Meet and greet offers insight into VPP certification

  • Published
  • By Rhonda Siciliano
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  As Hanscom moves forward in its journey to achieve Voluntary Protection Program Star certification, base leadership and personnel traveled to the JFK Building in Boston on Jan. 24 to listen to and ask questions of the people who will be inspecting its safety program to determine if the base has met the requirements to earn VPP Star status.

The "meet and greet" session, hosted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, included briefings from Hanscom's VPP mentor, General Electric of Lynn, Mass., as well as Lenox Saw of East Longmeadow, Mass. Both companies have successfully incorporated VPP at their worksites and achieved Star status.

Presenters from both companies shared lessons learned from their VPP journeys, while representatives from OSHA's Region 1 Office discussed in detail what they would be looking for during Hanscom's certification inspection.

"This was an excellent opportunity for us to gain valuable insight from the people who will be inspecting our program," said Col. Tom Schluckebier, 66th Air Base Wing commander. "This is an important program. We know what we need to do to achieve Star status, now it's up to each member of the Hanscom community to join together in ensuring our program meets all of these objectives."

The VPP process emphasizes holding managers accountable for worker safety and health, the continual identification and elimination of hazards and the active involvement of employees in their own protection.

Bob Sands, OSHA's Region 1 VPP manager, outlined the four key elements that inspectors will focus on during their visit.

The first element will be management and employee involvement in the Voluntary Protection Program. "To accomplish this, we will have to demonstrate to the inspectors that leadership and employees on all levels understand and are active participants in VPP," said Roland Johns, 66th Air Base Wing Safety director.

"I learned that it is vital to have leadership commitment and employee involvement to promote safety and health. And that there are some small, simple changes that can be made to save millions of dollars," said Capt. Judith Williams of Electronic Systems Center Commander's Action Group, and a VPP team member.

"We've made great progress in this element," Mr. Johns said. "Each Wing has a VPP team that has been working hard to establish the groundwork of our program efforts, now we will take what we've learned and incorporate these lessons into our program."

The second element that OSHA will be reviewing is worksite analysis. "For this element, the inspectors will want to see that we have a thorough evaluation of safety and health elements through such things as job site analysis," Mr. Johns said. "We will need to demonstrate to them that we have a thorough accident, incident investigation program and that we have identified problem elements and set dates for any necessary corrective actions to be made."

The third element outlined by OSHA's VPP team was hazard prevention and control. Inspectors will be looking to see that Hanscom's program has a hierarchy of controls in place to ensure the safety of its workforce.

Safety and health training is the fourth element that will be evaluated. "The inspection team is going to want to see that all employees understand and know any potential risks that they might be exposed to and how to report any problems, incidents or concerns," Mr. Johns said. "One simple thing everyone can do is go online and take the VPP 101 course on the CenterNet, if they haven't already done so. It lays out all the principles and guidelines of VPP," he said.

The Voluntary Protection Program was created by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 1982 and formally introduced to the Hanscom community in May 2006. It emphasizes worker safety and health, and the identification and elimination of hazards by involving employees and managers in the process. "Hanscom is moving forward with VPP, and we hope to be able to submit our application to OSHA for review by May," Mr. Johns said.

Once the application is submitted, OSHA will evaluate Hanscom's safety processes, interview employees and supervisors on base and then determine what level the base qualifies for, he said.

"This idea of getting the community involved in everyday safety practices is something that starts with training and educating the public," Colonel Schluckebier said. "Getting people engaged and taking personal responsibility for their own safety is the key. The ultimate goal is to ensure employees return home the same way they came to work, and that the processes and equipment that we have in place are safe."

For more information contact your Wing's VPP team leader or the 66th Air Base Wing Safety Office at (781) 377-5136. The leaders are: 66 ABW, Italia Minchello (781) 377-6560; 350th ELSW, 1Lt. Scott Ostrow, (781) 266-0529; 551st ELSW, MSgt. Shawn Perrine, (781) 377-1012; 554th ELSW, Galen Williams, (781) 377-4226 and 653rd ELSW, Bill Bassett, (781) 377-0299.