OSHA to Review Expansion of Voluntary Protection Programs

May 24, 2023

in Framing News,

Originally Published by: OSHA — May 11, 2023
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The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration will hold a stakeholder meeting on Thursday, June 15 in Washington, D.C., to discuss modernizing, improving and expanding the agency's Voluntary Protection Programs.

Established in 1982, OSHA's VPP recognizes workplaces that demonstrate best practices in safety and health management and serve as industry models. In the past 40 years, the program has attracted a variety of organizations in many industries.

The discussion will include comments and suggestions from the public on recommendations and potential avenues for action.

OSHA welcomes stakeholders' assessment of the VPP's performance and ideas on how to improve the program. The agency seeks input from stakeholders, regardless of whether they've had direct, indirect and no involvement with VPP facilities. OSHA is interested in various perspectives in stakeholders' answers to questions, such as the following:

Are there leading indicators for measuring future performance of safety and health management systems?
How can OSHA encourage more employers to apply to VPP?
Aside from current customer experience surveys, how can OSHA solicit more frequent and timely feedback on the program?
Beyond the OSHA Challenge, how can the agency increase the use of effective safety and health management systems by companies not in the VPP?
How can OSHA improve the program's quality or integrity?
Given OSHA's limited resources, how can the agency grow VPP more efficiently?
In what ways, can safety and health consensus standards be used to create pathways for companies to participate in the VPP?

Read the full list of OSHA's questions.

The meeting will be held June 15 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT. The public may attend the meeting in person in the Frances Perkins Building, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20210. Register to attend in person or virtually at VPP Stakeholder Meeting Registration by June 1. Attendees can choose from several levels of participation in the discussion. Online participation will be in listen-only mode and question and comment opportunities will not be available.

Learn more about OSHA and the Voluntary Protection Programs.