by Jbs 1126 a3 — November 28, 2008—The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently welcomed Parsons Corp. and Delta Air Lines as the seventh and eighth approved participants in OSHA’s elite Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) Corporate Pilot.
Criteria for VPP Corporate status include a substantial commitment to VPP at the corporate level; a comprehensive, organization-wide safety and health management system; and pre-screening processes to ready sites for VPP approval prior to OSHA review.
Founded in 1928, Delta Air Lines is one of the world’s largest commercial airlines with more than 53,000 employees. Delta and its subsidiaries combined have 12 active OSHA VPP sites. According to OSHA, Delta uses an analysis and risk management tool to track cases involving damage, first aid, near misses, recordable events, accidents and incidents from around the world. The company also uses a software program that tracks the location of each piece of equipment, generates a maintenance schedule and sends out a reminder notice to appropriate personnel when maintenance is due. In addition, Delta incorporates pictorial job safety analyses into worksite training programs that allow employees to see the specific equipment and/or tasks on which they are being trained.
With 11,500 employees worldwide, Parsons Corporation is one of the world’s largest engineering and construction firms. Founded in 1944, Parsons employs more than 3,500 contractors, which allows the company to influence the safety and health of an even larger number of employees. Currently, the Pasadena, CA-based company has seven active OSHA VPP sites. According to OSHA, Parsons implements a strong safety and health philosophy throughout the organization. The company created a vice president of safety position with a staff of more than 10 safety professionals, as well as administrative support staff, to address safety issues. Additionally, Parsons realigned its organizational structure so that safety representatives from all levels reported directly to the vice president of safety.
The companies join six other VPP Corporate Pilot participants: The Dow Chemical Company, Fluor Corporation, General Electric Company, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Washington Division of URS Corporation, and the US Postal Service.
