Robins Cited by OSHA Published June 1, 2010 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Building 169 in the 402nd Maintenance Wing here was formally cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration today for 13 violations. During recent visits to the facility, which houses about 200 employees who overhaul various bonded structures on F-15, C-5, C-130 and C-17 aircraft, OSHA took swipe samples which showed the presence of chromium, lead and other contaminants resulting from procedural, equipment and housecleaning issues, according to the report. "We will continue to implement safety and environmental improvements in the workplace and to that end, we will expeditiously address these findings," said Greg Stanley, the wing's vice director. "The safety and health of our workforce is our number one priority." Stanley said the unit will partner with local union officials to help allay employees' concerns, adding that the organization has made a number of improvements to the worksite as a result of internal inspections and the OSHA visits. Additionally, the unit spent more than eight hours today with OSHA representatives to get "a clearer understanding of compliance and reporting requirements." Following the discussions, Stanley added that "as part of our action plan, the wing will look at similar industrial operations to see if there are practices we can benchmark. We are committed to providing the best and safest working environment for our employees." Stanley said the unit is keeping employees apprised of the issue, and credited the Voluntary Protection Program, which is sponsored by OSHA and very active at Robins, for helping bring the issue to light. VPP encourages employees to play a bigger role in improving worksite safety, and Stanley said that VPP is a success story here because of the partnership between the union and the center - which has helped create more than 300 VPP safe sites on the base. Also, one 402nd work location has been certified by OSHA as a VPP Star Site - one of only 31 such sites in the Department of Defense - and two other work sites will apply for VPP Star Site status this fall. "Our VPP success is due to direct employee involvement and empowerment on safety-related issues," he said.