Going Universal - VPPPA Region I Chapter

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the Road to VPP
the road to qualifying as a Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) site can be full of
roadblocks, potholes and detours. it can be frustrating and take longer than you
anticipated. however, VPPPA has a gPs system that will help you navigate your way
through the requirements and it won’t cost you a thing or get stolen out of your car!
the gPs is the VPPPA mentoring Program and over the next year or so, The Leader
will present a series of articles chronicling one company’s journey to VPP, utilizing the
mentoring Program.
richard Allee is the regulatory compliance manager at frito lay, north America, located in
denver, colo. frito lay’s mentor is scott’s liquid gold, inc. (slg) also in denver.
richard and Kelli heflin, slg, sat down to talk about the benefits of mentoring and
documenting the progress that frito lay will make on its way toward VPP application and
the eventual onsite evaluation.
can you tell our readers why
your site wanted to move
forward with vpp?
rIchard: VPP has been on the horizon
for a couple of years in Denver. Frito
Lay has several VPP sites nationally
(manufacturing and distribution) and this
is a national initiative in our company. In
2009, one of my colleagues and I attended
the VPP 101 Workshop and mentoring was
mentioned in the class. We never thought
about using it before the class.
kellI: Richard and his colleague also
attended a mentoring networking session
that we had at our regional conference and
filled out the request form there.
Why did you decide to move
forward with a mentor?
rIchard: Frito Lay actually does a preaudit
before the application is submitted,
complete with 90-day items. It is companyspecific
but not region-specific. The idea
of having someone local who had been
through the process appeared to have great
benefits. Kelli was five minutes away and
had worked closely with the Region VIII
OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health
Administration] people. I was new to
VPP. My first exposure was the VPP 101
and although my company has excellent
programs, they are company-specific and
I had to figure out how those programs
48 the leAder >> sPring 2010
synced with VPP elements. It is definitely
helpful to have a guide through the process.
kellI: When SLG first entered into the
VPP process, our region only had six VPP
sites and the mentoring program wasn’t
very strong here. OSHA was hosting
workshops, led by the late Bervin Hall,
but it really wasn’t what I needed. It would
have cut back on the number of headaches
I had trying to work my way through the
requirements and have someone actually
review some of my programs and tell me if
they met the element requirements.
What are your expectations
from the mentoring program?
rIchard: That there will be a clear idea
of where the challenges and opportunities
are and what we need to focus on to be
successful. There is a benefit to someone
outside our company looking at our
programs and operations with a critical eye.
They tend to find things that we don’t “see.”
There are also takeaways that could improve
processes and safety culture at our facility.
kellI: We’ve already made two site
visits and have made some suggestions on
machine guarding and signage within the
company. As a mentor, we also benefit from
the takeaways from them to improve things
at our facility. Richard made a recent visit to
our site and we expect him back soon with
some of his safety committee members.
1
What do you think of the
process so far even though
you just got started?
rIchard: It’s a bit daunting since we are
just starting, but we are eager to get started
and work through the process. There’s a
great deal of support from Frito Lay and
other people in Region VIII.
kellI: The first step is always the hardest!
What do you find most useful
about the mentoring process?
rIchard: There is a path to follow. We
have three defined milestones to hit in
the next three months and that is easy to
follow. We’re putting a process together to
get to the end result.
kellI: We have agreed on three fairly
major milestones: (1) reorganize the safety
committee; (2) start introducing VPP
elements to the Frito Lay team in Denver; and
(3) attend the Region VIII annual conference.
Was it easy to get a mentor?
rIchard: [Laughs] I’ll let Kelli tell
that story.
kellI: Richard filled the request form out
at the conference and I asked him if he had
been working with someone or had someone
he wanted to work with and he asked if we
were available. We had recently finished
working with a site and Frito Lay is literally
down the street, so the match was made!
it’s easy to request a mentor – just visit the
VPPPA website at www.vpppa.org and go to
the mentoring section and fill out a request
form. each region has a mentoring coordinator
who will work to find you a mentor.
stay tuned for future installments that will
update you on milestones met, challenges
faced and progress made by frito lay on
the road to VPP! H