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Tinker recognized for best OSHA VPP?record keeping

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. O'Brien
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Despite the hype and accolades she's received, Holly Skinner refuses to take the credit. She said it isn't about her, she's merely the program manager and it was a team effort.

The Department of Defense Voluntary Protection Program's Center of Excellence recently recognized Tinker's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Recordkeeping program as a Best Practice.

"I am excited everyone's hard work is being recognized as a 'Best Practice.' They deserve the recognition," Ms. Skinner said. "None of this would be possible if Team Tinker was not dedicated and willing to work together to make this a program that has been lauded by DOD VPP CX and the local OSHA office."

The OSHA recordkeeping, required by Department of Labor law, takes employers' submitted reports regarding work-related fatalities, injuries and illnesses and compiles health data and analyzes the statistics.

Ms. Skinner said the 72nd Air Base Wing Safety Office tracks civilian and military on-duty injuries and illnesses, and military off-duty injuries. Additionally, personnel also track property damage.

The process begins when someone is injured at work. If the person is a civilian, their supervisor is informed and an appointment is made with a 72nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron's Occupational Medicine Flight doctor. After the appointment, an electronic OSHA 301 equivalent form is filled out and a copy is submitted to a folder on the safety office's server. Ms. Skinner said only select personnel have access to that folder.

"The occupational health of Tinker employees' is very much a team concept. Bioenvironmental Engineering identifies workplace hazards, which the physicians in Occupational Medicine use to assess whether an illness is related to a workplace exposure," said Dennis Higgins of the 72nd AMDS Public Health office. "This information is then used to identify trends, suggest solutions to problems and provide hazard education."

Ms. Skinner agreed.

"The occupational medicine flight is vital to this process," she said. "If they had not been willing to work with me on streamlining this procedure, the whole process would fall apart."

The recently submitted OSHA 301 equivalent form is reviewed by a safety professional and any information learned during an investigation is added to the database. The form is also reviewed by the supervisor who will have an opportunity to make comments.

The information is also applied to the base's Total Case Incident Rate, or TCIR, and the Days Away, Restricted or Transferred rate, also known as DART. Rates are calculated monthly and given to commanders and VPP representatives.

Tinker's program was submitted when Regi Davis, Tinker VPP program manager, suggested it be sent to base VPP Executive Steering Committee for a Best Practice nomination. After receiving accolades there, it was forwarded on to the DOD VPP CX.

"The DOD VPP CX chose Tinker's OSHA Recordkeeping program as Best Practice so other DOD organizations can use the information to assist them in their OSHA recordkeeping practices," Ms. Skinner said.

While she may not think she deserves the credit, Lt. Col. Aaron Troxell, 72nd ABW/SE chief, and Mary Dostal of the 76th Maintenance Wing Safety Office, said it's only appropriate.

"Our Center is extremely fortunate to have Ms Skinner managing our recordkeeping on injuries," Colonel Troxell said. "Her outstanding knowledge of recordkeeping standards and understanding of what is or is not reportable is well known here and in Air Force Materiel Command; it is no surprise the program she manages was selected as a best practice."

Ms. Dostal agreed.

"Holly has given a lot of credit to others; however, our current recordkeeping program evolved from Holly's initial efforts to design a system to capture the details necessary to provide our AFMC Headquarters Safety Office with the data they required," she said. "The system has grown and improved over time under Holly's management. When it becomes apparent that we need to capture or measure certain additional information, Holly makes the necessary modifications to the program to ensure a seamless transition. Having DOD VPP CX look at our program as a Best Practice validates our efforts and Holly's hard work to pull it altogether."