Voluntary Protection Program assessment team visits Malmstrom

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Emerald Ralston
  • 341st Space Wing Public Affairs Office
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  A team from the Assistant Secretary of Installations, Environment and Logistics will visit Malmstrom to perform an assessment of current safety procedures from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 as part of the Voluntary Protection Program. 

The Occupational Health and Safety Association and the Department of Defense partnered to sponsor safety programs that will promote effective work site-based safety and health. 

In 2003, the Secretary of Defense challenged the DoD to improve its safety record stating "World class organizations do not tolerate preventable accidents," according to the DoD Voluntary Protection Programs Center of Excellence Web site, www.vppcx.org/. 

Approval into VPP is OSHA's official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safety and health, according to the Web site www.osha.gov. The VPP sets performance-based criteria for a managed safety and health system, invites sites to apply and assess applicants against these criteria. 

OSHA's verification includes an application review and a rigorous on site evaluation by a team of OSHA safety and health experts. Scoring highly enough on the VPP assessment secures Star Status for the organization in the program. 

For the initial assessment, SAF/IE will brief, observe and analyze Malmstrom's safety procedures. 

"We start with an engagement visit Jan. 9, where experts from SAF/IE will brief leaders on our base and how the program works," said Lt. Col. Robert Garner, 341st Space Wing Chief of Safety. "Next, SAF/IE will send out a team to do an assessment and see if existing procedures meet VPP Star Status criteria. The assessment will give us a gap analysis that we can use to identify possible changes we might make to achieve Star Status. After we implement changes and we are ready, a final assessment is made to determine if we meet the criteria." 

There are many potential benefits to this program that Malmstrom may see once the VPP has been implemented. 

"VPP can help an organization transform its safety culture and better use its personnel to improve safety in the workplace," Colonel Garner said. "Our current operations risk management and wingman culture is very much in keeping with VPP principles. DoD sites typically do quite well on their initial assessments. If our VPP assessors do a good job, I look forward to obtaining some good actionable recommendations that can improve the safety of ICBM operations." 

Malmstrom is the second base in Air Force Space Command to be tasked with implementation of VPP. Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., was the first base tasked.