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Over the years, the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration’s (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) have proven
to be an effective means of reducing injuries, illnesses, fatalities and
costs—all while fostering a more productive workforce and increasing
employee morale. The agency’s newest program component—the VPP
Mobile Workforce Demonstration for Construction—offers employers
with mobile construction workforces a valuable opportunity to
participate in
VPP and strengthen worker protections. Just as the Department of
Labor’s (DOL) Drug-Free
Workplace Alliance recognizes the importance of drug-free workplaces
in protecting worker safety and health in the construction industry, so
too does the VPP Mobile Workforce Demonstration.
VPPs were developed and implemented in 1982 to
encourage cooperative relationships between labor, management, unions
and government in an effort to improve safety and health in the
workplace. Approval into VPP is OSHA’s official recognition of the
outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved
exemplary occupational safety and health. VPP sets performance-based
criteria for a managed safety and health system, invites sites to apply,
and then assesses applicants against these criteria. OSHA’s verification
includes an application review and a rigorous onsite evaluation by a
team of OSHA safety and health experts.
The latest program, VPP Mobile Workforce
Demonstration for Construction, was launched in October 2006. Edwin G.
Foulke, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health,
said the program "offers construction employers with mobile construction
workforces and short term projects the same opportunity for recognition
that fixed-site employers receive" and "recognizes those construction
companies that should be held up as models of safety and health for the
rest of the industry."
The Demonstration is intended to create greater
opportunity for employers and employees in the construction industry to
participate in VPP. It will also offer OSHA more opportunities to
explore and test appropriate modifications to VPP that will help OSHA
bring the benefits of the program to the construction industry. OSHA
believes this new Demonstration will work for both companies that
typically function as controlling general contractors and companies that
perform specialty trade functions, regardless of size. While the core of
the new program continues to be effective safety and health management
systems, there are important differences (compared to site-based VPP
participants) aimed to provide some flexibility for construction
participants.
The program outlines various construction industry
concerns that OSHA expects each applicant to address. These include,
fall hazards, trenching, industry-oriented training and subcontractor
safety and health qualifications. They also include health issues such
as substance abuse. The program’s requirements state that a drug- and
alcohol-free workplace prevents injuries and illnesses, absenteeism,
turnover and a myriad of behavioral problems; and they suggest
developing a drug testing and screening policy as a way to begin to
address these problems.
DOL’s Working Partners for a Drug- and Alcohol-Free
Workplace program specializes in equipping businesses with tools and
information to effectively address drug and alcohol problems. Successful
drug-free workplace models can be found on the
Working Partners Web site.
For more information
on the VPP, please contact OSHA's
Office of Partnerships and Recognition at (202) 693-2213 or visit www.osha.gov/vpp.
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