Does the Volunteer Protection Program under OSHA work?

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7/18/2011
Steve Lombardi
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Does the Volunteer Protection Program under OSHA work?

It's no surprise that Texas and Louisiana are a part of this program and have the more self-regulated sites than most other states participating. But how does one square away the 74 worker's killed since 2000 under this program?

The VPP is a self-regulated OSHA program that makes the employer responsible for safety; a fact that surprises me since I thought employers were already responsible for the safety of the workers. What this program seems to do is allow employers to be exempt from a simple inspection. Here is an excerpt from this very interesting story.

That status makes the refinery part of an elite group of businesses that serve as ambassadors between industry and the agency's safety inspectors. In exchange for professing a commitment to safety and carrying that message to private-sector peers, program members get a three-to-five-year exemption from routine OSHA inspections and a friendlier relationship with the feds, not to mention bragging rights useful to the public relations department. Created in 1982 as part of the Reagan Administration's effort to shrink the federal bureaucracy, the program was an experiment in industry self-policing.
The commitment to safety may be sincere, but evidence that the program is actually achieving its goals is hard to come by. The deaths at Marathon are not the only fatalities at these so-called model workplaces. Since 2000, at least 74 workers have died at certified sites and agency investigators found serious safety violations in at least 47 cases, according to records examined by The Lens in collaboration with Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News.
In Louisiana, there have been six deaths since 2000, including the three at Marathon in Garyville and two at other facilities that were linked to serious violations of their safety code. None of the Louisiana deaths resulted in companies losing model workplace status. Indeed, the disconnect between the Voluntary Protection Program's goals and its results is especially stark in Louisiana, where a large petrochemical industry puts workers in daily contact with life-threatening risks that are not measured by the program. The big problem, program critics contend, is that the potentially catastrophic risks inherent in refinery operations aren't meaningfully reflected in the personal-injury data that is the program's primary metric.
One has to wonder if this program will lead to more, not fewer, wrongful death lawsuits.

To read more about the VPP follow this link to Ariella Cohen's article on i-Watch News.

Category: Workers' Compensation

Labels: inspection iowa OSHA program safety worker workers' compensation

After a worker is injured is when they need the support of their employer the most. But injured workers aren't given a level playing field. The company doctor often times is not helping them and the case manager isn't either. The worker is left alone to fend for themselves and to make mistakes that result in lower benefits or fewer weeks of benefits. Some are sent back to work too soon. There is only one person on your side and that understands this system. If your lawyer doesn't understand the nature of this claim you've got the wrong lawyer. Steve Lombardi has practiced in the area of workers compensation for over 30 years. He's tried hundreds of cases for more than one thousand clients. If you'd like help finding a competent lawyer we do assist people in locating a lawyer in Iowa or in Illinois. Call us.

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