On April 11, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it renewed its designation of Dighton Power in Dighton, Massachusetts, as a “Star” site, the highest level of recognition in the agency’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP).
The agency recently announced several new and renewed Star designations of VPP-participating employers, including L.L.Bean Manufacturing in Brunswick, Maine.
OSHA’s VPPs recognize and promote effective worksite-based safety and health management systems. Under the program, management, labor unions, and OSHA establish cooperative relationships at workplaces that have implemented comprehensive safety and health management systems. VPP approval is OSHA’s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have created exemplary worksite safety and health management systems, according to the agency.
Dighton Power employs about 15 workers at its site, a natural gas power plant generating electricity for the New England power grid. The agency first recognized the facility as a “Star” site in 2005, and it earned its latest VPP Star renewal after a team of OSHA safety and health experts evaluated the site in December 2022.
“The Dighton, Massachusetts, facility continues to maintain a high level of workplace safety and health,” Galen Blanton, OSHA’s Boston regional administrator, said in an agency statement. “The site focuses on employee education and training for hazards prevalent in this industry, such as falls and electrical.”
L.L.Bean Manufacturing employs about 200 workers at the facility, where they manufacture and assemble boots and dog beds and perform custom embroidery. OSHA first recognized L.L.Bean Manufacturing as a “Star” site in 2007, and it earned its latest VPP Star renewal following an on-site evaluation in August 2022 by a team of OSHA safety and health experts.
“The L.L. Bean Manufacturing Brunswick facility continues to maintain a high level of workplace safety and health,” Blanton said. “The site has maintained a consistent focus on employee involvement, work practice improvements, and engineering controls to reduce or eliminate musculoskeletal injuries and illnesses, even during challenges imposed by the coronavirus.”
OSHA also renewed its Star designation for Wheelabrator Bridgeport, a waste-to-energy facility in Bridgeport, Connecticut, generating electricity for the New England power grid and employing about 70 workers.
“The Wheelabrator Bridgeport facility continues to retain a high level of employee involvement in support of workplace safety and health,” Blanton added. “The site focuses upon preventing recognized hazards in the waste-to-energy industry, including falls, electrical, and struck-by injuries.”
The agency also gave Guarantee Electrical Contracting LLC of Denver, Colorado, new “Star” status, which covers the company’s mobile workforce at its Colorado worksites, including those where it does business as Berwick Electric.
Guarantee Electrical Contracting has VPP certification for 3 years.
In addition to holding daily huddles on workplace safety to assess hazards, the company’s health and wellness program includes mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
“It takes real commitment to workplace safety by an employer to earn Star designation in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program. Guarantee Electrical Contracting shows how company culture, management commitment, employee engagement, and close working relationships with unions can create and maintain a safer and healthier workplace,” Jennifer Rous, OSHA’s Denver regional administrator, said in an agency statement. “Recognizing hazards and preventing injuries makes good business sense.”