation in the VPP has increased almost 200 percent. During that same period, there has been a 14 percent decrease in workplace fatalities. Establishing partnerships and encouraging continual process improvement are part of OSHA's balanced approach to workplace safety and health."

The VPP was established in 1982 to recognize employers and employees who focus on the prevention of injuries, illnesses and fatalities through the implementation of effective safety and health management systems. Currently, there are 2,161 federal and state plan VPP participants.

Changes to the VPP are effective May 9. For more information on the VPP and these latest revisions, contact the nearest OSHA area or regional office or the OSHA National Office, Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs, at 202-693-2213. The Federal Register notice can be found at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-165.htm.

Labels: OSHA, VPP, VPP Implementation

This year's Silver Award for animation also went to students from Nanyang Polytechnic, Yeo Hui Xuan & Teo Yan Bing. This video is called "Falling Bricks."

Labels: safety videos, VPP Implementation

The Department of Energy has compiled a list of VPP tools used by various DOE sites. Here is that list:

VPP Tools and Processes

Employee Involvement

• Hanford's: Union Safety Representative


• Savannah River's: SAFE-T Construction Safety Program


• Idaho's: Safety Observations Achieve Results (SOAR) process


• Idaho's: Passports


• Idaho's: Safety Meetings Online


• Idaho's: DO It (Define, Observe, Intervene and Test


• Idaho's: i-Stretch/i-Balance Program

Communication Tools

• Idaho's: "Safety Menu" or "Food for Thought"


• WIPP's: The Porcelain Press


• Idaho's: Safety Recognition Week

Hazard Identification Tools

• DoD - MSDS: Hazardous Materials Information Resource System


• Hanford's: Automated Job Hazard Analysis Program

Hazard Prevention and Control

• River Corridor Project: 360-Degree Photograph Technology


• Kansas City's: Job Hazard Analysis System


• Argonne's: Job Hazards Questionnaire


• Savannah River's: SAFE-T Construction Safety Program


• WIPP's: The Porcelain Press

Management Commitment

• Savannah River's: Integrated Safety Committee


• Hanford's: Union Safety Representative


• Savannah River's: SAFE-T Construction Safety Program

(VPP) Program Evaluation Tools

• OSHA's: Safety and Health Management Systems eTool


• Hanford's: General Employee Training VPP Survey


• Idaho's: Maturity Path for Employee Safety Teams


• Idaho's: VPP Gap Analysis Booklet

Safety and Health Training

• Hanford's: General Employee Training VPP Survey

Work Site Analysis

• Hanford's: Automated Job Hazard Analysis Program


• Idaho's: Safety Observations Achieve Results (SOAR) process

VPP Logos for download

Labels: VPP, VPP Implementation

A power point presentation about the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program is available for downloading. For those who need to explain VPP this presentation can be a good starting point for your own presentation. The topics covered include:

• What is VPP?


• The VPP Program Levels


• What Are The Benefits?


• Won't VPP Increase Paperwork?


• Will WE Quality?


• How Do I join?


• Where To Get More Information?

Labels: VPP Implementation

Press Release
Carmen L. Gleason, American Forces Press Service, March 29, 2007

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2007 – Safety is critical to readiness, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness told safety officers attending the Voluntary Protection Program conference here yesterday.

"Every asset we keep in peacetime is an asset we can apply against the enemy in war," Joseph Angello said. "Every person we keep healthy and fit is a person in our unit who is serving against the enemy."

DoD spends more than $3 billion in direct costs associated with aviation and ground accidents, military injuries, and civilian worker compensation, Angello told the audience. "Those are resources we could be using for systems and people to defend our country."

Defense officials are pushing for leaders to better understand the importance of safety and are aiming for a 75 percent accident reduction rate throughout the force, Angello said.

For a second year, DoD is participating in the Voluntary Protection Program, designed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to improve safety records and readiness of its civilian and military personnel.

The program is recognized as an accident reduction "best practice" for the private sector to improve safety in industrial operations and has been adopted by the Defense Safety Oversight Council’s Installations Task Force, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment Safety and Occupational Health Tad Davis said.

Private sector VPP participants have seen a 60 percent reduction in injuries, 20 percent reduction in worker’s compensation costs, and a 150 percent return on investments, program officials said.

"We saw VPP as one of private industry’s best practices," Davis said. "Our needs are similar but unique compared to the private sector."

Army safety officials, with Davis in the lead, created the DoD VPP Center of Excellence to ensure that 40 new installations each year work to implement injury reduction throughout the armed forces.

"If we can apply lessons learned from the first two years, then we’ll have insights that will allow us to do it smarter, quicker and more economically at these installations down the road," Davis said.

The focus of the two-day conference is to acknowledge good work that has been done thus far on installations and gain insights from the installations that have already implemented the program, he said. Participants also came together to discuss ways to improve the processes installations are using to prevent injuries and improve mishap prevention.

Panel members and speakers repeatedly expressed the importance of senior military and installation leaders championing safety efforts and filtering that information down to each individual. "People don’t really care what you have to say until you show you care about them," Navy Capt. Mike McKinnon, commander or Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga., said. "The key to success is the leadership at the top."

McKinnon said the key to VPP success is attitude. "It’s not just eight hours while you’re at work; it’s 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," he said.

To date, four Navy bases and an Army installation have been recognized by OSHA as attaining "star status" for their safety efforts. DoD has set the goal of participating VPP installations to achieve this status within two years of joining the program.

By incorporating leadership and employees into worksite analysis, hazard prevention, and safety and health training, officials hope ultimately to save DoD billions of dollars.

"The lynchpin has been the tremendous support from senior leadership," Davis said. "This has to start at the top and permeate down to individual soldiers, civilians and contractors."

"The Department of Defense is a world-class organization," Angello said. "We’re going to demonstrate our commitment to this program where the rubber meets the rank."

Labels: VPP Implementation

The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard had one of the worst safety records in the Navy. They are now an OSHA VPP STAR site. What happened?

A short article on Blackanthem Military News reports:

"'In 2001 we were declared by the Secretary of the Navy as having one of the worst safety records in the Department of Defense. Now we are one of the top 20 best sites, and we’ve won the Navy Secretary’s safety awards,' said Danny Haas, production process manager for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. According to Mr. Haas, the real change happened when senior management accepted responsibility, and created a labor-management partnership. 'They empowered the employees, and gave them the keys to the car.'"

Representatives from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard were on the road earlier this week to present what they had learned to another military facility that was looking to improve safety.

A major part of their success resulted from empowering employees to be proactive instead of reactive. This resulted in safety problems being addressed as soon as they became evident.

Labels: VPP Implementation

The Department of Energy maintains an online list of links to safety and health tools, programs and procedures developed by Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program participants. These include:

• A Hazardous Materials Information Resource System


• DOE Hanford's Automated Job Hazard Analysis Program


• River Corridor Project's 360-Degree Photograph TechnologyNew


• Kansas City's Job Hazard Analysis System


• Argonne's Job Hazards Questionnaire


• Savannah River's SAFE-T Construction Safety Program


• OSHA's: Safety and Health Management Systems eToolNew


• Hanford's: General Employee Training VPP Survey


• Idaho's: Maturity Path for Employee Safety Teams

Plus many other tools, proceedures and programs that can help you with your safety and VPP efforts.

Labels: Safety Training, VPP Implementation