VPP, Fort Detrick

Fort Detrick Voluntary Protection Program — A Star Site

Overview:

Fort Detrick is a recognized leader in safety, everyday achieving a higher standard of Safety. Recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Fort Detrick became the first U.S. Army Garrison to achieve Star status and rank among the top 1 percent of more than 69 million work environments in the nation for safety. The garrison's example and commitment to safety as a culture has set the example and the standard for other organizations at Fort Detrick to strive for and achieve star status and commit to safety as their culture.

The Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) is a program designed to recognize and promote effective safety and health management through employee empowerment. Employees are the cornerstone of the successful program here at Detrick because of a redefined leadership model placing the task of identifying safety and health hazards on the employee that in turn notifies leadership. Employee engagement has brought to the forefront ideas to improve safety as well as efficiency in business processes.

What is the Fort Detrick Voluntary Protection Program:

The Voluntary Protection Program at Fort Detrick is an empowerment tool for leadership and employees to reduce accident rates, improve efficiencies, reduce hazards, and improve the overall safety standards of the installation. Through the efforts of the Voluntary Protection Program between 2008 and 2009, the U.S. Army Garrison has reduced accident related work day losses more than 75 percent. This has a net carryover effect for not only the installation, but the taxpayer as well through enhanced productivity and efficiency.

Because of the outstanding achievements in safety by the U.S. Army Garrison in being recognized as an Occupational Safety and Health Administration Star site, the garrison now advocates and mentors other organizations to develop and implement systems and process to efficiently identify, evaluate, prevent, and control occupational hazards and prevent employee injuries and illness.

Employees and leadership engagement is the key to this programs successes on Fort Detrick, through an inverted management style putting employees first, leadership has empowered the work for to identify, assess, prevent and control their work environments to ensure their safety and that of their coworkers as a commitment to a sustainable community and workforce of excellence.

OSHA Voluntary Protection Program:

The VPP recognize employers and workers in the private industry and federal agencies who have implemented effective safety and health management systems and maintain injury and illness rates below national Bureau of Labor Statistics averages for their respective industries. In VPP, management, labor, and OSHA work cooperatively and proactively to prevent fatalities, injuries, and illnesses through a system focused on: hazard prevention and control; worksite analysis; training; and management commitment and worker involvement. To participate, employers must submit an application to OSHA and undergo a rigorous onsite evaluation by a team of safety and health professionals. Union support is required for applicants represented by a bargaining unit. VPP participants are re-evaluated every three to five years to remain in the programs. VPP participants are exempt from OSHA programmed inspections while they maintain their VPP status.