The Vermont Agency of Transportation’s District 7 Maintenance Garage in St. Johnsbury has become the first public transportation entity in the nation to achieve a supplemental safety merit from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The ceremony to honor this achievement will take place today at 1 pm at the garage.
District 7 has been working to achieve this merit under the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) with the Vermont OSHA office for the past three years. The program is intended to promote workplace health and safety through a collaborative effort between the employees and VOSHA.
The program is 100 percent employee driven, and as such can only succeed if it is supported from within. The District 7 employees’ hard work and dedication to improve the safety of their workplace paid off, and this week OSHA announced that District 7 became the very first Public Transportation entity in the nation to achieve VPP STAR STATUS.
STAR STATUS is the highest rating that can be achieved under VPP, and it means that District 7 is one of the safest places to work in the country.
“The significance of this achievement cannot be overstated,” said VTrans Secretary David Dill. “These employees care so much about their own safety that they took it upon themselves to make incremental improvement over incremental improvement until they achieved something none of their peers have ever done. They have literally set a new standard for safety that will challenge highway workers across the nation to duplicate.”
VPP has traditionally focused on private sector businesses, with firms such as Earth Tech, General Electric, Ben & Jerry’s and Energizer successfully completing the process. These firms all experienced improved work place safety, reduced workers’ compensation claims, and increased productivity because of their participation in the VPP process.
The idea of a public sector transportation entity entering the VPP process was ground breaking, and District 7 wanted to be the first.
“We reanalyzed everything we do from a safety perspective, which is very empowering,” said Tom Lewis, a VTrans’ foreman in District 7. “This was completely employee driven. Most everyone bought in, and the entire process has been great for morale. And when morale improves, everything improves right along with it.”
Source: VTrans