Workplace safety groups partner to aid OSHA modernization effort

As the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration looks to modernize its Voluntary Protection Programs dedicated to acknowledging employers with exemplary safety records, two organizations have announced a partnership to help push consensus standards to spur compliance.

The American Society of Safety Professionals and the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association on June 15 announced a collaborative effort to help federal workplace safety regulators modernize safety and health standards.

Earlier in June, at ASSP’s annual conference in San Antonio, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker said that among OSHA’s priorities, in addition to stricter enforcement measures, is enhancing the way the agency recognizes employers whose injury rates are considered low for their respective industry — the crux of the VPP.

The partnership between ASSP and VPPPA developed earlier this month while representatives from both organizations were in Washington attending an OSHA meeting addressing plans to improve the VPP, which began in 1982.

“We view it as the gold standard of safety and health management,” Chris Williams, VPPPA executive director, said of the VPP.

As OSHA embarks on VPP modernization, Mr. Williams said his organization and the ASSP see a chance to help regulators in their mission to improve safety, which benefits both employees and employers.  

“We have an integral role that we play in helping OSHA,” he said. “Our members raise the standards for a safe and healthy workplace, and we do it in multiple ways, and there’s an opportunity to start here with VPP modernization.”

Pam Walaski, ASSP’s incoming president-elect, said one of the key recommendations to come out of the OSHA stakeholders’ meeting was to review the process of how an entity becomes part of VPP.

The VPP, she said, hasn’t been modernized since its inception.

The ASSP and VPPPA will work on developing recommendations for a construction and demolition-specific VPP, as the program was historically geared more toward manufacturing and other industrial sites.

“It has been a little bit more of a challenge for construction companies to meet the requirements of VPP,” Ms. Walaski said.

Construction was often left out of the fold due to the VPP’s long application process, as construction projects are often finished by the time VPP eligibility is confirmed, she said.  

“This is the start of a long-term collaborative relationship that’s going to allow us to truly move the needle forward in protecting workers,” Mr. Williams said.

Edwin Palmer, an employer defense attorney with Pittsburgh-based law firm Burns White LLC, praised the collaborative effort.

“These are groups that know the industries they’re working with,” Mr. Palmer said. “They know the processes. They know how people can work safely in those industries and what types of measurables are part of good occupational health and safety management programs.”

Mr. Palmer said the construction angle being pushed by ASSP and VPPPA is beneficial since it will help sway the way OSHA can modernize its approach to that industry.  

Louise Esola contributed to this report.