The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will recognize the U.S. Postal Service's Anchorage Vehicle Maintenance Facility in Anchorage, Alaska, for excellence in employee safety and health when the agency welcomes the facility into its Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) at the Star, or highest, level. A ceremony will be held September 17 at the facility, which is located 8221 Petersburg Street in Anchorage.
The Anchorage Vehicle Maintenance Facility is a center for automotive repair, body and paint work, and vehicle towing. The facility's staff maintains 268 postal delivery vehicles onsite and is responsible for another 118 vehicles at outlying Alaskan offices. The American Postal Workers Union represents the facility's 18 employees.
"The fact that the Anchorage Vehicle Maintenance Facility has been injury-free for a three-year period reflects highly on both managers and employees at this facility," said Richard S. Terrill, OSHA's regional administrator in Seattle.
The facility joins an elite corps of more than 2,000 worksites nationwide that have earned VPP status. The star designation came after an OSHA onsite review of the facility's safety and health programs, interviews with employees and a complete tour of the worksite. OSHA has approved the facility's VPP star status for three years.
VPP approval is OSHA's official recognition of the efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary performance in occupational safety and health. To qualify for VPP status, sites must meet or exceed all OSHA regulatory standards and submit to an OSHA review of their programs. Companies accepted into the VPP represent more than 270 industries, and achieve injury and illness rates of more than 50 percent below others in their respective industries.
