New era of safety inspections begin for GFAFB

  • Published
  • By 2d Lt Anastasia Wasem
  • 319th Air Refueling Wing public affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Grand Forks Air Force Base has begun a new method and era for conducting safety inspections, the Voluntary Protection Program, or VPP.

Currently, the present method used by the base to perform safety inspections is an annual inspection conducted by the ground safety staff. With this new method supervisors and workers will continually inspect for safety hazards and submit work requests as need arises during normal duties.

The uniqueness of this program, as opposed to the previous system of an annual inspection, is that the experts in a shop or unit, the workers, will be able to identify and more easily correct a hazard.

The outstanding statistics for this program can already be seen at worksites currently using VPP. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the average lost work day rate for companies implementing VPP is 52 percent less than the average for its industry.

According to the Department of Defense preventable injuries and illnesses cost an estimated $10 to $21 billion a year. However, with the use of VPP, 1800 companies have saved an estimated $1 billion since 1982.

For more information on this amazing program visit their website at http://www.vppcx.org/index.htm