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Base celebrates VPP safety Stars

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  • By John Parker
  • Staff Writer
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Nearly 400 members of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex on Wednesday celebrated achieving the U.S. Department of Labor's highest honor for exceptional workplace safety programs.

"This is about the safety of our workforce, our most valued resource," Brig. Gen. Mark Johnson, OC-ALC commander, said. "That's what's really important here, the fact that we have a safe operating environment for 9,000 great Americans who do great work for our country.

"It is one of the pillars of our mission and each member of our team is educated, enriched and empowered to embrace safety in their work setting."

The gathering inside the massive Bldg. 9001 production facility included VPP Star flag and plaque presentations for the 76th Commodities Maintenance Group, the 76th Maintenance Support Group and the 76th Propulsion Maintenance Group.

The 76th Software Maintenance Group was honored for its 2012 Star award and successful recertification last year.

Maureen Sullivan, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary of defense for environment, safety and occupational health, said the accomplishments show off the Air Force in a "very proud way."

"There are a thousand ways that you can get injured out here every single day," Secretary Sullivan said, "and what's so invaluable and important today is you found a way to make that a rare event."

The safety culture created at the OC-ALC is a powerful tool enabling the Air Force and workforce to accomplish the mission, the secretary said.

"It's the courage to say to your fellow worker, 'not in my shop, not on my floor,'" Secretary Sullivan said. "I know that you will have the backup to say 'no, this is not the right way to do things.' We have a better, more efficient, safer way to do things and you'll get the support for that."

The groups' management, unions, employees and OSHA experts worked years to implement the highest possible workplace health and safety practices through the Voluntary Protection Programs. The rigorous process includes employee interviews, on-site audits and safety management reviews.

The OC-ALC is the Air Force's first maintenance depot to claim four VPP Star groups. David Bates, OSHA's state director, told the audience that the best word he could think of for the accomplishment is "wow."

"We only have about 40 VPP companies in the state of Oklahoma, so this is quite the accolades you should receive," Mr. Bates said. "Management commitment and employee involvement is one of the hardest things to change in a workplace and you've done it here with four different departments."

The average VPP worksite has a lost workday incidence rate at least 50 percent below its industry average, OSHA reports. General Johnson and others thanked their "closest partner," the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916.
Local 916 President Carl Dahms thanked the complex's leadership and, "first and foremost," the employees.

"This program (VPP) requires a true partnership effort between the Agency and AFGE Local 916," Mr. Dahms said. "Without that partnership this would not be possible. We need to keep the partnership going. We need to make sure all our new employees who come in are buying into this program and we need to keep on doing what we're doing."
General Johnson said the OC-ALC is blessed with its union partnership.

"I meet with them daily, weekly, monthly -- sometimes it feels like hourly -- but we have great discussions and we have a great relationship," the general said. "We have a common goal: the care of our great workforce."

Tinker Air Force Base is Oklahoma's largest single-site employer.