ASSE Commends OSHA for VPP Review
In a letter to Assistant Secretary David Michaels, ASSE commended OSHA for its report, Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) Review. ASSE said the report was thoughtful, frank and helpful and that the report validated the value of VPP. ASSE supported most of the report’s recommendations, including continuing to provide exemptions from programmed inspections for participants, expanded use of special government employees, the reporting of participants’ best practices, and establishing a cooperative way to identify effective lagging indicators, leading indicators, and outcome measures to track VPP performance. ASSE urged caution in pursuing the recommendation to place participants on inactive status in case of a fatality, urging a more nuanced, cooperative approach.