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VPP programs a success with Union partnership

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. O'Brien
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The Voluntary Protection Program doesn't have to be "another" safety program. It can be "the" safety program and it can make a difference.

Unlike other safety programs that have been introduced in the past, base officials, including American Federation of Government Employees Local 916 President James Schmidt, insist VPP is different. The premise of VPP is employee participation versus a management mandate and that's a concept Mr. Schmidt said is fitting. Additionally, the more participation, the better the program will be.

"Because the Air Force already had so many rules and regulations, I thought Tinker was a pretty safe place. Within the union, I always thought there were some areas where we could improve, but I didn't think we would have such a drastic improvement by just having the employees working these areas and being involved," Mr. Schmidt said. "I was truly shocked when I learned incidents rates and lost work days had gone down so much. That was amazing to me."

Mandated by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld several years ago, the program is a cooperative relationship between the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, management, union and employees working together to ensure a better level of safety and health protection.

Several groups within the 76th Maintenance Wing have significantly reduced the number of accidents, injuries and work days. Those statistics are tracked by the Total Case Incident Rate and Days Away/Restricted/ Transferred rate.

Mr. Schmidt said among the most surprising factor was the substantial decrease in injuries and lost days with a small buy-in. Approximately only 35 percent of the union workforce has bought into the VPP program. And, that number may actually be smaller as not everyone who knows about the program is an active participant.

"There's some employee apathy -- they want to come to work, do their job, and go home. They don't want to be messed with. They don't want anything else on their plate. They think it actually takes time out of their day to visually spot an incident and report it," Mr. Schmidt said. "They don't see it as the great benefit it is."

If there were more active participants, Mr. Schmidt said the positive changes could be astronomical. Not only could accidents be prevented, but the atmosphere in the workplace could improve.

"With VPP, there are better work unity, shop unity and stronger communication between managers and employees, and co-worker to co-worker," Mr. Schmidt said. "When people start seeing their co-workers are looking out for them that helps foster a good working relationship."

Mr. Schmidt said the best way to improve the VPP statistics is to participate.

"Get involved and give it a chance," Mr. Schmidt said. "You get back as much as you're willing to invest. So, if they're not feeling this program is affecting them in a personal way, they should get more involved. There's no other program that gives them as much ownership of their work environment as VPP does."