News

OSHA team recommends 402nd unit be designated a Star Site

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78 ABW/PA
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Efforts to improve workplace safety at Robins took a giant leap forward last week when the 402nd Software Maintenance Group became the first government organization on base to meet the requirements to become an OSHA Star Site.

Star Site is the highest level of Voluntary Protection Program recognition awarded by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The only other work area at Robins to have been declared a Star Site is the 78th Logistics Readiness Squadron's Vehicle Maintenance and Operation Section in First Support Services, which is operated by a contractor.

An OSHA auditing team spent three days in the SMXG, touring eight separate facilities, reviewing hundreds of records, and interviewing many of its 900 employees. Once the team's work was completed June 4, it announced that it would recommend the group be recognized as a Star Site.

Although the designation is contingent upon approval by OSHA officials, and could take up to three months, VPP program manager Melanie Clearman said it will be well worth the wait.

Ms. Clearman said earning the recognition is a "very big deal," and puts Robins on track for its ultimate goal of having the entire base declared a Star Site.

"The folks in the SMXG just did an awesome job preparing for this evaluation," she said. "They really set the standard for the installation."



She said the 402nd SMXG is the first maintenance operation in the Air Force Materiel Command to become a Star Site. One other AFMC site is a Star Site and three others, including Robins, have been recommended. Overall in the Air Force, two sites are Star Sites and five have been recommended.

Chris Moore, deputy director of the 402nd SMXG, credited the award to the "buy-in" of the VPP program by all employees in the group.

"The reason this program is so successful is that it's a genuine grass-roots effort," he said. The 402nd SMXG has a core VPP team led by Mike Scott, but Mr. Scott also said the true VPP team is the group's 900 employees.

All 15 individual sites in the group had already achieved Gold Site status, a designation in the Commander's Safe Site Challenge aimed at helping units meet Star Site requirements, he noted.

To emphasize the importance of safety, the group has bulletin boards in which photos of family members and even pets are posted to remind workers why they should be safe. Work areas also have boards where employees can anonymously alert leadership to safety hazards. Each computer also has a safety "dashboard" where team members can track VPP related information.

Some of those improvements, along with the Commander's Safe Site Challenge, were cited in the evaluation as "best practices" by the OSHA team.

Col. Lee Levy, the new 402nd Maintenance Wing commander, said he has seen in his short time here how seriously employees are taking the VPP concept.

"I'm thrilled that they've taken VPP and internalized it in all that they do," he said. "I'm equally thrilled it's spreading like wildfire through the entire wing. One of first things folks want to show me is their VPP program."

Ms. Clearman said there are only about 2,000 Star Sites in the country, which includes commercial activities. The evaluation team included representatives of other organizations that have been declared Star Sites.

Mr. Moore also noted that being declared a Star Site does not mean the group will no longer strive for more safety improvement. To maintain Star Site status, he said, the group will undergo evaluations every three years.

"This is just a start," he said.