Going Universal - VPPPA Region I Chapter

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when emPloyees see their
inPuts result in PositiVe
chAnge in the future,
morAle is imProVed And
PArticiPAtion thriVes.
As a VPP Star site rapidly nearing its
first re-approval onsite evaluation
and having completed four years of
annual Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) Voluntary
Protection Programs (VPP) self assessment
evaluations, it’s easy to lose focus on the
intent of the “exercise” as you rewrite
that long and detailed report from the
prior three years. You may tend to just
repackage the same old message because
that’s the easiest thing to do. But even
worse, I recall as a first timer just seeking
to enter the VPP program, it was so easy
to be overwhelmed by the task altogether,
resulting in stress and even confusion as
you struggle to grasp the goal and then
fill in the details on your initial OSHA
report. In both these situations, a large
part of the answer to your problems lies
in the art of successfully getting your
employees involved in the annual OSHA
VPP evaluation. And although it’s unlikely
your employees are going to be able to
perform the annual evaluation for you,
their candid and honest inputs will bring
you a long way down the road to success
in the effort, whether it’s the first time or
the fifth.
Presenting “Get Your Employees Involved
in the Annual OSHA VPP Evaluation” at
VPPPA’s national conference in Orlando is
intended to relieve some of that boredom,
stress or confusion by offering some
practical and time-proven techniques for
performing solid self-evaluations that in
the end will offer not only many pages
of impressive words to OSHA, but also
a meaningful assessment of your safety
program’s strengths, accomplishments and
needs, as well as an actionable roadmap for
continued improvement in the coming year.
10 the leAder >> sPring 2010
This workshop is targeted for safety
professionals, employee involvement team
leaders and others who are either directly
responsible for writing the site’s OSHA
annual VPP self-assessment or who lead
employee involvement teams that directly
should feed input into the process. We’ll
show you how the effective and creative use
of employee surveys, safety team goals and
accomplishments, suggestion and concern
reporting processes, injury and inspection
finding trend analyses, third party audits
and other employee input sources can
add great value to your self-assessments
and yield sustained improvement results.
We’ll also talk about how a robust selfinspection
program led by numerous
employees from throughout the
organization and refreshed frequently with
new members provides continuous “fresh
eyes” in the worksite, thus identifying new
and previously unrecognized areas for
improvement, which feeds well into your
annual OSHA report.
The use of a cross section of employees
for accident and near miss investigations
can also highlight what may have
been otherwise overlooked actions for
preventing recurrence of the incident, thus
leading to greater program improvements.
Even the use of employees in the routine
review and update of the site’s written
environment, health and safety programs
can offer valuable insight into areas of
focus for a better tomorrow.
Our practice of conducting quarterly
emergency response drills for a variety
of crisis scenarios with detailed postevent
critiques and documented followup
action items is yet another method
for integrating employees into the annual
improvement process.
Attendance of the annual national and
regional Voluntary Protection Programs
Participants’ Association (VPPPA)
conferences by employees is not only a
valued form of employee recognition, but
also a force multiplier in seeking out best
practices for implementation back at the
site in the coming year and maintaining
enthusiasm and energy for constant
change. Furthermore, annual management
reviews of the site’s safety performance
and gaps provide goals and actions to drive
improvement in your safety programs.
The well-written annual report to OSHA
incorporates all these input sources and
more in order to provide a comprehensive
look at the existing site safety program
and identify the key improvement efforts
planned for the coming year. It serves as
a clearinghouse to highlight all the great
work that’s been done throughout the
previous year to continuously improve
safety performance and reduce injuries. It
should be filled with metrics and numbers
to provide quantified measurements
of your accomplishments and provide
substance to the discussion. And most of
all, it should identify the key gaps and
actions the site is committing to in the
coming year with responsibilities and
target closure timing to sustain continuous
improvement in safety performance.
Although you will probably never find that
place of serene peace and comfort you long
for while generating your annual OSHA
evaluation, we believe taking the time
to reach out in a variety of ways to gain
maximum employee input into the process
will bring you confidence that the story
you tell this year will result in bountiful
results next year. A significant side benefit
is that when employees see their inputs
result in positive change in the future,
morale is improved and participation
thrives, which is the foundation of VPP in
the first place. H
* this workshop will be presented by Joseph
Pagendarm, ehs manager, general electric
co., and chris hetzer, facility technician, ge, on
wednesday, August 25, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
leARN mORe At the 2010 CONfeReNCe