Eielson leads way in AF safety

  • Published
  • By Airman Nora Anton
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Eielson Air Force Base has been selected as the first base in Pacific Air Forces to implement the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's voluntary protection program, which has been proven to be highly effective in reducing on-the-job mishaps. 

"The VPP is a program implemented by OSHA that has been in place for over 25 years," said John Phillips, Air Force chief of ground safety, during a recent visit. 

"The Department of Defense, specifically the Air Force, determined it would be a tool used to improve our safety and health performance across the Air Force," Mr. Phillips added. 

The program is currently in the assessment phase and the start date has not yet been confirmed. 

The Air Force regards safety as paramount, he said, but there are improvements to be made, and implementing the VPP is a way of doing that. 

"The reason ground safety chose Eielson is because we try to choose locations where significant improvements will be made in injury and illness performance," said Mr. Phillips. 

The VPP, in its crudest form, consists of awareness training, self-assessment tools, leadership training and application tools, which are tailored to an installation's specific needs. 

The difference in the VPP compared to the status quo is more enforcement of safety precautions. There will be more knowledge about safety procedures and processes, and more implementation of them. 

He said the all-terrain vehicle safety class that wing safety offers was the best he has ever seen, but he still noticed a few things that needed changing. 

"Everyone should know the requirements about safety in their installation and everyone should practice them, but sometimes Airmen don't know any better," he said.
The program will improve Airmen's awareness of rules and requirements. 

Mr. Phillips said the VPP is the difference between complying with requirements and truly implementing safety practices while doing day-to-day business. 

"It's about consistently following on-the-job safety and using safety precautions as if they are second nature," he said. 

The VPP is proven to reduce injuries and illness by more than 60 percent, reduce worker's compensation costs by 20 percent and increase return on investment by 150 percent. 

The Air Force already has a good safety program, Mr. Phillips said, and its performance compared to the other branches of the military is outstanding. But compared to privately and industry-owned businesses, the Air Force isn't doing as well. 

"The Air Force loses $4 million per day due to safety procedures gone wrong or lack of implementation, we think the VPP is a way to remedy and improve that statistic," he said.
Mr. Phillips also stressed the importance of being a wingman. 

"It affects the wingman concept," Mr. Phillips said. "People need to take care of each other; if an Airman sees another Airman doing something wrong, they need to correct them. The benefit is not just safety--we will gain better ability as well." 

For more information on the VPP, visit http://vppcx.org.