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Report to Congressional Requesters: 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
GAO: 

May 2009: 

OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs: 

Improved Oversight and Controls Would Better Ensure Program Quality: 

GAO-09-395: 

GAO Highlights: 

Highlights of GAO-09-395, a report to congressional requesters. 

Why GAO Did This Study: 

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration 
(OSHA) is responsible for ensuring workplace safety. OSHA has 
established a number of programs, including the Voluntary Protection 
Programs (VPP), that take a cooperative approach to obtaining 
compliance with safety and health regulations and OSHA’s standards. 
OSHA established the VPP in 1982 to recognize worksites with exemplary 
safety and health programs. GAO was asked to review (1) the number and 
characteristics of employer worksites in the VPP and factors that have 
influenced growth, (2) the extent to which OSHA ensures that only 
qualified worksites participate in the VPP, and (3) the adequacy of 
OSHA’s efforts to monitor performance and evaluate the effectiveness of 
the VPP. GAO analyzed OSHA’s VPP data, reviewed a representative sample 
of VPP case files, and interviewed agency officials. 

What GAO Found: 

The VPP has grown steadily since its inception in 1982, with the number 
of employer worksites in the program more than doubling—from 1,039 
sites in 2003 to 2,174 sites in 2008. Although industries represented 
have not changed significantly, with the chemical industry having the 
largest number of sites in the VPP, the number of sites in the motor 
freight transportation industry—which includes U.S. Postal Service 
sites—increased tenfold from 2003 to 2008. The proportion of smaller 
VPP sites—those with fewer than 100 workers—increased from 28 percent 
in 2003 to 39 percent in 2008. Key factors influencing growth of the 
VPP have been OSHA’s emphasis on expansion of the program and VPP 
participants’ outreach to other employers. 

OSHA’s internal controls are not sufficient to ensure that only 
qualified worksites participate in the VPP. The lack of a policy 
requiring documentation in VPP files regarding follow-up actions taken 
in response to incidents, such as fatalities and serious injuries, at 
VPP sites limits the national office’s ability to ensure that its 
regions have taken the required actions. Such actions include reviewing 
sites’ safety and health systems and determining whether sites should 
remain in the program. GAO reviewed OSHA’s VPP files for the 30 sites 
that had fatalities from January 2003 to August 2008 and found that the 
files contained no documentation of actions taken by the regions’ VPP 
staff. GAO interviewed regional officials and reviewed the inspection 
files for these sites and found that some sites had safety and health 
violations related to the fatalities, including one site with seven 
serious violations. As a result, some sites that no longer met the 
definition of an exemplary worksite remained in the VPP. In addition, 
OSHA’s oversight is limited because it does not have internal controls, 
such as reviews by the national office, to ensure that regions 
consistently comply with VPP policies for monitoring sites’ injury and 
illness rates and conducting on-site reviews. For example, the national 
office has not ensured that regions follow up as required when VPP 
sites’ injury and illness rates rise above the minimum requirements for 
the program, including having sites develop plans for reducing their 
rates. 

Finally, OSHA has not developed goals or measures to assess the 
performance of the VPP, and the agency’s efforts to evaluate the 
program’s effectiveness have been inadequate. OSHA officials said that 
low injury and illness rates are effective measures of performance. 
These rates, however, may not be the best measures because GAO found 
discrepancies between the rates reported by worksites annually to OSHA 
and the rates OSHA noted during its on-site reviews. In addition, OSHA 
has not assessed the impact of the VPP on sites’ injury and illness 
rates. In response to a recommendation in a GAO report issued in 2004, 
OSHA contracted with a consulting firm to conduct a study of the 
program’s effectiveness. However, flaws in the design of the study and 
low response rates made it unreliable as a measure of effectiveness. 
OSHA officials acknowledged the study’s limitations but had not 
conducted or planned other evaluations of the VPP. 

What GAO Recommends: 

GAO is recommending that the Secretary of Labor direct OSHA to (1) 
develop a documentation policy for information on actions taken by OSHA’
s regions in response to fatalities and serious injuries at VPP sites, 
(2) establish internal controls that ensure consistent compliance by 
its regions with VPP policies, and (3) develop goals and performance 
measures for the VPP. OSHA generally agreed with these recommendations. 

View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-395] or key 
components. For more information, contact Anne-Marie Lasowski at (202) 
512-7215 or lasowskia@gao.gov. 

[End of section] 

Contents: 

Letter: 

Background: 

The VPP Has Grown Significantly in Recent Years Due to OSHA's Emphasis 
on Program Growth and Outreach to New Participants: 

OSHA's Internal Controls Do Not Ensure That Only Qualified Worksites 
Participate in the VPP: 

OSHA Has Not Adequately Assessed the Performance of the VPP or 
Evaluated Its Effectiveness: 

Conclusions: 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology: 

Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Labor: 

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

Tables: 

Table 1: Descriptions of the Three VPP Programs: 

Table 2: The Role of OSHA's Regional and National Offices in the VPP 
Approval Process: 

Table 3: Number of New VPP Sites, by Fiscal Year: 

Figures: 

Figure 1: Four Elements of a Comprehensive Safety and Health Management 
System: 

Figure 2: Number of VPP Sites in the Federally Managed and State 
Managed VPP, 1982 to 2008: 

Figure 3: Number of VPP Sites for Selected Industries, 2003 and 2008: 

Figure 4: Percentage and Number of Employees at VPP Sites, 2003 and 
2008: 

[End of section] 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

May 20, 2009: 

The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy: 
Chairman: 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Patty Murray: 
Chair: 
Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety: 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable George Miller: 
Chairman: 
Committee on Education and Labor: 
House of Representatives: 

In 2007, more than 5,800 workers in the United States died of work- 
related injuries, and a reported 4 million workers were injured or 
became ill on the job.[Footnote 1] The Department of Labor's 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is responsible for 
protecting the safety and health of the nation's workers under the 
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. OSHA helps ensure the 
safety and health of the over 112.5 million private sector workers at 
the approximately 8.6 million worksites nationwide by setting safety 
and health standards and inspecting worksites. OSHA has also 
established a number of programs, including the Voluntary Protection 
Programs (VPP), designed to reduce work-related fatalities, injuries, 
and illnesses through labor, management, and government cooperation. 
Through the VPP, OSHA recognizes employers with exemplary safety and 
health systems and relatively low injury and illness rates for their 
industries. OSHA exempts VPP sites from routine inspections, although 
these worksites are subject to inspections resulting from fatalities or 
other serious injuries or complaints from workers about safety or 
health hazards. 

At your request, we reviewed the VPP. Specifically, we (1) identified 
the number and characteristics of employer worksites in the VPP and 
factors that have influenced program growth, (2) determined the extent 
to which OSHA ensures that only qualified worksites participate in the 
VPP, and (3) assessed the adequacy of OSHA's efforts to monitor 
performance and evaluate the effectiveness of the VPP. 

To conduct our work, we reviewed relevant laws and regulations. We also 
analyzed data on the characteristics of all employer worksites in 
OSHA's VPP database. We reviewed the reliability of these data and 
determined them to be sufficiently reliable for this purpose. We also 
compared OSHA's VPP policies and procedures with internal control 
standards for the federal government.[Footnote 2] In addition, we 
reviewed OSHA's VPP case files for a randomly selected, representative 
sample of 184 VPP sites in the federally managed program as of June 
2008. We also reviewed OSHA's inspection records and VPP files for all 
VPP sites at which fatalities occurred from January 2003 to August 
2008. We discussed OSHA's policies and procedures and information in 
the files with officials in all 10 regional offices. We also reviewed 
the agency's performance and accountability reports and its management 
of the program relative to the guidelines in the Government Performance 
and Results Act of 1993.[Footnote 3] We conducted this performance 
audit from March 2008 through May 2009 in accordance with generally 
accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we 
plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence 
to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on 
our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a 
reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit 
objectives. See appendix I for detailed information on our scope and 
methodology. 

Background: 

OSHA is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Occupational 
Safety and Health Act of 1970 for about half the states;[Footnote 4] 
the remaining 26 states have been granted authority to set and enforce 
their own job safety and health standards under a state plan approved 
by OSHA.[Footnote 5] At present, 22 of these 26 states enforce 
occupational safety and health provisions under a state plan covering 
all worksites, and have their own VPP programs.[Footnote 6] The other 4 
states have plans covering only public sector employer worksites; VPP 
sites in these 4 states are part of OSHA's federally managed VPP. 

To help ensure compliance with federal safety and health regulations 
and standards, OSHA conducts enforcement activities and provides 
compliance assistance to employers. Enforcement represents the 
preponderance of agency activity and includes safety and health 
inspections of employer worksites.[Footnote 7] Among its compliance 
assistance efforts, OSHA established the VPP in 1982 to recognize 
worksites with safety and health systems that exceed OSHA's standards. 
A key requirement for participation in the VPP is that worksites have 
low injury and illness rates compared with the average rates for their 
respective industries.[Footnote 8] 

The VPP is divided into three programs (see table 1): the Star, Merit, 
and Star Demonstration programs. The Star program has the most 
stringent requirements because it is for worksites with exemplary 
safety and health systems that successfully protect employees from 
fatality, injury, and illness. 

Table 1: Descriptions of the Three VPP Programs: 

Program: Star; 
Description: Worksites with exemplary safety and health management 
systems that successfully protect employees from fatality, injury, and 
illness. OSHA also has deemed these worksites as being self-sufficient 
in their ability to control workplace hazards; 
Frequency of on-site reviews: Worksites are reevaluated every 3 to 5 
years[A]; 
Term of participation: No limit, as long as all Star program 
requirements are met. 

Program: Merit; 
Description: Worksites with good safety and health management systems 
that need some improvements to be judged exemplary. Merit worksites 
demonstrate the potential to meet goals tailored to each worksite and 
to meet the requirements of the Star program within 3 years; 
Frequency of on-site reviews: Worksites are reevaluated every 18 to 24 
months; 
Term of participation: 3 years[A]. 

Program: Star Demonstration; 
Description: Worksites, such as temporary construction sites, with 
safety and health management systems that differ in some significant 
fashion from the VPP model and, therefore, cannot meet the Star program 
requirements. Its purpose is to test whether employees' safety and 
health at these sites are protected as well as those at sites that meet 
the requirements of the Star level VPP; 
Frequency of on-site reviews: Worksites are reevaluated every 12 to 18 
months; 
Term of participation: 5 years. 

Sources: OSHA's VPP Policies and Procedures Manual and OSHA VPP 
Factsheet. 

[A] In some cases, a second term can be approved by the Assistant 
Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health. 

[End of table] 

OSHA's Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs--the national 
office--oversees the VPP activities of each of its 10 regional and 80 
area offices. Each regional office has a regional administrator, who 
coordinates all of the region's activities, including the VPP, and a 
VPP manager, who implements and manages the program. The VPP manager 
conducts outreach to potential VPP sites and encourages participants to 
continually improve their safety and health systems. In addition, the 
VPP manager coordinates the region's activities related to the program, 
such as reviews of applications submitted by potential sites and on- 
site reviews of VPP sites. 

Employer worksites apply to OSHA to participate in the VPP. They must 
meet a number of requirements, including having an active safety and 
health management system that takes a systems approach to preventing 
and controlling workplace hazards. As shown in figure 1, OSHA has 
defined four basic elements of a comprehensive safety and health 
management system. These requirements must be in place for at least 1 
year. In addition, there must be no ongoing enforcement actions, such 
as inspections, at the worksites or willful violations cited by OSHA 
within the 3-year period prior to the site's initial application to 
participate in the VPP. 

Figure 1: Four Elements of a Comprehensive Safety and Health Management 
System: 

[Refer to PDF for image: list] 

1. Management Leadership and Employee Involvement--Top-level management 
must be committed to carrying out written comprehensive safety and 
health systems. Employees must be actively involved in the execution of 
the program. 

2. Worksite Analysis--Employers must have a thorough understanding of 
all hazardous situations to which employees may be exposed, as well as 
the ability to recognize and correct these hazards. 

3. Hazard Prevention and Controls--The system must have clear 
procedures for preventing and controlling hazards identified through 
worksite analysis, such as a hazard tracking system and a written 
system for monitoring and maintaining workplace equipment. 

4. Safety and Health Training--Training is necessary to reinforce and 
complement management's commitment to safety and health and to ensure 
that all employees understand how to avoid exposure to hazards. 

Source: OSHA's VPP Policies and Procedures Manual. 

[End of figure] 

VPP sites are also required to have injury and illness rates below the 
average rates for their industries published by Labor's Bureau of Labor 
Statistics. These rates must be below the average industry rates for 1 
of the most recent 3 years. VPP sites are required to report their 
injury and illness rates to OSHA's regional offices annually. The VPP 
managers review this information and send summary reports to the 
national office. For each calendar year, the national office compiles a 
summary report of injury and illness rates for VPP sites participating 
in the program. 

OSHA determines whether worksites are qualified to participate in the 
VPP through its approval process, which includes an on-site review of 
each worksite. According to OSHA guidance, the regional offices are 
required to conduct an on-site review of each potential VPP site to 
ensure that the four elements are in place and to determine how well 
the site's safety and health management system is working. As part of 
these reviews, the regions are required to verify the sites' injury and 
illness rates, interview employees and management, and walk through the 
facilities. This initial on-site review usually lasts about 4 days and 
involves approximately three to five OSHA staff, according to OSHA's 
VPP policies. OSHA also uses volunteers from other VPP sites--Special 
Government Employees who have been trained by OSHA--to conduct some 
portions of these reviews. OSHA's national office is responsible for 
the initial approval of all new VPP sites. VPP sites in the Star 
program must also be reapproved every 3 to 5 years after an on-site 
review is conducted by the region. OSHA's approval process is outlined 
in table 2. 

Table 2: The Role of OSHA's Regional and National Offices in the VPP 
Approval Process: 

Phase: Initial application; 
Regional office: The VPP manager reviews the application for 
eligibility and communicates with applicant; 
National office: The VPP manager notifies the national office of 
pending applications. 

Phase: On-site review; 
Regional office: The VPP manager arranges an on-site review of the 
site. Upon completion of the on-site review, any safety and health 
hazards identified must be corrected before the site is approved for 
participation; 
National office: The VPP manager notifies the national office of 
scheduled on-site reviews. 

Phase: Approval of new VPP sites; 
Regional office: The regional administrator must make the 
recommendation for approval. Completed on-site reports for new 
applicants are sent to the national office for final approval; 
National office: The regional administrator must send completed on-site 
review reports to the national office, which reviews and approves the 
final report. The Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and 
Health must make the final decision on all new sites. 

Phase: Approval of continuing sites; 
Regional office: The VPP manager arranges an on-site review of the 
site. On-site review reports for continuing participants in the Star 
and Merit programs are reviewed and approved by the regional 
administrator; 
National office: The VPP manager sends the completed on-site review 
report to the national office, which reviews the final report, but the 
regional administrator has final approval authority for sites in the 
Star and Merit programs. 

Source: OSHA's VPP Policies and Procedures Manual. 

[End of table] 

Once they have been approved, VPP sites must commit to continuously 
improving the safety and health of their worksites, maintaining low 
injury and illness rates, and reporting annually to OSHA on the status 
of their safety and health systems. The VPP sites' annual reports 
detail their efforts to continuously improve and detail the sites' 
injury and illness rates. OSHA's regional offices review these reports 
to ensure that the VPP sites' injury and illness rates have not 
increased beyond the program's requirements. According to OSHA's VPP 
Policies and Procedures Manual, OSHA must request that a site withdraw 
from the VPP if it determines that the site no longer meets the 
requirements for VPP participation. OSHA may also terminate a site for 
failure to maintain the requirements of the program. The national 
office is responsible for collecting the injury and illness data 
reported annually by VPP sites to the regions. If VPP sites' 3-year 
average rates rise above the average rates for their industries 
published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the regions must place the 
site on a rate-reduction plan if an on-site review is not conducted 
that year or must place the site in a 1-year conditional status if an 
on-site review is conducted. The regions must also notify the national 
office of actions they take in response to incidents, such as 
fatalities and serious injuries, at VPP sites. The regions are required 
to review sites' safety and health systems after such incidents to 
determine (1) whether systemic changes are needed to prevent similar 
incidents from occurring in the future and (2) whether the site should 
remain in the program. The regions may also conduct on-site reviews of 
VPP sites if they determine that the incidents were related to 
deficiencies in the sites' safety and health management systems. The 
decision to recommend whether a site at which a fatality has occurred 
should remain in the program is left to the discretion of the regional 
administrator. 

The VPP Has Grown Significantly in Recent Years Due to OSHA's Emphasis 
on Program Growth and Outreach to New Participants: 

The VPP has grown steadily since its inception, with the number of 
employer worksites in the program more than doubling--from 1,039 sites 
in 2003 to 2,174 sites in 2008. During this period, the number of sites 
in the federally managed VPP, representing over two-thirds of all VPP 
sites, increased at a similar rate as the number of sites in the state 
managed programs. In 2003, there were 734 sites in the federal VPP and 
305 in the state managed VPP. By the end of 2008, both the federal and 
the state programs had more than doubled to 1,543 and 631, 
respectively. (See figure 2.) 

Figure 2: Number of VPP Sites in the Federally Managed and State 
Managed VPP, 1982 to 2008: 

[Refer to PDF for image: vertical bar graph] 

Year: 1982; 
Federally managed VPP: 8; 
State managed VPP: 1. 

Year: 1983; 
Federally managed VPP: 20; 
State managed VPP: 1. 

Year: 1984; 
Federally managed VPP: 30; 
State managed VPP: 1. 

Year: 1985; 
Federally managed VPP: 36; 
State managed VPP: 1. 

Year: 1986; 
Federally managed VPP: 44; 
State managed VPP: 1. 

Year: 1987; 
Federally managed VPP: 56; 
State managed VPP: 1. 

Year: 1988; 
Federally managed VPP: 61; 
State managed VPP: 1. 

Year: 1989; 
Federally managed VPP: 64; 
State managed VPP: 1. 

Year: 1990; 
Federally managed VPP: 70; 
State managed VPP: 1. 

Year: 1991; 
Federally managed VPP: 83; 
State managed VPP: 1. 

Year: 1992; 
Federally managed VPP: 107; 
State managed VPP: 3. 

Year: 1993; 
Federally managed VPP: 123; 
State managed VPP: 3. 

Year: 1994; 
Federally managed VPP: 181; 
State managed VPP: 13. 

Year: 1995; 
Federally managed VPP: 217; 
State managed VPP: 26. 

Year: 1996; 
Federally managed VPP: 281; 
State managed VPP: 43. 

Year: 1997; 
Federally managed VPP: 341; 
State managed VPP: 64. 

Year: 1998; 
Federally managed VPP: 391; 
State managed VPP: 99. 

Year: 1999; 
Federally managed VPP: 473; 
State managed VPP: 122. 

Year: 2000; 
Federally managed VPP: 541; 
State managed VPP: 163. 

Year: 2001; 
Federally managed VPP: 601; 
State managed VPP: 208. 

Year: 2002; 
Federally managed VPP: 659; 
State managed VPP: 265. 

Year: 2003; 
Federally managed VPP: 734; 
State managed VPP: 305. 

Year: 2004; 
Federally managed VPP: 882; 
State managed VPP: 366. 

Year: 2005; 
Federally managed VPP: 1,021; 
State managed VPP: 432. 

Year: 200; 
Federally managed VPP: 1,163; 
State managed VPP: 502. 

Year: 2007; 
Federally managed VPP: 1,363; 
State managed VPP: 562. 

Year: 2008; 
Federally managed VPP: 1,543; 
State managed VPP: 631. 

Source: GAO analysis of OSHA data. 

[End of figure] 

Although the industries represented in the VPP did not change 
significantly from 2003 to 2008, there were substantial increases in 
certain industries. The largest industry in the VPP was the chemical 
industry, which accounted for a 43 percent increase in the number of 
VPP sites, from 208 in 2003 to almost 300 in 2008. The motor freight 
transportation industry, which had only 20 sites in 2003, grew tenfold 
to just over 200 sites in 2008, due in part to the growth in the number 
of Postal Service sites. In addition, the number of sites in the 
electric, gas, and sanitary services industries increased from about 50 
sites to more than 200 during the same period. See figure 3 for a 
comparison of the largest industries represented in the VPP in 2003 and 
2008. 

Figure 3: Number of VPP Sites for Selected Industries, 2003 and 2008: 

[Refer to PDF for image: vertical bar graph] 

Industry group: Chemicals and allied products; 
2003: 208; 
2008: 298. 

Industry group: Electric, gas, and sanitary services; 
2003: 53; 
2008: 220. 

Industry group: Motor freight transportation and warehousing; 
2003: 20; 
2008: 201. 

Industry group: Lumber and wood products; 
2003: 89; 
2008: 130. 

Industry group: Paper and allied products; 
2003: 87; 
2008: 108. 

Industry group: Transportation equipment; 
2003: 60; 
2008: 93. 

Industry group: Rubber and miscellaneous plastics products; 
2003: 37; 
2008: 80. 

Source: GAO analysis of OSHA data. 

[End of figure] 

While 4 federal worksites--including the Tobyhanna Army Depot in 
Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, and the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia--have 
participated in the VPP since the late 1990s, the number of federal 
worksites increased to almost 10 percent of all VPP sites in 2008. At 
the end of 2008, almost 200 VPP sites were federal agencies or Postal 
Service sites. The majority of these sites--157--were post offices, 
processing and distribution centers, and other postal facilities, while 
most of the remaining sites were Department of Defense facilities, such 
as naval shipyards, Army depots, and Air Force facilities. In addition, 
from 2005 to 2008, 7 OSHA area offices in 1 region were approved as new 
VPP sites as a result of OSHA's efforts to have all of its offices 
participate in the program so that they could be role models for the 
federal agencies. 

The average size--based on the number of employees--of VPP sites has 
become increasingly smaller in the last 5 years. From 2003 to 2008, the 
average number of employees at VPP sites decreased from 501 to 408. In 
addition, the median size of a VPP site decreased from 210 to 145 
employees. As shown in figure 4, the proportion of VPP sites with fewer 
than 100 workers increased from 28 percent in 2003 to 39 percent in 
2008. Across all VPP sites, the number of employees covered by the VPP 
has grown to over 885,000 workers. 

Figure 4: Percentage and Number of Employees at VPP Sites, 2003 and 
2008: 

[Refer to PDF for image: two pie-charts] 

Year: 2003: 
100 or less: 28%; 
101-200: 21%; 
201-500: 27%; 
501-1,000: 14%; 
More than 5,000: 10%. 

Year: 2008: 
100 or less: 39%; 
101-200: 19%; 
201-500: 22%; 
501-1,000: 12%; 
More than 5,000: 8%. 

Source: GAO analysis of OSHA data. 

[End of figure] 

A key factor influencing growth of the VPP has been OSHA's emphasis on 
expansion of the program. For example, in 2003, the Secretary of Labor 
for OSHA announced plans to expand eligibility for the VPP to reach a 
larger number of worksites. These plans included adding more federal 
sites, such as Department of Defense facilities and certain types of 
construction sites. OSHA's national office has given each of its 10 
regions targets for the number of new sites to be approved each year. 
While the regions did not always meet these targets from fiscal years 
2003 to 2008, they generally increased the number of new sites each 
year, as shown in table 3. 

Table 3: Number of New VPP Sites, by Fiscal Year: 

Targeted number in OSHA's Annual Operating Plan[A]: 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2003: 125; 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2004: 255; 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2005: 193; 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2006: 244; 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2007: 285; 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2008: 279. 

Actual number approved: 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2003: 112; 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2004: 158; 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2005: 159; 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2006: 191; 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2007: 258; 
New VPP sites, by fiscal year: 2008: 230. 

Source: OSHA. 

[A] These targets are for federally managed VPP sites only; they do not 
include sites in state managed programs. 

[End of table] 

Several OSHA regional administrators told us that expanding the program 
beyond the current level of approved sites will be difficult, given 
their current resources. 

Another factor influencing the growth of the VPP is outreach efforts, 
including participants' outreach to other employers and employers 
seeking out the program after hearing about it from OSHA or other 
employers. According to OSHA officials and VPP participants, outreach 
efforts focus on the positive benefits of the program, including 
improved productivity of workers at VPP sites and decreased costs, such 
as reductions in sites' workers' compensation insurance premiums due to 
lower injury and illness rates. Some employers, such as the Postal 
Service, also cite avoidance of the costs of workplace injuries--which 
the National Safety Council estimated as approximately $39,000 per 
year, per incident in 2007--as one of the benefits of participation. In 
addition, the national association of VPP participants, the Voluntary 
Protection Programs Participants' Association, contributes to program 
growth through its mentoring program in which current participants help 
new sites meet the qualifications of the VPP. 

We interviewed employees from VPP sites, and their perspectives varied. 
Employees who supported the program told us that the benefits include 
having a more collaborative partnership between OSHA, management, and 
workers; establishing a "mindset of safety"; and addressing several 
safety problems at one worksite that workers had tried for several 
years to have corrected. Those who did not fully support the program 
included employees at VPP sites who told us that they recognized some 
of the benefits of the VPP, but that they had reservations about the 
program. For example, some employees were concerned that, after the 
application process and initial on-site review had been completed, 
sites may not maintain the high standards that qualified them for 
participation. Furthermore, some employees said that the injury and 
illness rates requirements of the VPP are used as a tool by management 
to pressure workers not to report injuries and illnesses. 

OSHA's Internal Controls Do Not Ensure That Only Qualified Worksites 
Participate in the VPP: 

OSHA's internal controls are not sufficient to ensure that only 
qualified worksites participate in the VPP. First, OSHA's oversight is 
limited by the minimal documentation requirements of the program. 
Second, OSHA does not ensure that its regional offices consistently 
comply with its policies for the VPP. 

OSHA Lacks a Policy Requiring Documentation of Actions Taken by the 
Regions in Response to Fatalities and Serious Injuries at VPP Sites: 

OSHA's lack of a policy requiring documentation in the VPP files of 
actions taken by the regions in response to incidents, such as 
fatalities and serious injuries, at VPP sites limits the national 
office's ability to ensure that regions have taken the required 
actions. OSHA's VPP Manual requires regions to review sites' safety and 
health systems after such incidents to determine whether systemic 
changes are needed to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the 
future and whether the site should remain in the program. However, the 
manual does not require the regions to document their decisions or 
actions taken in the VPP files, which would allow OSHA's national 
office to ensure that the regions took the appropriate actions. When 
fatalities, accidents, or other incidents involving serious safety and 
health hazards occur at any VPP site, OSHA's policy requires that 
enforcement staff conduct an inspection of the site. In these cases, 
the area director is required to notify the VPP manager and send a 
report of the inspection. The VPP manager is then required to report 
information on the incidents that occurred to the Assistant Secretary 
for Occupational Safety and Health, the Director of Cooperative and 
State Programs, and the regional administrator. The decision on whether 
to conduct an on-site review after such an incident is left to the 
discretion of the regional administrator based on the results of the 
enforcement inspection. These reports, however, are not required to be 
included in the VPP files maintained by the regions. OSHA has a draft 
policy that sets time frames for retention of documents in the VPP 
files, but the policy does not contain guidance regarding the types of 
actions that must be documented in the files. Some regional VPP 
officials told us that they have requested such guidance from OSHA's 
national office, but the national office has not issued a directive on 
what information should be documented in the files or on how long it 
should be retained. The OSHA official responsible for overseeing the 
program did not agree with regional VPP officials, and stated that the 
VPP Manual addresses the documentation requirements. However, the 
manual does not require actions taken by the regions in response to 
fatalities and serious injuries to be documented in the VPP files. 

From our review of OSHA's VPP files, we found that there was no 
documentation of actions taken by the regions' VPP staff to (1) assess 
the safety and health systems of the 30 VPP sites where 32 fatalities 
occurred from January 2003 to August 2008 or (2) determine whether 
these VPP sites should remain in the program. We obtained information 
on VPP sites at which fatalities occurred during this period from 
OSHA's national office.[Footnote 9] To determine what actions were 
taken in response to the fatalities, we interviewed regional VPP staff 
and reviewed the regions' inspection and VPP files for the sites with 
fatalities. Although the actions taken by the regional VPP staff were 
not documented in the VPP files, we reviewed the inspection files and 
interviewed the VPP staff to determine the actions they took in 
response to the fatalities.[Footnote 10] The VPP managers told us that 
they placed 5 of the 30 sites on 1-year conditional status, and that 5 
sites voluntarily withdrew from the VPP. OSHA allowed 17 of the sites 
to remain in the VPP--some in the Star program and some in the Merit 
program--until their next regularly scheduled on-site reviews. One of 
these sites had 3 separate fatalities over the 5-year period. Another 
site received 10 violations related to a fatality, including 7 serious 
violations[Footnote 11] and 1 violation related to discrepancies in the 
site's injury and illness logs. OSHA allowed this site to continue to 
participate in the VPP as a Star site. Three sites had not been 
reviewed by the regional VPP staff because OSHA's enforcement staff had 
not completed their investigations of the sites. As a result, sites 
that did not meet the definition of the VPP's Star program to 
"successfully protect employees from fatality, injury, and illness" 
have remained in the program. 

OSHA's Internal Controls Do Not Ensure That Its Regional Offices Comply 
with VPP Policies: 

OSHA's oversight of the VPP is limited because it does not have 
internal controls, such as management reviews by the national office, 
to ensure that its regions consistently comply with VPP policies for 
verifying sites' injury and illness rates and conducting on-site 
reviews. Although having relatively low injury and illness rates are 
key criteria for program participation, the regions do not always 
verify sites' rates according to OSHA's policies. For example, the VPP 
Manual requires that, prior to conducting an on-site review, the region 
must obtain written approval from the national office allowing access 
to medical information related to injuries and illnesses at the site 
[Footnote 12]. However, our review of the VPP files and information 
from OSHA's national office showed that, for almost 80 percent of the 
cases, regions did not obtain such written approval prior to conducting 
their on-site reviews. As a result, the regions did not have access to 
workers' medical records needed to verify sites' injury and illness 
rates, and the national office had no assurance that the regions 
verified these rates as required. 

In addition, OSHA's national office did not review the actions taken by 
the regions to ensure that they followed up when VPP sites' injury and 
illness rates rose above the minimum requirements for the program. From 
our review of OSHA's 2007 summary report of injury and illness rates 
for VPP sites, we found that, for 12 percent of the sites, at least one 
of their 3-year average injury and illness rates was higher than the 
average injury and illness rates for their industries.[Footnote 13] For 
example, one VPP site reported a 3-year average injury and illness rate 
of 10.0, which was 7.6 points higher than the industry average of 2.4. 
Similarly, another site's 3-year average injury and illness rate was 
7.5 points higher than the industry average. We found that this site's 
injury and illness rate had also been above the industry averages for 
each of the previous 4 years, yet it remained in the VPP Star program. 
OSHA's national office does not require regions to report information 
on actions taken to ensure that sites lower their injury and illness 
rates when these rates rise above the industry averages. The national 
office, therefore, cannot ensure that the regions take action as 
required. As a result, some sites that have not met a key requirement 
of the VPP have remained in the program. 

Finally, some regions conducted less comprehensive reviews of VPP sites 
than those required by the VPP Manual. In an effort to leverage its 
limited resources, OSHA permitted two regions to conduct abbreviated on-
site reviews as part of a pilot program in which the regions were 
allowed to evaluate only one or two elements of sites' safety and 
health management systems, rather than all four elements.[Footnote 14] 
From our review of the VPP files, we estimated that, from 2000 to 2006, 
OSHA conducted abbreviated on-site reviews of almost 10 percent of its 
sites. As a result, some sites for which OSHA reviewed only two of the 
four elements may not have met all of the minimum requirements to 
participate in the program. According to the OSHA official responsible 
for managing the VPP, the agency discontinued its use of these 
abbreviated reviews after learning from the pilot that it is difficult 
to isolate certain program elements, and that evaluating only one or 
two elements leaves out key aspects of the program because the four 
elements are interrelated. 

OSHA Has Not Adequately Assessed the Performance of the VPP or 
Evaluated Its Effectiveness: 

OSHA's efforts to assess the performance of the VPP and evaluate its 
effectiveness are not adequate. First, OSHA has not developed 
performance goals or measures to assess the performance of the program. 
Second, OSHA contracted for a study of the VPP to evaluate its 
effectiveness, but the study was flawed. 

OSHA Has Not Developed Performance Goals or Measures to Assess 
Performance: 

OSHA has not developed performance goals or measures for the VPP to 
assess the program's performance. The Government Performance and 
Results Act of 1993 requires agencies to set goals and report annually 
on program performance by measuring the degree to which the program 
achieves those goals. OSHA officials told us that, while they have not 
established specific goals for the VPP, the best measure of program 
performance is that VPP participants consistently report average injury 
and illness rates that are about 50 percent below their industries' 
average rates.[Footnote 15] However, these rates may not be the best 
measure of performance. First, our analysis of OSHA's annual summary 
reports of injury and illness rates for 2003 through 2007 showed that, 
for 35 percent of the sites in our sample for which data were 
available, there were discrepancies between the injury and illness 
rates reported by the sites and the rates noted in OSHA's regional on- 
site review reports for the same time periods.[Footnote 16] For 
example, OSHA's 2007 summary report showed that one VPP site reported 
an injury and illness rate of zero, but OSHA found during its on-site 
review that the rate was actually 1.7 for the same period. Second, OSHA 
has not evaluated the impact of the VPP on sites' injury and illness 
rates, such as comparing VPP sites' injury and illness rates with those 
of similar sites that do not participate in the program. 

OSHA also does not use information reported annually by VPP sites to 
develop goals or measures that could be used to assess program 
performance. VPP participants are required to conduct annual self 
assessments of their sites and to report this information to OSHA. The 
reports are to contain: 

* a review of the site's safety and health management system, including 
safety and health hazards identified and the steps taken to correct 
them; 

* a description of any significant management changes that can affect 
safety and health at the site, such as changes in ownership; and: 

* information on benefits related to participation in the VPP, such as 
cost savings due to lower workers' compensation insurance premiums, 
decreased turnover and absenteeism, and increased productivity. 

However, OSHA's national office does not use the information from these 
reports because most of this information is maintained in the regional 
offices, and they are not required to send it to the VPP national 
office. 

OSHA Has Not Adequately Evaluated the Effectiveness of the VPP: 

In response to a recommendation in our 2004 report[Footnote 17] that 
the agency evaluate the effectiveness of the VPP, OSHA contracted with 
The Gallup Organization to study the effectiveness of the program--the 
results of which were reported in September 2005.[Footnote 18] As part 
of this study, OSHA identified two objectives that included (1) 
determining the impact of its outreach and mentoring programs on 
potential and new VPP sites' safety and health systems and (2) 
determining changes in the VPP sites' injury and illness rates due to 
their participation in the program. To obtain information for this 
study, The Gallup Organization sent a questionnaire to all VPP sites 
participating in the federally managed program.[Footnote 19] However, 
the study had significant design flaws. Specifically, the response 
rates by participants were low (46 percent overall, and 34 percent 
completed the questionnaire), and the data reported by participants 
were not validated. For example, a review of the sites' mentoring and 
outreach efforts, which are not indicators of program performance, made 
up two-thirds of the report, and other factors that could have 
influenced the sites' injury and illness rates were not considered or 
measured. Because of these limitations, we concluded that the report's 
findings were not reliable or valid and could not be used to 
demonstrate the effectiveness of the VPP. 

In our discussions with OSHA officials, they acknowledged the 
limitations of the study, but said they have not conducted any 
additional evaluations of the VPP and have no plans to conduct future 
evaluations of the effectiveness of the program. Officials said they do 
not need to do so because the low injury and illness rates reported by 
VPP participants are the best measure of the program's effectiveness. 
However, without a more reliable evaluation of the program, OSHA does 
not know whether the program is effectively meeting its objective of 
recognizing worksites with exemplary safety and health management 
systems that exceed OSHA's standards. 

Conclusions: 

OSHA continues to expand the VPP, which adds to the responsibilities of 
staff who manage and maintain the integrity of the program and reduces 
the resources available to ensure that non-VPP sites comply with safety 
and health regulations and with OSHA's standards. In the absence of 
policies that require its regional offices to document information 
regarding actions taken in response to fatalities and serious injuries 
at VPP sites, OSHA cannot ensure that only qualified sites participate 
in the program. In addition, some sites with serious safety and health 
deficiencies that contributed to fatalities have remained in the 
program, which has affected its integrity. Without sufficient oversight 
and internal controls, OSHA's national office cannot be assured that 
the regional offices are following VPP policies. Finally, because OSHA 
lacks performance goals and measures to use in assessing the 
performance of the VPP, it continues to expand the program without 
knowing its effect on employer worksites, such as whether participation 
in the VPP has improved workers' safety and health. 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

To ensure proper controls and measurement of program performance, the 
Secretary of Labor should direct the Assistant Secretary for 
Occupational Safety and Health to take the following three actions: 

* develop a documentation policy regarding information on follow-up 
actions taken by OSHA's regional offices in response to fatalities and 
serious injuries at VPP sites; 

* establish internal controls that ensure consistent compliance by the 
regions with OSHA's VPP policies for conducting on-site reviews and 
monitoring injury and illness rates so that only qualified worksites 
participate in the program; and: 

* establish a system for monitoring the performance of the VPP by 
developing specific performance goals and measures for the program. 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

We provided a draft of this report to the Secretary of Labor for 
comment. We received written comments from the Assistant Secretary for 
Occupational Safety and Health, which are reproduced in their entirety 
in appendix II. The agency also provided technical comments, which we 
incorporated in the report as appropriate. 

OSHA agreed with our recommendations to develop better documentation 
requirements and strengthen internal controls to ensure consistent 
compliance with VPP policies across its regions. Regarding our 
recommendation to develop performance goals and measures for the VPP to 
use in monitoring performance, OSHA stated that it would continue to 
identify and refine appropriate performance measures for the program. 

As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents 
of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days 
from the report date. At that time, we will send copies of this report 
to relevant congressional committees, the Secretary of Labor, and other 
interested parties. The report will also be available at no charge on 
GAO's Web site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. 

If you or your staffs have any questions about this report, please 
contact me at (202) 512-7215 or lasowskia@gao.gov. Contact points for 
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found 
on the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are 
listed in appendix III. 

Signed by: 

Anne-Marie Lasowski: 
Director, Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues: 

[End of section] 

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology: 

To identify the number and characteristics of employer worksites in the 
Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), we analyzed data in the Department 
of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) VPP 
database. We reviewed data in OSHA's VPP database for all sites in the 
VPP--both those in the federally managed program and in the VPP 
programs managed by the states. We analyzed data on VPP participation 
activity from the inception of the program in 1982 through the end of 
calendar year 2008. Prior to our analysis, we assessed the reliability 
of the information in OSHA's VPP database by interviewing OSHA 
officials; reviewing related documentation, including the data system 
user manual; and conducting electronic testing of the data. On the 
basis of our review of the database, we found that the data were 
sufficiently reliable to report the number and characteristics of 
participants in the VPP. To determine the factors that contributed to 
growth in program participation, we obtained information about the VPP 
from officials at OSHA's national office and the 10 regional offices. 
To enhance our understanding of the VPP from the perspective of the 
participants, we interviewed employees, including union and nonunion 
employees at VPP sites as well as employees from sites that elected not 
to participate in the VPP. 

To determine the extent to which OSHA ensures that only qualified 
worksites participate in the VPP, we reviewed OSHA's internal controls 
for the program and limited our review to VPP sites in the federally 
managed program that were part of the Star program. We reviewed sites 
in the federally managed program because they represent over 70 percent 
of the sites in the program--1,543 of the 2,174 sites--and because the 
policies and practices for the state managed programs differ from state 
to state. We reviewed sites in the Star program because they 
represented more than 95 percent of sites in the federally managed VPP 
at the time of our review, and because the Star program has the most 
stringent requirements. To assess OSHA's internal controls, we compared 
OSHA's VPP Policies and Procedures Manual with GAO's Standards for 
Internal Control in the Federal Government.[Footnote 20] We also 
reviewed OSHA's policies and procedures for the federal VPP, including 
(1) procedures for on-site reviews of VPP sites, (2) annual reporting 
requirements for VPP sites to report data to the regions, and (3) 
requirements for regional offices to report information to OSHA's 
national office. To determine the extent to which OSHA complied with 
its procedures in approving initial and renewing VPP participants, we 
reviewed OSHA's VPP files for a randomly selected, representative 
sample of VPP sites in the program as of April 2008. Estimated 
percentages derived from this sample have confidence intervals of no 
more than +/-7 percent. The files, maintained by OSHA's regional 
offices, contained reports of the regions' on-site reviews of VPP 
sites.[Footnote 21] We reviewed the reports of the reviews conducted 
prior to the sites' initial acceptance and, if they had been in the 
program long enough to be reapproved, the most recent review conducted. 
We reviewed the VPP files and interviewed officials at OSHA's regional 
offices in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, New York, and Philadelphia. We 
selected these sites to obtain a geographic range of regional offices 
with small, medium, and large numbers of VPP sites. We interviewed 
officials in the five remaining regional offices in Chicago, Denver, 
Kansas City, San Francisco, and Seattle by telephone and had them send 
the VPP files for their sites to us for review. 

To determine what actions OSHA took in response to fatalities at VPP 
sites, we asked OSHA's national office for a list of all sites at which 
fatalities occurred from January 2003 to October 2008. The national 
office asked the regions to provide this information, and the national 
office provided this information to us. We reviewed the inspection and 
VPP files maintained by the regional offices for these sites and 
interviewed VPP managers about the actions taken by the regions in 
response to the fatalities. Finally, we reviewed other information 
provided by the regional offices to the national office, such as data 
on the injury and illness rates for each VPP site that are reported by 
the sites annually to OSHA and tracked by the national office on 
electronic spreadsheets. 

To assess the adequacy of OSHA's efforts to assess the performance and 
effectiveness of the VPP, we reviewed its policies and procedures, 
performance and accountability reports, operating plans, and The Gallup 
Organization's 2005 evaluation report of the VPP.[Footnote 22] We 
reviewed these documents relative to the guidelines in the Government 
Performance and Results Act of 1993. To verify the injury and illness 
rates reported by VPP sites to OSHA's regions in the sites' annual 
reports, we compared the data tracked by the national office on sites' 
injury and illness rates with the rates reported in OSHA's on-site 
reviews for the sites in our sample of 184 sites. We assessed the 
Gallup study on the basis of commonly accepted program evaluation 
standards. 

We conducted this performance audit from March 2008 through May 2009 in 
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those 
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain 
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that 
the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 
conclusions based on our audit objectives. 

[End of section] 

Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Labor: 

U.S. Department of Labor: 

May 15, 2009: 

Anne-Marie Lasowski: 
Director: 
Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
441 G Street NW: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

Dear Ms. Lasowski: 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Government 
Accountability Office's (GAO) proposed report, OSHA 's Voluntary 
Protection Programs: Improved Oversight and Controls Would Better 
Ensure Program Quality. OSHA welcomes GAO's analysis and suggestions 
for improving the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP). The Agency takes 
seriously the VPP principle of continuous improvement, which we require 
of both participants and ourselves. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 mandates that both 
regulatory and nonregulatory measures be taken for assuring workplace 
safety and health. VPP, which falls into the latter category, has been 
a significant part of OSHA's strategic approach to strengthening worker 
protection. Since 1982, VPP has encouraged employers to pursue and 
adopt effective workplace safety and health management systems which 
include demonstrated management leadership and meaningful worker 
participation. It is OSHA's hope that these companies set an example 
for others to follow in establishing safety and health programs and 
reducing injuries and illnesses. The independent analysis GAO has 
conducted makes clear that there is a need to strengthen VPP 
documentation and oversight activity. The Agency shares the concerns 
addressed by the first two recommendations and is committed to 
developing better documentation requirements and strengthening internal 
controls to ensure consistent compliance with VPP policies and 
procedures across its regions. 

OSHA is concerned by the cases highlighted and the participant injury 
and illness rates statistics contained in the report. The Agency 
intends to review case specifics and determine OSHA's response, whether 
established polices and procedures were followed, and whether changes 
are warranted. Please provide company specific information to 
facilitate our review of these issues. 

With respect to GAO's third recommendation to identify better measures 
of VPP effectiveness, OSHA's mission is to reduce workplace injuries 
and illnesses and fatalities. These rates must be a meaningful part of 
any program evaluation; however, OSHA also will continue to identify 
and refine other appropriate VPP performance measures. 

OSHA appreciates GAO's interest and recommendations for improving 
internal oversight and program quality regarding VPP. We intend to 
incorporate your analysis into a broader review and evaluation of VPP. 
If you have questions concerning this response, or if we can be of 
further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Sincerely, 

Signed by: 

Jordan Barab: 
Acting Assistant Secretary: 

[End of section] 

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

GAO Contact: 

Anne-Marie Lasowski, (202) 512-7215 or lasowskia@gao.gov: 

Staff Acknowledgments: 

Revae Moran, Acting Director, and Anna M. Kelley, Analyst in Charge, 
managed all aspects of the assignment. Kathleen Boggs, Richard Harada, 
Yumiko Jolly, and Summer Pachman made significant contributions to the 
report. In addition, Richard Brown, Doreen Feldman, Justin Fisher, 
Cindy Gilbert, Sheila R. McCoy, Kathleen van Gelder, Gabriele Tonsil, 
and Shana Wallace provided key technical and legal assistance. 

[End of section] 

Footnotes: 

[1] All years cited in this report are calendar years, except as noted. 

[2] GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1] 
(Washington, D.C.: November 1999). 

[3] Pub. L. No. 103-62 (1993). 

[4] In the act, "state" is defined to include the District of Columbia, 
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Trust 
Territory of the Pacific Islands. See 29 U.S.C. § 652 (7). 

[5] The state standards must be at least as effective as the federal 
standards. See 29 U.S.C. § 667. 

[6] In this report, we refer to VPP sites in these states as being in 
state managed programs and to VPP sites in states for which OSHA 
provides enforcement as being in the federally managed VPP. 

[7] Employers whose worksite conditions fail to meet federal safety and 
health standards face sanctions, such as paying penalties for 
violations of safety and health standards. 

[8] VPP sites report their injury and illness rates annually to OSHA. 
Sites are required to report their Total Case Incidence Rate and "Days 
Away, Restricted, and/or Transfer rate to OSHA." The Total Case 
Incidence Rate is a rate that represents the total number of recordable 
injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time employees. The "Days Away, 
Restricted, and/or Transfer rate" is the number of recordable injuries 
and illnesses per 100 full-time employees "resulting in days away from 
work, restricted work activity, and/or job transfer." The industry 
rates are published annually by Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics for 
the previous year. The industry injury and illness data for 2007 were 
published in October 2008. 

[9] Because this information is not documented in the VPP files, we 
requested a list of all VPP sites with fatalities for the period from 
January 2003 to August 2008 from OSHA's national office. The national 
office obtained this information from the regions, then provided the 
list we had requested. However, during our review, we identified one 
additional site that the regions had not informed the national office 
about when providing it with the list of VPP sites. Therefore, it is 
possible that the regions may not have identified all of the VPP sites 
at which fatalities occurred during this period. 

[10] OSHA's enforcement staff are required to conduct an inspection of 
all VPP sites at which fatalities occur. The regions are required to 
document the results of these inspections in OSHA's inspections 
database and in enforcement files maintained by the regions. 

[11] A serious violation is one in which there is a substantial 
probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a 
worksite condition or from one or more practices, means, methods, 
operations, or processes that have been adopted or are in use at the 
worksite. 

[12] OSHA's Office of Occupational Medicine is responsible for 
providing this approval to the regions upon request. 

[13] We compared both the Total Case Incidence Rates and the "Days 
Away, Restricted, and/or Transfer Rates" that the VPP sites reported to 
OSHA with the rates for their respective industries published by the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

[14] OSHA revised its policies in April 2008 to allow the regions to 
conduct a "Compressed Reapproval Process," which involves looking at 
the minimum requirements for all four elements of a site's safety and 
health management system. These minimum requirements must be in place 
and be at least minimally effective for a site to be considered for 
continued participation in the VPP. If a site fails to meet one of the 
minimum requirements for any of the four elements, it is not eligible 
to participate in the VPP. 

[15] OSHA changed the injury and illness rate requirements for the VPP 
in 2008 to make it easier for participants to meet them. Prior to that 
time, VPP sites' 3-year average injury and illness rates had to be 
below the most recent annual average rates for their respective 
industries. After the change, VPP sites could compare their most recent 
year's rates with the average rates for any 1 of the 3 most recent 
years for their respective industries. 

[16] Data were not available for 43 percent of the 184 sites in our 
sample. 

[17] GAO, Workplace Safety and Health: OSHA's Voluntary Compliance 
Strategies Show Promising Results, but Should Be Fully Evaluated before 
They Are Expanded, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-378] 
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 19, 2004). 

[18] The Gallup Organization, Evaluation of the Voluntary Protection 
Program Findings Report (Washington, D.C.: September 2005). 

[19] The Gallup Organization surveyed all 834 participants in the 
federally managed VPP as of 2005 to determine their experiences with 
OSHA's mentoring and outreach efforts and with data on their injury and 
illness rates over time. Gallup also surveyed participants to obtain 
information on costs savings related to their participation in the VPP. 

[20] GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, 
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1] 
(Washington, D.C.: November 1999). 

[21] In some cases, we reviewed the on-site reports provided to us by 
the VPP managers. 

[22] The Gallup Organization surveyed all 834 participants in the 
federally managed VPP as of 2005 to determine their experiences with 
OSHA's mentoring and outreach efforts and with data on their injury and 
illness rates over time. Gallup also surveyed participants to obtain 
information on costs savings related to their participation in the VPP. 

[End of section] 

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