Voluntary Protection Program helps reduce injury, illness Published July 14, 2006 By Chuck Pyron Air Force Materiel Command Safety Office WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Involvement in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program, or VPP, has many benefits for Air Force Materiel Command. Among the tangible benefits of participating in VPP are: > Reduced risk of injury or illness. > Reduced direct and indirect costs from injuries or illnesses. > Enhancing teamwork skills. > Increasing productivity and work quality. > Enriching morale. > Increasing recognition for success. > Developing pride in program ownership. > Improving communications between management and employees. > Providing a forum for safety, health and technical exchanges. One of the most important aspects of participating in VPP is reducing the risk of occupational injury or illness. VPP also enhances teamwork skills, develops pride in the ownership of safety programs, improves the lines of communication between management and employees and improves employee morale. Participants who already are in VPP have established and maintained excellent workplace safety and health programs that are recognized by OSHA as models for their industries. Cooperative interaction with management gives all employees the opportunity to provide their ideas on safety and health matters and provides models of effective means to achieve workplace safety and health excellence. While it certainly is necessary to maintain compliance activities, resources used to promote the VPP will benefit the worker and the bottom line. The benefits of establishing and maintaining safety and health programs using the VPP model are reflected in substantially lower-than-average worker injury rates at VPP worksites. In 1994, of the 178 companies in the VPP nationwide, nine sites had no injuries at all. Overall the sites had only 45 percent of the injuries expected. Also, of those 178 companies, 31 had no lost workday injuries. The sites had only 49 percent of the lost workdays expected for similar industries. AFMC, which has the largest number of civilian employees of any Air Force major command, also has the largest number of civilian lost days and total lost day costs in the Air Force. In fiscal 2005, AFMC had 11,596 lost civilian days at a worker’s compensation cost of $59,878,124. While protecting workers from occupational safety and health hazards, organizations following the management guidelines mandated for OSHA VPP participants may also experience decreased costs in worker’s compensation and lost work time. These organizations often experience increased productivity and improved employee morale. OSHA has received considerable information on improvements in morale, productivity and product quality. Although anecdotal in nature, these improvements are referred to frequently enough by VPP participants to indicate there could be a direct relationship between improved management of safety and health protection and these benefits. In theory, the idea is simple – a steadfast commitment to safety and health with a strong partnership between employees and management. In practice and in the short term, the task is not easy. Success requires a sincere day-to-day dedication to solve safety and health challenges and continually improve the safety culture. The important thing to remember is that this is not a new program. VPP is a vehicle to show where improvements are needed and where strengths are within existing safety and health programs.