On a bi-weekly basis, the Office of Partnerships and Recognition (OPR) submits a
recent VPP-related story or update to OSHA's Office of Communications to include
in their latest QuickTakes edition. QuickTakes is an e-news memo with
information, updates, and results from OSHA about safety and health in America's
workplaces. To view the edition in its entirety, please go to
OSHA QuickTakes.
If you would like to submit your own VPP-related story to
QuickTakes, please contact OSHA's Office of Communications at 202-639-1999.
October 15, 2008, Volume 7, Issue 20
Deputy Assistant Secretary Welcomes Fluor Corporation
into VPP Corporate Pilot
On Oct. 3, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and
Health Don Shalhoub officially welcomed
Fluor Corporation as the newest
Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) Corporate Pilot participant during a
ceremony at Fluor's Greenville, S.C., campus. Based out of Irving, Texas,
Fluor is one of the world's largest publicly owned engineering, procurement,
construction, and maintenance services companies. At the celebration, Shalhoub
remarked, "I am grateful for the support that Fluor has demonstrated for
OSHA's mission of protecting employees. We have an opportunity to make a
lasting impact on lives here and around the world, and I am glad that Fluor
has chosen to take this bold leadership rol e." Fluor Corporation is OSHA's
sixth participant in the pilot and the second from the construction industry.
October 1, 2008, Volume 7, Issue 19
OSHA Education Center Hosts "Meet and Greet" on Voluntary Protection
Programs
The
New England OSHA Training Institute (OTI) Education Center, in cooperation
with OSHA's New England Region Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) managers,
will host an orientation to VPP at the New England Institute of Technology in
Warwick, R.I., on Oct. 30. VPP recognizes worksites that are committed to
effective employee protection beyond the requirements of OSHA standards, and
encourages cooperative relationships among labor, management, unions and
government. For more information, contact the New England OTI Education Center
at 1-800-449-6742 or email.
Peoria, Ill., Area Office is Sixth Site to Earn VPP Star Recognition
OSHA's Peoria, Ill., Area Office is the sixth OSHA site to earn star status in
the agency's
Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP). VPP participation is
determined by an independent team of Special Government Employees who conduct
extensive on-site evaluations. OSHA's Eau Claire, Wis., Area Office is the
next site under review for VPP recognition. OSHA VPP sites include area
offices in Columbus, Ohio, Appleton, Wis., Madison, Wis., Des Plaines, Ill.,
and Milwaukee, Wis.
Voluntary Protection Programs Update
Visit "recent
approvals" on the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) page of
OSHA's Web site to view the latest list of employers approved for new or
continued participation in VPP. We encourage you to examine the entire VPP
site to learn more about how OSHA's cooperative programs can help protect
employees and reduce workers' compensation costs.
September 15, 2008, Volume 7, Issue 18
Larry Shaffer is Winner of VPP's Fourth Annual National SGE of the Year
Award
During the Aug. 25 opening session of the Voluntary Protection Programs
Participants' Association (VPPPA) Conference in Anaheim, Calif., Assistant
Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.,
presented the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) National
Special Government
Employee (SGE) of the Year plaque to Larry Shaffer of International Paper.
This award recognizes an SGE who epitomizes and exhibits exceptional
mentoring, outreach and OSHA support in VPP. Shaffer has been an SGE for the
past five years and is a member of the Philadelphia region VPPPA Board of
Directors.
September 1, 2008, Volume 7, Issue 17
Fluor Corporation Accepted into VPP Corporate Pilot
In August 2008, Fluor Corporation, one of the world's largest publicly owned
engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance services companies,
became OSHA's sixth participant in the
Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP)
Corporate Pilot. Based in Irving, Texas, Fluor joins General Electric Company,
the United States Postal Service, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Dow Chemical
Company, and the Washington Division of URS Corporation in the pilot. Criteria
include a substantial commitment to VPP, a comprehensive, organization-wide
safety and health management system, and prescreening processes to ready sites
for VPP approval prior to OSHA review.
August 15, 2008 Volume 7, Issue 16
VPP Sites to Gather for 24th Annual National VPPPA Conference
Safety, health and environmental professionals, hourly employees and managers
from worksites across the country will be gathering together for this year's
Voluntary Protection Programs Participants' Association (VPPPA) Conference, Aug.
25-28, 2008, in Anaheim, Calif. The conference focuses on OSHA's and the
Department of Energy's premier recognition program--Voluntary Protection
Programs--which promote best practices in occupational safety and health.
Attendees are invited to participate in two full days of workshops, which are
listed
online. The VPPPA Expo will feature more
than 180 exhibitors, evening receptions and networking sessions. For more
information, visit
VPPPA Annual National Conference Registration page on the World
Wide Web. Onsite registration will be available.
August 1, 2008 Volume 7, Issue 15
Celebrating OSHA's 2,000th VPP Site
On Monday, July 21, OSHA recognized its
2,000th Voluntary Protection Programs
(VPP) site, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, in Pearl River, N.Y., for excellent safety
and health performance. The facility is a 580-acre site and Rockland County's
largest employer, with more than 3,000 employees. This site has a long and
distinguished history, going back 100 years when the Commissioner of the NYC
Health Department bought the property for producing blood products in both world
wars. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Edwin G.
Foulke, Jr., attended the celebration and officially recognized this VPP
achievement. The site has a Days Away, Restricted and Transferred (DART) rate 84
percent below the Bureau of Labor Statistics' national industry average-the
lowest injury and illness rate of any pharmaceutical company in the United
States.
July 15, 2008 Volume 7, Issue 14
2,000th VPP Site Soon to be Recognized
OSHA is about to recognize its 2,000th
Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) site
which will join the elite group of employers recognized by OSHA for having
exemplary safety and health management systems. A July celebration is planned at
the site where Assistant Secretary Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., will officially
recognize this achievement. OSHA will reveal the honored site in your next issue
of QuickTakes.
July 1, 2008 Volume 7, Issue 13
OSHA Challenge Administrators Meeting
OSHA hosted an OSHA Challenge meeting on June 19 focusing on data collection,
documentation transition, administrator and coordinator recognition, and
marketing strategies. Attendees included OSHA Challenge administrators,
coordinators and participants, Regional OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP)
staff, State Plan State representatives, and OSHA National Office staff. Edwin
G. Foulke, Jr., OSHA's assistant secretary, recognized Agrifos Fertilizer Inc.
of Pasadena, Texas, and Trucco Construction of Powell, Ohio. These OSHA
Challenge participants were acknowledged for developing and implementing
exemplary safety and health management systems modeled on the rigorous standards
of VPP.
June 15, 2008 Volume 7, Issue 12
Delta Airlines Submits Application to VPP Corporate
Delta Air Lines hopes to join the elite group of organizations currently
participating in OSHA's
Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) Corporate Pilot,
which provides streamlined VPP application and on-site evaluation procedures for
organizations that meet the Pilot's criteria. Criteria for participation
include: a substantial commitment to VPP; a comprehensive, organization-wide
safety and health management system; and pre-screening processes to ready sites
for VPP approval prior to OSHA review. The five organizations already approved
as VPP Corporate participants are The Dow Chemical Company, General Electric
Company, the Georgia-Pacific Corporation, the United States Postal Service, and
Washington Division of URS Corporation. Additionally, Fluor Corporation recently
had their VPP Corporate on-site evaluation and is awaiting approval, and Parsons
Corporation has submitted an application to participate.
May 15, 2008 Volume 7, Issue 10
Air National Guard's 148th Fighter Wing Achieves VPP Star Status
On April 30, OSHA recognized the Air National Guard's 148th Fighter Wing of
Duluth, Minn., as the first U.S. Air Force inductee to the agency's highly
acclaimed Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) with a star rating. This status
can only be achieved by an organization's steadfast commitment to demonstrating
an effective worksite-based Safety and Health Management System (SHMS). In VPP,
management, labor and OSHA establish cooperative relationships at workplaces
that have implemented comprehensive SHMS. Approval to VPP at the star level is
OSHA's official recognition of outstanding efforts on the part of both employers
and employees who have strived to achieve exemplary occupational safety and
health records.
For more historical information on VPP Activity, please visit the
VPP News Archive.
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