Going Universal - VPPPA Region I Chapter

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Sge Training
The first Occupational Safety and
Health Administration’s (OSHA) Special
Government Employee (SGE) training
of 2010 was held in Virginia Beach, Va.,
Jan. 26-28. It began with a diverse group
of 24 participants from across the nation.
The class was taught by Terry Gallagher,
Region III OSHA VPP manager, and
Milford Stern, Virginia VPP coordinator,
with assistance from a number of VPP
site representatives (see below). The class
was structured around the four main VPP
elements with the content of the course
material emphasizing the viewpoint of the
VPP evaluation team members.
Each of the volunteer facilitators brought
their unique experience as an SGE to the
class participants. Much of the second
day was taken up by the tips, hints and
experiences of being an evaluation team
member. Everyone especially enjoyed
the “Care and Feeding of an SGE”
presentation by Carter Ficklen. I don’t
think they can play “Operation” again
without thinking of the relationship of
the games body parts to the attributes of
a good SGE.
The practical aspect of the class was to
evaluate the VPP application of a fictitious
company (BESAFE, Inc.), review the
interviews, assess site observations and
provide a team member conclusion on
assigned areas. There were four teams
formed among the 24 participants. As
the class labored through the evaluation
reports, each group member offered his/
her opinion and actively defended the
conclusions. Much of the group debates
were fueled by the high expectations that
were present at each of the represented
sites. Once the group had reached a
conclusion, it was time to give their
groups’ opinion and to defend the choice
of Merit or Star.
If the members of this class are an
indication of the level of persistence and
quality of the approximately 1,000 SGEs
currently active in VPP nation-wide, there
should be no doubt about the integrity and
excellence of VPP recognition.
Thank you to class hosts Dominion
Generation, Delta Air Lines, Cargill
and VPPPA.
18 the leAder >> sPring 2010
A special thank you to the trainers for the
SGE course:
+ Carter Ficklen, NASA
+ Tim Rosenmeier, Kraft’s Planters Peanuts
+ Stephanie Norris, Pfizer Consumer
Healthcare
+ Doug Williams, Dominion Generation
+ Terry Gallagher, OSHA
+ Milford Stern, VOSH
With the dedication of these individuals
and the support of their companies, our
annual SGE training course was a big
success once again!
The Region III VPPPA Chapter Board of
Directors congratulates the graduates of
the SGE Class of 2010. The following
participants successfully completed the
training and were sworn in as SGEs:
+ Jean Stewart, Delta Air Lines
+ Lee Evers, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare
+ Doug Vick, International Paper
+ David Gibson, Dynegy
+ Christian Simmers, Cargill
+ John Brown, USPS
+ Carla Walston, Continental Corp.
+ Robin Pasko, VOSH
+ Jennifer Hayes, Raytheon
+ Kevin Cox, Milliken
+ Gregory Creswell, TIMET
+ Rick Kennedy, VOSH
+ Stephen Bournias, Marathon Oil
+ Tom Rother, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare
+ James Green, Jr., Dominion Generation
+ Joseph Patterson, NASA
+ Jon Hunter, Eaton Corp.
+ Byron Billman, Florida Power & Light
+ Brad McPherson, Allegheny Energy
+ Maryella Mitchell, VOSH
+ Katina Briggs-King, Huntsman Chemicals
+ Allen Blanton, International Paper
+ Tina Decker, Raytheon
+ Adam Pawlus, VPPPA
2011 Conference
The Region III VPPPA Chapter Board
of Directors has already secured a site
for the 2011 conference. Trying to hold
the conference in different corners of
the region, the board set its sights on a
location in the Washington D.C. area for
next year.
Attendees will have the opportunity to take
advantage of everything that the Gaylord
National Resort and Convention Center
at the National Harbor has to offer. This
facility is located along the Potomac River,
convenient to the Washington beltway
and I-295. Recently opened, the Gaylord
Resort offers many of the amenities that
only the finest conference centers can offer
to attendees. The conference in 2011 will
take place the week of June 27. VPPPA
members should put the dates for the
conference on their calendar now so they
don’t forget to be a part of what should be
a very special experience.
contributed by region iii board of directors
secretary robert cook, PPl electric utilities,
lancaster, PA
ReGIon IV
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Conference
The Region IV VPPPA Chapter is
organizing its annual conference at the
Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino in Biloxi,
Miss., June 23-25, 2010. The official
conference program as well as the
Conference-at-a-Glance, the Region IV
Mentoring brochure, the Mentor of the
Year program and the What is Region
IV brochure will be distributed before
the conference and will also be available
at the conference. Additionally, Region
IV will publicize the election protocols
and the election process. The Mentor
of the Year program will be announced
to let our members know how the
Mentoring Program is progressing. The
board is organizing breakout workshops
and two pre-conference workshops: the
VPP Application Workshop ® and the
Strengthening Star Quality Workshop.
The flashy atmosphere of Biloxi combined
with our dynamic kick-off speaker Jeff
Espenship and motivational closing
speaker Richard Hawk will project a
feeling of professional accomplishment for
the attendees.
elections
Elections will be held again as we will have
a few vacancies to fill on the Region IV
VPPPA Chapter Board of Directors. More
information will be distributed between
now and the conference.