OSHA To Increase Use Of Special Government Employees In VPP Approval Process

A top OSHA official says the agency will ramp up its use of so-called Special Government Employees (SGEs) in the approval and re-approval process for sites that participate in Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP). The move toward increased use of company employees on-site to monitor the voluntary programs follows a special report, spearheaded by OSHA regional administrators, on ways to improve the effectiveness of VPP. The work group's report to OSHA chief David Michaels, published in November 2011 but only recently unveiled by the agency, makes several recommendations to tweak the SGE Program,