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Tinker DLA team moves forward with VPP

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. Armstrong
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The Defense Logistics Agency organizations at Tinker reached a milestone in the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's Voluntary Protection Program.

On Oct. 1, leaders from the DLA organizations at Tinker, the American Federation of Government Employees local union Chapter 916, the International Association of Fire Fighters local union Chapter 211 signed a VPP governance plan and letter of commitment.

"This signing represents the fact that we have the DLA-Tinker VPP program tied together and we're all working as a team toward a common goal," said Col. Kelly Larson, DLA Oklahoma City commander.

James Schmidt, AFGE Local 916 president, agreed.

"It's been a long road to get to agreement on this signed governance plan, but this is where the real work begins. We have a lot to do and through this program we will be able to work together for the betterment of employees and their safety," Mr. Schmidt said. "The VPP program will give employees a voice in their safety."

The DLA-Tinker team is comprised of approximately 1,000 personnel in six separate DLA organizations - DLA-OC; Defense Distribution Depot Oklahoma City; Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service; Business and Customer Relationship Management Office; Depot Level Reparables Procurement Operations and Document Automation & Production Service. Three of the six units report to offices in Richmond, Va. While the remaining units report to offices in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

The DDOO was the first of the units to begin VPP, the colonel said.

The unit began researching the program, identifying hazards and educating the workforce approximately two years ago. In January 2009, DLA Headquarters combined the six DLA-Tinker organizations into one VPP team. Because the team was so large, DLA-Tinker was divided into two smaller groups. One group is made up of DDOO, DRMS and AFGE representatives. While the other was comprised of DLA-OC, DLR, DAPS and AFGE representatives.

Once split, the two groups worked with one another to make their individual group VPP-ready.

"It is both exhilarating and exciting to be a part of the DLA-Tinker cultural revolution," said Augustus "Gus" Mays, DDOO director. "We spent the past 12 months transforming the organization in accordance with the four management principles of VPP - management leadership and employee involvement, work-site analysis, hazard prevention and control, and safety and health training."

Phillip Lee, DRMS site manager, agreed.

"Since the initiation of VPP at DLA-Tinker, we have focused on familiarization of all employees with the program and ensuring that all employees are actively involved in making their workplaces safer," he said. "By implementing VPP, it my expectation that safety will be in everyone's mind even during the planning phases."