More employers now eligible for voluntary protection program
But OSHA will expect more — stricter safety levels for all
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revised its Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) in a way that extends participation to previously ineligible employers but raises the safety and health achievement levels expected of all participants.
OSHA officials hope the overall effect will be to extend the benefits of the VPP to more employers, says Cathy Oliver, chief of voluntary programs with OSHA. She tells Occupational Health Management that the changes were intended to clarify some requirements while also bringing subcontractors and previously ineligible employers into the fold.
"We’ve set the bar a little higher for participating employers, but we’ve also made some changes that should encourage those employers to get involved with subcontractors even if they aren’t in the VPP program," Oliver says. "We know that the concept of the VPP works to improve safety and health in the workplace, so the changes are intended to extend those benefits to as many workers as possible."
With one recent change, federal agencies and certain contractors at VPP sites are now able to join the program’s three levels, all based on the employer’s safety record. The top level is Star, for companies with excellent safety and health programs. The other two levels are Merit, for companies with good programs trying to reach Star level, and Demonstration, for companies with excellent safety and health programs that have innovative features OSHA desires to evaluate.
The revised VPP is published in the Oct. 12, 1999, Federal Register. (See related story on p. 135 for an overview of the VPP concept. The Federal Register can be accessed on-line at www.access. gpo.gov/ su_docs/aces/aces140.html.)
Health also now a focus, not just safety
Another significant change involves what participating companies must report. OSHA now will require participants to report illness rates and numbers, in addition to previously required injury data. Moreover, Star participants’ injury/illness rates must now be "below" industry averages, rather than "at or below." An alternate method for calculating incidence rates will help small businesses qualify for the Star program.
Oliver says the change was made to place more emphasis on health in the workplace, as opposed to just safety. Under the previous VPP rules, participating employers had to report only injury rates, and then OSHA inspectors would look at health records when they visited every three years. Now the employers must report injury and illness rates annually, which allows OSHA to track workplace illnesses much more closely, she says.
Other changes require participants to track and document management responsibility and accountability in the safety and health process. This documentation must demonstrate that adequate resources are available and appropriate systems are in place for tracking and analyzing safety and health programs, including identifying and controlling hazards. Additionally, employees must be involved in at least three active and meaningful safety and health processes.
OSHA used to say only that employees had to have "meaningful involvement." After seeing that some employers were not involving employees as much as OSHA intended, the rule was changed to specify that there must be three particular activities.
"Some sites had monthly safety meetings for the employees and thought that was enough," Oliver says. "We wanted to be clear that we expected more than that. We expect employees to be involved in a variety of activities that are proven to have an impact on safety in the workplace."
For example, Oliver says employees could be involved in accident investigations and root cause analyses, job hazard analyses, and training programs. The revised VPP rules do not specify what activities must involve employees, leaving individual participants to work out the details.
Requirement: Occupational health focus
The VPP is an excellent opportunity for occupational health professionals, says June Brothers, CSP, group director of human resources for Georgia-Pacific, based in Atlanta. She has overseen safety and health at Georgia-Pacific for 12 years and was with the Oregon OSHA office for 13 years prior to that. She now serves as the chairwoman of the VPP Participants’ Association, based in Falls Church, VA. Georgia-Pacific has 21 work sites in the VPP.
"The elements that you have to have in order to participate in VPP are just the elements of a good safety program," she says. "You would want to have those same elements in place even if VPP didn’t exist. If you’re striving for those goals anyway, why not do it in the VPP and gain all the benefits from being a participant?" The benefits mostly take the form of being free from OSHA inspections other than those required in that program, and the assumption by OSHA that your organization is working diligently to comply with all regulations.
Brothers says some employers and occupational health professionals are reluctant to pursue VPP participation because they fear OSHA. That fear is unfounded, she says, but she acknowledges that VPP does require some additional resources and commitment. (See related story, below right, for more on participating in VPP.)
The newly revised rules, with some exceptions, limit Merit participation to three years to ensure that Merit sites work to achieve Star quality within that time frame. The revised provisions will also provide participants who receive termination notices 30 days (in most cases) to appeal OSHA’s action.
OSHA expects VPP sites to participate in outreach activities that assist other workplaces and help the agency accomplish its goals. VPP sites will report outreach efforts and success stories annually. One of the recent changes requires participating companies to help get the VPP message out to their contractors.
"We’re always looking for leveraging opportunities," Oliver says. "If we can get the employer to commit, and if that employer has many contractors at the site, the attitude often filters down to the contractors. And they take that [attitude] and improve their practices."
The employers must show OSHA that they have taken steps to encourage safe and healthy work practices among their contractors. Also, OSHA now requires that the employer pass on injury and illness data from contractors. Under the previous rules, OSHA would review those contractor records during the visit every three years, but now the VPP employer must include the contractors’ injury and illness rates in annual reports. And if the numbers are not very good, the employer will be held accountable.
"If the contractors have rates above the national average, the report from the employer will have to say how they intend to work with them to improve those rates," Oliver says.
VPP applicants have always been required to comply fully with OSHA rules and regulations and to have the concurrence of collective bargaining agents at unionized work sites. The revision clarifies those requirements. Because the program offers a number of incentives to employers while improving conditions for the worker, Oliver says the VPP is an opportunity for occupational health professionals to promote safety and health in the workplace.
"If you are working at a site and looking for a way to energize and improve safety and health performance, we would ask you to take a really close look at the VPP process," Oliver says. "It is a formula for safety and health success. It focuses both management and labor on what systems need to be in place to ensure a safe and healthy workplace on a day-to-day basis."
For more information, contact:
• Occupational Safety and Health Administra-tion, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-2350. Web site: www.osha-slc.gov.
• Cathy Oliver, Chief of Voluntary Programs, OSHA, 200 Constitution Ave., Room N-3700, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-2213. E-mail: [email protected].
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