June 29, 2012 at 06:30 PM
A top OSHA official on Thursday (June 28) told House lawmakers that OSHA is fully committed to voluntary protection programs (VPP) but also acknowledged there are “serious issues with VPP” that the agency continues to address. Employers question OSHA's commitment to VPP, voicing concern to lawmakers that President Obama's fiscal 2013 budget cuts back funding for overall federal compliance assistance and OSHA is not expanding the VPP program fast enough to meet employer demand. VPP has historically caused friction between industry backers of the cooperative approach and worker advocates who say