Raytheon’s Seapower Capability Center, in Portsmouth, participates in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program, which educates employers on workplace hazards.

Raytheon Company

Many companies don’t exactly welcome the arrival of inspectors from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, part of whose mission is to enforce federal health and safety regulations. So to actually invite a team of OSHA inspectors to spend up to five days in the workplace is not an easy sell.

But OSHA has created cooperative efforts called Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) that involve precisely that. The programs are designed to recognize work sites that have taken extra steps to identify and eliminate health and safety hazards. According to OSHA, companies in the programs experience injury and illness rates at least 50 percent lower than their industry average, which means reduced absenteeism, lower insurance premiums and lower costs for worker’s compensation.

“It’s not just the right thing to do, but a sound business decision. It adds value,” said Robert Sands, VPP manager for the New England region.

There are 2,115 sites across the country that participate in the Voluntary Protection Programs, including 94 in New England and 6 in Rhode Island. They are: Modine Manufacturing Company, in West Kingston; Raytheon’s Seapower Capability Center, in Portsmouth; Tiverton Power, in Tiverton, U.S. Postal Service offices in Pawtucket and West Warwick, and WJAR-10 in Cranston.

OSHA, which is part of the Department of Labor, held an informational meeting at the New England Institute of Technology last Thursday for representatives of area companies to learn more about the Voluntary Protection Programs. Among those on hand were Sands and representatives of two companies that participate in the program, Raytheon and FLEXcon Co. in Spencer, Mass.

FLEXcon, which makes pressure-sensitive films, has been a participant in VPP since 1995. Raytheon is a relative newcomer; it received government approval for VPP last month, and plans a formal celebration on Nov. 24.

“I remember trying to sell it to the company. I got a lot of resistance — until the president came on board,” said Darwin Irish, director of risk management for FLEXcon, which has about 1,200 employees.

Larry Newsom, environmental health and safety manager for Raytheon, said there were a few reasons why the company decided to participate in VPP. Other defense contractors were becoming involved, he said. And VPP fit with Raytheon’s own corporate culture. “We already had a good safety program, but the stats had flattened out, and we wanted to know how we could get to the next level.”

OSHA representative Sands said the program goes back to 1979, but it moved slowly at first. In 1992 only 100 work sites around the country were taking part. By 2003 that number has risen to 1,000, and now the figure is more than 2,000.

Sands said participation in the program not only reduces the injury and illness rates, but results in increased production and better morale. The VPP system has different levels, Sands said. In order to qualify for the top level, a company must show a three-year average injury/illness rate below the industry standard as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Sands said to successfully take part in VPP, an organization needs both the committed leadership of management and the active participation of employees. Participants need to conduct a thorough work-site analysis to identify possible hazards, a program to correct them and training for employees, supervisors, managers and contract workers.

“Employee involvement is the key,” said Irish.

Irish also pointed out that getting approval for VPP status is only half the battle, because OSHA reviews VPP work sites periodically. “You need to maintain it,” Irish said. “You need to be creative and innovative in order to stay there.” (Work sites that are part of VPP are removed from routine OSHA inspection schedules, although the federal agency may still investigate major accidents and formal employee complaints.)

The steps to take part in VPP begin with an information package, then a written application, then an on-site review. Sands said OSHA typically sends out four inspectors to evaluate the workplace for VPP. “We don’t expect to find any severe hazards,” he said. “We expect basic OSHA compliance to already be in place. . . We want you to succeed.”

The “Achilles’ heel” for many organizations, Sands said, is often the outside contractors who might be working on site. Sands said organizations need to find ways to evaluate their contractors, monitor them while they’re on site, and, if necessary, fire them if they can’t conform to health and safety standards.

George Caras, mission center manager for Raytheon’s Seapower Capability Center, said taking part in VPP energizes employees and brings everyone together, including union leaders. Some employees at Raytheon’s Portsmouth facility are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

He said the VPP process is a validation of Raytheon’s values, and fits in with a company slogan “It’s Our House,” meaning employees should take the same pride in their workplace as they do their own homes.

asmith@projo.com