375th AW reaching toward safety star Published Nov. 21, 2008 By Monte Miller 375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Throughout the week, the 375th Airlift Wing has been under the microscope as part of the Voluntary Protection Program. A safety team has been on base to give the wing a bit of a report card on its safety practices to let the leadership know what they are doing right and what areas may need improvement. "This is a program developed by the Occupational Safety Health Administration to allow industry to improve their safety programs," explained Marilee Reuter, 375th AW deputy chief of safety. "In industry, once a star rating is awarded, OSHA inspections would not be needed as often, or at all because the company is seen as operating above OSHA standards." The VPP is in practice in all of the sister services and was first introduced to the Air Force in Air Force Materiel Command. Former Air Mobility Command vice commander Lt. Gen. Chris Kelly pushed the program AMC wide. It was first implemented in 2007 at Travis Air Force Base in California. About two weeks ago, the VPP staff briefed 375th AW leadership on the program and what their next step would be. This week, phase two began with safety inspections in all areas, which will conclude tomorrow with an outbriefing to leadership on the safety highlights and shortfalls. "We are already good at what we do in safety," Mrs. Reuter said. "They will give us a gap assessment of where we are and where we need to be. It will essentially be a roadmap of how to improve our safety program. Our goals are to reduce mishaps, protect assets and improve readiness." A key factor in the VPP is for individuals to take responsibility for not only their personal safety but in their work area and for their co-workers. Mrs. Reuter explained this can only improve the overall safety of the wing by 'having more eyes watching' everyday rather than just the members of the safety office. "I think we are in good shape," she said. "This program will cause us to stretch, to do things that have never been required of us before. We're taking our Air Force safety program to the next level. If we stay on track and improve our processes, in the future we can become a VPP Star Site." A few examples of this will be internal investigations of workplace mishaps, a near miss program to allow co-workers to evaluate what lead to the near mishap instead of just saying they got lucky. Plans are also in the works to create either or both a telephone safety hotline and e-mail address that will be another tool wing personnel can use to report unsafe conditions or hazards in a quick easy way. Although the Air Force and AMC have very good safety records, many of the accidents and deaths that do occur take place at home. Mrs. Reuter hopes the increased vigilance of safety in the workplace and personal responsibility for safety will carry over to the Airmen's homes to reduce the off-duty mishaps as well.