Preparing for OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs

A step-by step guide to successfully achieving VPP recognition

Participating in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) offers businesses a number of advantages including enhanced safety performance, lower injury and lost workday rates, positive public recognition, and direct impact on the bottom line. Preparing for OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs: A Guide to Success is a comprehensive guide for companies and their managers and employees on how to achieve VPP recognition.

The authors, who have more than forty years of collective experience in working with the VPP, provide the reader with a thorough understanding of what the VPP is, how it developed, and the business case for pursuing VPP recognition, explaining:

• How to develop an effective safety and health process that meets the VPP application requirements

• Key steps for preparing for an on-site VPP evaluation to ensure success, with an included application that you can customize and use as the basis of your application

• The four elements, or cornerstones, of the VPP

• Tips and techniques you can use to strengthen your safety and health management system

• Post-evaluation issues such as maintaining excellence, submission of annual reports, and preparing for reapproval evaluations

• Resources available to approved worksites or those worksites interested in pursuing VPP status

With real-world case studies illustrating the essential points, Preparing for OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs: A Guide to Success will put you on the road to winning valuable recognition as an organization that has achieved exemplary occupational safety and health.

Brian T. Bennett, PhD, CSP, has over twenty-four years of experience in the chemical manufacturing field, twenty of which included involvement with the VPP. He has published articles on this subject in professional journals and presented lectures on this topic at professional development conferences across the country. He was designated as the National OSHA Special Government Employee of the Year in 2006 by then Assistant Secretary of Labor Edwin Foulke.

Norman R. Deitch, OHST, has worked twenty-eight years for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). He was the OSHA Region 2 VPP Manager for seventeen years. Mr. Deitch has presented lectures on this topic at professional development conferences across the country. He has led over 300 VPP on site evaluations. He was coauthor of the OSHA Special Government Employee (SGE) training program and the OSHA VPP policies and procedures manual.

The authors can be contacted through their Web site, www.ehs-excellence.com.