Another investigation launched into OSHA’s VPP
February 14, 2012 by Fred HosierPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, OSHA news, Voluntary Protection Program, Workers' comp
PDF Questions about requirements to get into OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) date back all the way to a Government Accountability Office report in 2004. Now, yet another arm of the federal government is giving the VPP a close look.
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Inspector General (OIG) will take a look at the effectiveness of the VPP.
“Incorrect VPP approvals, during preliminary evaluation or a re-evaluation, could leave workers vulnerable,” the OIG says in its 2012 audit plan (PDF here) that lays out which DOL programs it will delve into this year.
OIG’s key questions: Is the VPP performance-based criteria clearly defined and applied consistently to all applicant worksites? Are the participants reevaluated consistently by the different OSHA regions?
The VPP recognizes worksites that implement effective safety and health systems and maintain injury rates below national averages. VPP participants that gain the highest rating are reevaluated every three to five years. Others are reviewed every 18 to 24 months. VPP participants are exempt from OSHA’s programmed inspections.
OSHA is conducting its own review of the VPP. An iWatchNews.org investigation last year showed a number of VPP facilities that experienced worker fatalities remained in the program. The investigation revealed 80 deaths at VPP sites between 2000 and 2008.
Injury rate survey under scrutiny, too
The OIG is also taking a look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) annual Survey of Occupational Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities (IFF).
The Senate Appropriations Committee has expressed concerns about discrepancies found between BLS’ IIF and state workers’ compensation reports. The additional worker injuries in the workers’ comp reports raise questions about the completeness of the BLS data.
OSHA administrator David Michaels believes worker injuries are undercounted by the BLS method.
OIG’s key questions about the BLS’ IFF: What are the differences between IFF data and state workers’ compensation reports that impact the usefulness and reliability of the BLS data? If there are differences, what are the causes? Are the differences indicators that the BLS data is inaccurate or unreliable?
What should OSHA do if the OIG finds serious deficiencies in the VPP and/or BLS IFF? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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Tags: BLS injury report, iWatchNews.org, VPP
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February 17th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
“The investigation revealed 80 deaths at VPP sites between 2000 and 2008″ according to the article. Let’s dissect the information to see what is ineffective.
Workplace Fatalities by year according to the BLS:
2000: 5,915
2001: 8,786 (High due to 9/11), for argument’s sake we remove those killed on 9/11 and the number is 5,900
2002: 5,524
2003: 5,559
2004: 5,703
2005: 5,764
2006: 5,703
2007: 5,488
2008: 5,071
From 2000-2008 there were 50,627 workplace fatalities. 80 of those were at VPP sites and were subject to normal OSHA investigations and citations. 0.18% of workplace fatalities occured at VPP facilities during this time period.
There were 50,547 fatalities at non-VPP sites from 2000-2008 or 99.82% of workplace fatalities.
Gee, who should we be worrying about?
February 21st, 2012 at 10:25 am
They are wasting more taxpayer money with these investigations. All they have to do is ask a safety professional working in the field. I can tell them why the workers comp data is different than the BLS data. First, they don’t collect BLS data from every business every year. Second, not all WC claims are recordle under the OSHA rule, as a matter of fact there are a lot that are not. Case closed, save our money and go on to more important things.
Next, VPP and SHARP work and work well. Leave them alone.