JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD - The Voluntary Protection Program is an initiative created by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that encourages private industry and federal agencies to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses through effective safety and health management systems.

Since beginning its VPP journey in 2009, the Army Field Support Battalion Lewis-McChord has seen a positive impact on the battalion's safety culture along with more engaged employees who are dedicated to its safety program, reducing accidents, and producing greater regulatory compliance.

The OSHA VPP began in California in 1979 as an experimental program, and in 1982, federal OSHA formally announced VPP and approved the first VPP site.

The purpose of VPP is to recognize worksites with outstanding safety and health management systems, and promote effective worksite-based safety and health in cooperation with government, industry, and laborers. VPP also has an end state of reducing accidents and injury costs, and minimizing employee time away from the workplace due to occupational illnesses and accidents.

VPP sets performance-based criteria for managed safety and health systems, invites sites to apply, and then assesses the applicants against established criteria. A key requirement is that the safety program must be employee driven.

VPP encourages employers and employees to reduce the number of occupational safety and health hazards, stimulate employers and employees to institute new programs, and greatly improve existing procedures and practices for providing safe and healthful working conditions.

Employers benefit directly by fewer injuries and illnesses resulting in higher morale, increased production, overall greater organizational success, and mission accomplishment.

The VPP participant is expected to use a comprehensive system geared toward each worksite's needs and meet the following four core elements of the program:

• Management commitment and employee involvement
• Worksite analysis
• Safety and health training
• Hazard prevention and control

Management, leadership and employee participation, safety and health training, and organizational self-evaluations, are key elements of this process. Annual self-evaluations measure success and identify areas needing improvement.

"All operations should have safety at the forefront," said Lt. Col. Troyjohn Naputi, AFSBn-LM commander. "‘Employee involvement' is the most critical of the four VPP elements, and I'm proud that our employees are recognized for their individual and team accomplishments. Their endeavors do not just provide safety for the battalion's workforce, but for the myriad of units that transition through our facilities."

The program benefits organizations within the U.S. Army Sustainment Command, headquartered at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, which has a global workforce.

AFSBn-LM is comprised of approximately 900 soldiers, airmen, Department of the Army civilians, and contractors. These personnel are spread across four divisions and two geographical locations between western and central Washington. The division mission sets are as diverse as the employees responsible for completion of those missions.

Of the four divisions within the AFSBn-LM, two are OSHA VPP Star sites and one is awaiting approval after passing OSHA's rigorous VPP Star site evaluation.

The Installation Maintenance Division has been a Star site since 2015, the Materiel Readiness Division has been a Star site since 2018, and the Installation Supply Division is awaiting approval of their first Star, which is anticipated to happen within the next two months.

Lastly, the Installation Transportation Division is preparing their application for Star site status.

"Building ISD's organizational safety culture took time and dedication," said Samuel Dresel, chief, ISD, "but a good culture can enable a team to do their most impactful work. ISD's organizational culture is built on cohesion, which inspires creative ideas, innovation, and is supported by the management team. I am proud that our safety culture can be attributed to a shared set of values, beliefs and attitudes that guide our organization as reflected in the four elements of VPP."

Participating in the OSHA VPP ensures employees, the union, and management work together to maintain compliance with governing regulatory requirements by utilizing monthly, quarterly, and annual inspections of all divisional areas.

Employees and management also get buy-in if they utilize the Passport Program.

The purpose of the program - a list of action items, tasks, or training - is used to increase employee awareness of VPP and prepare them for the OSHA on-site evaluation.

Completion of the passport action items will assist in supporting the overall goal of the organization in the VPP Star pursuit. Completion is verified by the supervisor and generally there is a reward given to the employee for successfully completing the passport.

Since VPP is an employee-driven program, employees are empowered to make suggestions for improvement, report safety violations, and personally assist with preventing accidents. Management benefits from VPP by having engaged employees that are dedicated to an effective safety program.

Participation by employees across AFSBn-LM has led to an accident reduction rate across the four divisions. For example, ISD has gone over 1,400 days since its last recordable accident. On average, since participating in OSHA VPP, AFSBn-LM has experienced an accident reduction rate of 53%.

Being a VPP Star site has residual benefits to other areas and functions within organizations as well. AFSBN-LM employees were able to apply VPP compliance techniques to areas such as Ammo Supply Point inspections conducted by Department of the Army representatives, and implementation of a DA and ASC-level Rail Safety Survey.

The ASP and rail head are heavily regulated areas slightly outside of OSHA requirements; however, by utilizing VPP compliance techniques, the ASP and rail operations employees successfully maintained a high level of DA-level regulatory compliance, as demonstrated by inspection and survey results.

The bottom line is this: OSHA VPP produces significant reduction in accident rates, increases regulatory compliance, and fosters an organization where employees and management are engaged in their safety program.

Participation in VPP also has a positive effect on other areas of compliance, making the organization an overall safer place to work. Everyone has the right to leave work just as healthy and uninjured as they arrived and participating in programs like OSHA VPP can make that happen.