Washington — OSHA has updated its Voluntary Protection Programs policy document to include seven elements of safety and health management systems.
The directive, which went into effect June 16, replaces one from January 2020 that listed four elements of SHMS.
The seven elements, as described in the OSHA publications, Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs and Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs in Construction, are:
- Management leadership
- Worker participation
- Hazard identification and assessment
- Hazard prevention and control
- Education and training
- Program evaluation and improvement
- Communication and coordination for host employers, contractors and staffing agencies
The new directive also adds chapters on VPP Elite and VPP Emeritus. Elite is for participants who have maintained VPP Star status for 15 or more years in a row, among other criteria. Emeritus is for participants who have 25-plus years and “meet other criteria.”
Finally, the directive has revisions on how to request a medical access order, or “documentation that provides OSHA personnel authority to gain access to personally identifiably employee medical information in accordance with 29 CFR Part 1913.”
