76th SMXG and MXW staff achieve VPP Star rating Published July 2, 2012 By Mike W. Ray Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The 76th Software Maintenance Group and the 76th Maintenance Wing staff have achieved a first for Tinker Air Force Base: Voluntary Protection Program Star status, after six years of concentrated effort. "You have joined an elite group of organizations that provide exemplary occupational safety and health protection and serve as models for others," they were informed recently by David Michaels, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health in the U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. "This has been a long time coming," said Paul Victorian, 76th SMXG VPP management representative. Indeed. The Wing instituted VPP in 2006 and, "We submitted our application for the Star rating on July 29, 2010," recalled Gloria McCue, an electronics engineer with the 558th Software Maintenance Squadron and one of the 11 members of the 76th SMXG/MXW VPP team. "It has taken 23 months to get to this point." "It took a year and a half to get the audit," noted Norman Wagner, program manager of the 76 SMXG/MXW Wing Staff VPP. A five-member team of inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration performed the audit the week of Dec. 5-9, 2011. The gap between the submission of the application and the performance of the audit was attributed to an OSHA backlog. Oklahoma is part of the five-state VPP Region VI, which also includes Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. With its Star rating, OSHA recognizes employers and employees who "demonstrate exemplary achievement in the prevention and control of occupational safety and health hazards, and the development, implementation and continuous improvement of their safety and health management system." The combined group numbers more than 900 employees: approximately 660 employees of the 76th SMXG working in 11 buildings scattered across Tinker AFB, and approximately 275 employees in the 76th MXW staff offices. "It involved a lot of people in a lot of buildings," said Mike Jennings, 76th SMXG deputy director. "This is another great example of the success that can be achieved through Union and Management partnering to ensure employee safety," said James W. Schmidt, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 916. "Empowered employees can truly accomplish any goal set before them." "This took a monumental effort on the part of all the employees, and management gave its wholehearted support," Mrs. McCue said. Since VPP is a "bottom-up, employee-driven program," the Star rating is "recognition of what our employees have accomplished," said Dr. Douglas Blake, 76th SMXG director. The next step is for the Star group to help mentor others at Tinker AFB who are trying to acquire the Star rating. They'll offer help to the four other units in the 76th Maintenance Wing: the Aircraft Maintenance Group, the Propulsion Maintenance Group, the Commodities Maintenance Group, and the Maintenance Support Group. "A couple of the other sites are getting ready to apply" for Star status, "and the others are still working on their programs," said Mr. Wagner, a management analyst with 76th SMXG. Ty Norton, AFGE Local 916 VPP program management team member, said the Commodities Maintenance Group will be the next unit to submit an application for the Star rating. The 76th CMXG has approximately 2,200 employees, said Mr. Norton, a pneudraulics mechanic with the 550th CMMXS. Employees from all of the MXW sites meet once a month to discuss the latest VPP measures they've undertaken, Mr. Victorian said. SMXG/Wing Staff also have sponsored various safety programs during June Safety Month, covering topics such as firearms safety, pet first aid, camping first aid, how to protect oneself from insects and snakes, and motorcycle safety, Mr. Wagner said. The 76th MXW was aided in its quest for VPP Star status by employees from the Valero refinery in Ardmore, which attained the Star rating. "Valero mentored us, so we'll go to a Special Government Employee school," and upon completion of that training "we'll offer ourselves" to join OSHA teams that audit other companies," Mr. Wagner said. The combined group's qualification for OSHA's premiere recognition program is "a testament to the efforts you and your workers have made to develop and implement VPP-quality safety and health management program," Dr. Michaels continued. "OSHA has learned that this program's approach to worker protection can save lives, reduce injuries and illnesses, and promote cooperation and communication in the workplace." The VPP "has enabled our workforce to take an active role in their safety and health management," said Jim Bligh, AFGE Local 916 Steward. Mr. Bligh is a jet engine mechanic with the 76th PMXG and is a member of the VPP program management team. "I have never seen a place more proactive about safety" than the 76th Maintenance Wing is, Dr. Blake said. The 900+ employees of the combined group recorded only two minor injuries or illnesses from February through October 2011, and no injuries or illnesses resulting in days away from work throughout that nine-month period. The Star rating demonstrates an applicant's "sustained excellence" in its safety programs, Mr. Victorian said. For example, Star applicants must maintain TCIR (Total Case Incident Rate) and DART (Days Away/Restricted or Transferred) rates below industry standards for three consecutive years. VPP has been thoroughly instilled in the everyday culture of the 76th SMXG and the MXW Staff. In 2006, the 76th MXW logged 13,000 lost-work days from sickness and job-related mishaps. By the end of FY2011, the lost-work days had shrunk by almost 81 percent, to 2,500, according to Ryan Smith, 76th MXW Safety Chief. The combined group currently has a TCIR of 0.11, compared to the industry standard of 4.9, and a DART that's also 0.11, compared to the industry standard of 3.1, Ms. McCue said. "Our goal for FY2012 is 0.00 on the DART and 0.54 on the TCIR," she said. The Star rating "shows that we've gone above and beyond minimum compliance" in the area of health and safety, said Chris Stulken of the 550th CMMXS and an AFGE representative on the VPP team. The Software Maintenance Group is widely perceived to be a collection of computer geeks who work in a low safety-threat environment," Dr. Blake acknowledged. However, he pointed out, "We have labs, too, and some of our people do industrial work. We do more than just sit in front of computers all day." Benefits that accrue to the entire base from the heightened focus on safety include increased productivity since fewer employees are absent because of illness or injury, and substantial savings from lower workers' compensation premiums. The OSHA Star rating is "a milestone, not an end state," Dr. Blake emphasized. "Now we have to sustain it." Recertification occurs every three to five years, he said. "We are always trying to do better, continuing to improve on the advances we have made and taking lessons learned and spreading them on the base and off-base, as well," he said. A formal ceremony to present a unique Star VPP flag and plaque to the combined groups is expected to be held in a few weeks.