MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. --
Marine
Corps Air Station Cherry Point safety personnel encourage service members and
civilians to embrace the Voluntary Protection Program as the air stations
official safety standard, which ensures employees are safe in the workplace.
VPP is a
set of programs that promotes effective worksite-based safety and health
measures that effectively identify, evaluate, prevent and control occupational
hazards in the workplace. VPP was created by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration in 1982 to prevent illness and injury in the workplace.
The
program is set to preserve human resources by encouraging employers to set
specific standards that promote safety and ensure employees work in safe
conditions. The goal is to be proactive about workplace injuries, not reactive,
according to Lt. Cmdr. Amy Varney, the installation's safety manager.
The four
main components of VPP are management leadership and employee involvement;
worksite analysis; hazard prevention and control, and safety and health
training. With the four components in place, leaders in the workplace have the
necessary tools to prevent workplace injuries.
Although
it is still too early to tell if workplace injuries on Cherry Point have
decreased, VPP is essential in reducing the number of workplace mishaps, said
Varney.
"It
is clear that other commands that use VPP have experienced dramatic reductions
in the total number of workplace mishaps, and days away from the job as a
result of a mishap,” said Varney. “The
VPP program works."
Cherry
Point is now on its way to earning the VPP "star" status with the
official kickoff expected in January 2015.
Star
status is the highest and most challenging VPP participation category. It is
only given to sites that achieve and maintain injury and illness rates at or
below the national average in their respective industries. Some of the benefits of earning star status
include dramatic decreases in workplace injury and reduced frequency of
mandatory OSHA safety inspections due to the workplace's proved sustained
record of excellence.
"Until
we apply for VPP star, the DoD Safety Management Center of Excellence will
review our processes and assess our compliance annually," said Edward Scott,
the deputy director of safety and standardization at the air station.
An analysis
is being conducted at Cherry Point December 2-4.
"The
good thing about VPP is that it gets the employees involved," said Scott.