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•  VPP Adopted by OSHA - July 2, 1982
•1970: Occupational Safety and Health Act passed
•1974: OSHA created and begins inspections
•  VPP -- A process for achieving safety and health excellence
•  Systems Approach
•Simple Compliance Alone Can’t Do It
•Rulemaking Very Long Process
•Management Systems Most Effective
• Above & Beyond Compliance - OSHA standards required by law are de-minimus, or the very least a company must do.  However, OSHA observed that companies with successful safety and health management systems were going above and beyond basic compliance.
• VPP Premise:  Labor-Management-Government Cooperation
• Cooperative Partnership Effort, Voluntary, Government, Labor, & Management
• VPP is Official Recognition of Excellence in Worker Safety and Health
•There are several qualities that are consistent with all VPP Participants.  The number one quality is a desire for EXCELLENCE -- Regardless of what they do -- Excellence is key. Their organizations are committed to excellence.
•AND THIS EXCELLENCE IS EMBEDDED IN THEIR CULTURE:  Although OSHA offers incentives such as removal from the programmed inspection list, that is not the reason most people tell us they take on the VPP challenge.
•Its in their culture of excellence.  They want to be and expect to be the best at what they do.
•Getting recognition from an independent body of subject matter experts validates their business model, gives them something to be truly proud of, and recognizes all the hard work they do.
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•With very few exceptions, OSHA is more interested in it effectiveness rather than how it is accomplished.
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•We don’t care what hazard analysis tool you use, we just care that you have a good system for finding and controlling hazards.
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•Simply put if you have a hazard we expect you to eliminate, mitigate or control regardless if a standard exists or not.
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•The VPP system is very comprehensive, but a key difference between a good S&H system and an excellent one is the degree of confidence you can demonstrate in that your systems work, your hazards identified and controlled.
• Sometimes this means some extra documentation, sometimes not.  The key is it would satisfy a critical reviewer?  It’s not good enough to think it is ok, you have to be certain its ok.
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•If VPP was easy, everyone would do it.  It takes a lot of work to achieve VPP Star.
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•However, I can tell you it is a wonderful thing to be given the chance to tell a worksite after a week long evaluation that they will be recommended for VPP Star.
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•And your not just happy because you have seen all of their hard work rewarded, but because you know, few people will be injured or killed because they met the high standards of the VPP.
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•25 year history
•High Retention Rate
•Complements High Performance Initiative
- ISO
- Corporate Citizenship
- Sustainability
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VPP reviewers don’t look for a single correct way to meet VPP requirements. They want to see a system that works for them.  Some successful safety and health management systems involve substantial written documentation, and others do not.  Small businesses, in particular, often are able to implement excellent safety and health processes with relatively little documentation.
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VPP is about effective system to protect workers.  There are 4 elements in VPP: 
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•Management Commitment:  Responsibility, Accountability, Communication, Planning, Resources
•Employee Involvement:  Meaningful” Involvement, Employee Rights, Assurance of Collective Bargaining Agents, Access to Records
•Worksite Analysis:  Self Inspections, Comprehensive Surveys, Routine Hazard Analysis, Accident Investigations, Trend Analysis, Annual Evaluation
•Hazard Prevention and Control:  Written Program, Engineering, Administrative, PPE, Emergency Preparedness, Professional Expertise, Medical Programs
•Training:  Hazard Recognition, Rights & Responsibilities, Including VPP, S & H Programs
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Merit
•Elements and Sub-elements in place
•Systems May Not All Be at Star quality
•Rates May Be Above the National Average
•Limited to one 3-year term
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Star Demonstration
•Must meet Star Requirements
•Alternative Safety and Health Methods
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Current Demos
•Short-term Construction
•Mobile Workforce
•Resident Contractors at Non-VPP sites
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•Over 270 distinct industrial classifications are represented and the number is growing.
•Top 15 Industries:  Chemical, Lumber, Paper, Electric, Transp. Equipment, Food, Electronic, Engineering, Textile, Rubber, Industrial Machine, Petroleum, General Building Contractors, Fabricated Metal, Trucking and Warehousing
Size Independent:
-  Smallest Site 3 Employees  (Allegheny Energy Services)
-  Largest Site  18,000 Employees + 1, 059 Contract Employees (19,059 Total Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipyard)  
-  52% Have < 200 Employees (Federal)
-54% Fed & State
•Unionized VPP sites - 24% (Fed)
•Biggest in Physical Size = Yellowstone Park is 3,472 square miles
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•Here are some examples of VPP participants.
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•Many of these companies have been in the programs for numerous years.  For example:
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•Exxon-Mobil – 22 years
•Dow Chemical – 20 years
•GE Plastics (Selkirk, NY) – 19 years
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47 Fortune 500 are in VPP.
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NS is National Security Agency
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As part of a VPP onsite evaluation team, an SGE contributes to the typically week-long assessment of a VPP applicant’s or participant’s safety and health management system. The team duties include but are not limited to reviewing the written safety and health management system and supporting documents; conducting a site walkthrough to observe working conditions and to verify that: (1) hazards have been appropriately controlled, and (2) a comprehensive safety and health management system has been successfully implemented; and conducting formal and informal employee interviews.
Qualified volunteers from VPP sites are eligible to participate. These volunteers must be approved by OSHA and funded by their companies to participate. After submitting an application and completing the required training, these volunteers are sworn in as SGEs and are approved to assist as VPP onsite evaluation team members. All SGEs are initially appointed to a three-year term of service. SGEs serve at the pleasure of the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health. Service as an SGE is contingent upon proper ethical conduct.
As VPP grows, the support of SGEs will continue to be a critical component of the programs. The SGE Program encompasses the spirit of VPP - industry, labor, and government cooperation. This cooperation embodies the idea of continuous improvement, which allows SGEs to bring a unique perspective to the team effort and take back to their sites ideas and best practices to further improve worker protections.
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OSHA Challenge is a roadmap to VPP. 
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•In 1997 Puget Sound Naval Shipyard had the highest I/I rates in the Navy.
•In 1998 Puget Sound Naval Shipyard began working towards VPP status.
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•Approved as Star site on January 9, 2006
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•Statistics:
•Approximately 12,000 employees
•1998 TCIR for Shipyard was 18.41
•2006 TCIR is 9.92, 42% below industry average for ship repair facilities.
•DART is 4.92, 47% below industry average.
•Based on reduction in injury rates since 2002, approximately 2200 fewer injuries have occurred over the past 3 years.
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·Current data for three Naval Shipyards demonstrates significant savings to the government after only one year of VPP participation.  The Navy has realized a savings of $2,005,502 in workers’ compensation costs in these three shipyards.  Workers’ compensation costs are decreasing at an even greater rate in the current year.  The Department of Defense expects to save tens of millions of dollars with this program initiative over the next several years.
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•The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard employs approximately 4300 workers in the highly complex, industrial business of overhauling, repairing, modernizing and refueling LOS ANGELES Class nuclear powered submarines.
•One of three shipyards actively participating in VPP
•Oldest continuously operating shipyard in the US (June 1800)
•Star ceremony held in March 2005
•TCIR/DART are 32% and 48% below the industry averages, respectively
Other Shipyards include:
•Region 3 – Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
•  TCIR is 57 percent below the 2001 BLS industry average for SIC 3731 Shipbuilding and Repair
• DART case incidence rate is 37 percent below the 2001 BLS industry average 
•Newport News Ship Yard (Re-approval)   - Northrop Grumman (largest VPP size wise)
o TCIR is 7.9 (54 percent below the 2001 BLS industry averages for SIC 3731).
o DART case incidence rate is 5.7 (38 percent below the 2001 BLS industry averages).
Region 10 – Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
o TCIR is 9.92 (42.3 % below the 2003 BLS industry averages for SIC 3731).
o DART case incidence rate is 4.92 (42.8 below the 2001 BLS industry average).
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•Expecting applications from 6 Naval Stations in Region IV.
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Currently the Mint’s three year Total Case Incidence Rates are 70 percent below the national average for this industry. This decrease in injury and illness statistics since 2000 is impressive:
• In 2000 there were 219 first aid cases. In 2004, there were 35. This is a decrease of 84 percent in the last 4 years.
• In 2000 there were a total of 121 OSHA recordable (TCIR) injuries in 2000. In 2004, the total was 17. This is a decrease of 88 percent.
• The severity rate or lost time injuries and illnesses (DART-Days Away, Restricted or Transferred rate) went from 86 down to 5 in 2004. This is a 94 percent reduction.
• Over all the total injuries and illnesses at the Mint in 2000 were 340. In 2004, it was 50. An outstanding 85 percent decrease.
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At these 100 VPP sites, the Total Case Incident Rate is 68% below the industry average and they have reduced Workers’ Compensation Costs by $410,000 (or 37%).
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Overall Federal Agencies in VPP:
CY 2005 Data:
TCIR % Below Industry Avg-53%
Dart % Below Industry Avg-44%
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