UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

English | Spanish

Back to OSHA Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP) Home

OSHA and the Department of Army Strategic Partnership
Close-Out Report

On August 25, 2008, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the United States Army (Army) entered into an OSHA Strategic Partnership (OSP). The key goal of the OSP was to reduce the Army's civilian and contract worker injuries and illnesses through participation in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP).

The OSP was designed to support the goal of former President George W. Bush's Safety, Health and Return to Employment (SHARE) Initiative to reduce occupational injuries and illnesses by 3% per year. The SHARE Initiative concluded on October 1, 2009.

Based on changes within the Army's strategic approach to safety and health, organizational structure, resource levels, and safety and health metrics alignment with the terms of the OSP, OSHA and the Army have mutually agreed to conclude the National OSP as of August 15, 2010.

Through working to meet the OSP agreement's goals, a number of successes resulted from the OSHA and Army OSP were reported, including:

  • Development best practices:
    • Development of a New Employee Safety Orientation Enhanced Training Program to increase worker awareness of safety and the OSP
    • Development of an Ergonomics Lab to aid with the reduction of overexertion-type injuries
    • Implementation of SafeStart to increase worker involvement in safety
    • Conduct of daily safety meetings to discuss OSP goals and VPP status
    • Implementation of a safety stand-down training week
    • Implementation of an employee information system called SPIKE
    • Delivery of a weekly broadcast to address site safety and health concerns
  • Development of safety and health management systems:
    • As of December 31, 2009, five installations/sites applied to OSHA for VPP status, resulting in one approval (Fort Indiantown Gap, PA approved on December 19, 2008). The additional four installations/sites were pending onsite evaluations and/or VPP final approval
    • Also notable are the continued efforts by Red River Army Depot as an OSHA Challenge participant. Red River Army Depot applied for and has been actively participating in OSHA Challenge since the inception of the program in August 2007

Report prepared by: Al Woodson, Safety and Health Specialist, Office of Partnerships and Recognition, August 10, 2010.

Back to Top

Thank You for Visiting Our Website

You are exiting the Department of Labor's Web server.

The Department of Labor does not endorse, takes no responsibility for, and exercises no control over the linked organization or its views, or contents, nor does it vouch for the accuracy or accessibility of the information contained on the destination server. The Department of Labor also cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked Web sites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked Web site. Thank you for visiting our site. Please click the button below to continue.

Close