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VPP Hits 2,000 as OSHA Recognizes Wyeth Pharmaceuticals

The developers at OSHA who created the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) back in 1982 envisioned a program that would bring together company managers, employees, union representatives, and OSHA in a proactive, cooperative effort to implement and model outstanding safety and health management systems. It was a radical idea for a federal regulatory agency better known at that time for issuing citations than trusting businesses to do the right thing voluntarily.

Twenty-six years later, VPP is the most prestigious workplace safety and health recognition program in the U.S. Representatives from other nations travel here to see how VPP works; giant multinational corporations use the VPP model at their facilities around the globe; the Department of Defense has determined that qualifying for VPP is the most effective way to reduce injuries and illnesses at its domestic bases; and OSHA envisions a day when every American worker is protected by an effective safety and health management system.

That vision is reality at Wyeth Pharmaceutical's 580-acre Pearl River complex in New York's Hudson Valley. On July 21, 2008, the facility's 3,200 employees and managers, joined by community leaders and national dignitaries, celebrated Pearl River's approval as a VPP Star worksite, the program's highest level of achievement and recognition. The event was a milestone for OSHA, too, as VPP hit the 2,000-participant mark.

"Achieving VPP takes dedication, planning and commitment," emphasized Assistant Secretary for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "It is not an easy road as you develop and learn to manage a detailed, comprehensive, and effective safety and health management system that is unique to the needs of your worksite. . . By your selection as VPP's 2,000th active participant, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Pearl River, proclaims both its individual success and the longstanding and growing success of VPP."

What did it take for Wyeth Pearl River, the largest employer in Rockland County, to become a VPP Star participant? The facility already had a long history of pioneering, breakthrough achievements. For 100 years, Pearl River has been developing and manufacturing vaccines and other drugs that have profoundly impacted the health and well-being of millions of children and adults around the world. A culture of excellence is firmly established.

Even so, it took two and a half years before the facility's diverse workforce – managers, research scientists, technicians, safety specialists, maintenance personnel, pharmaceutical and biotech operators, supervisors, shop floor personnel, quality personnel, directors – was ready for the OSHA VPP team that arrived last April for a week-long site evaluation. On the way to achieving VPP Star approval, Wyeth Pearl River
  • achieved an unprecedented level of management commitment and buy-in to integrating workplace safety and health into every aspect of planning and operations;

  • created new and expanded opportunities for meaningful employee involvement in the design and implementation of job hazard assessments, routine inspections, accident/incident investigations, emergency response, and other VPP-required and site-appropriate systems and procedures;

  • ensured that everyone working at the 550-acre campus participated in ongoing safety and health training that the OSHA team cited as a "best practice" in its recommendation for VPP Star approval.
"This achievement is the result of a two-and-a-half year effort to make workplace safety the responsibility of every employee on site," said Mike McDermott, Vice President, Site Operations for Wyeth in Pearl River. "Safety has always been a top priority in Pearl River, and when we applied for VPP, we set our sights on being the best in the industry. We worked aggressively to make improvements in our safety programs, communication and training, and we are delighted to be recognized as a VPP Star worksite, Wyeth's eighth Star."

It was hot and breezy at Wyeth Pearl River on July 21. The haunting sound of bagpipes filled the air as OSHA Regional Administrator Robert Kulick presided over the traditional VPP welcoming ceremony. Employees who had worked hard and long for this moment raised the VPP Star flag. A fire truck's sirens began to wail. And a 3,200-strong cheer went up: "VPP!"

For Susan Rera, Certified Industrial Hygienist and Associate Director Safety at Wyeth Pearl River, the flag raising was a moment of pride: pride in the team meetings, the hazard surveys and job analyses, the brainstorming, the efforts to reach consensus on what needed to be done and who would do it if Pearl River were to reach this day. And especially pride in the knowledge that almost every man and woman, from the manufacturing units to the research labs to the executive offices, had worked voluntarily and cooperatively to make Pearl River a safer and healthier workplace.

The flag raising was sweet culmination, but it wasn't an ending. The tagline on Susan Rera's email says it all: "We earned the Star...Now we must sustain and continue to improve!"

For more information about OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs and other cooperative initiatives, go to www.osha.gov, or go directly to the VPP webpage. Each OSHA Regional Office has a VPP Regional Manager who will be happy to meet with you and discuss how VPP can transform your organization into one of the Nation's safest and healthiest.