Region 10 News Release: 08-1258-SEA (#08-114)
Sept. 16, 2008
Contact: Jeannine Lupton
Phone: 206-553-7620
U.S. Labor Department's OSHA awards safety and health star to U.S. Postal Service's Anchorage Vehicle Maintenance Facility
SEATTLE -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will recognize the U.S. Postal Service's Anchorage Vehicle Maintenance Facility in Anchorage, Alaska, for excellence in employee safety and health when the agency welcomes the facility into its Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) at the star, or highest, level. A ceremony will be held Sept. 17 at 2 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time at the facility, which is located 8221 Petersburg St. in Anchorage.
The Anchorage Vehicle Maintenance Facility is a center for automotive repair, body and paint work and vehicle towing. The facility's staff maintains 268 postal delivery vehicles onsite and is responsible for another 118 vehicles at outlying Alaskan offices. The American Postal Workers Union represents the facility's 18 employees.
"The fact that the Anchorage Vehicle Maintenance Facility has been injury-free for a three-year period reflects highly on both managers and employees at this facility," said Richard S. Terrill, OSHA's regional administrator in Seattle.
The facility joins an elite corps of more than 2,000 worksites nationwide that have earned VPP status. The star designation came after an OSHA onsite review of the facility's safety and health programs, interviews with employees and a complete tour of the worksite. OSHA has approved the facility's VPP star status for three years.
VPP approval is OSHA's official recognition of the efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary performance in occupational safety and health. To qualify for VPP status, sites must meet or exceed all OSHA regulatory standards and submit to an OSHA review of their programs. Companies accepted into the VPP represent more than 270 industries, and achieve injury and illness rates of more than 50 percent below others in their respective industries.
OSHA has improved workplace safety and health over the past 37 years. This success is reflected in the latest data (2006) showing the lowest national injury and illness incidence rate that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has ever recorded. OSHA will continue to work diligently to focus its resources where they will have the most impact in assuring that every working man and woman returns home safely every day.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. OSHA's role is to promote the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
# # #
U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audiotape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America's employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.