The Region X Voluntary Protection Program Participants’ Association (VPPPA) held the 28th annual Northwest Safety & Health Summit in Anchorage, Alaska between May 14 and 16, 2024.
Office of Environment, Health, Safety & Security
June 11, 2024
minute read time
By: Al Traylor
The Region X Voluntary Protection Program Participants’ Association (VPPPA) held the 28th annual Northwest Safety & Health Summit in Anchorage, Alaska between May 14 and 16, 2024. This event was intended for all industries and worksites, even if they are not VPP participants, to include operations personnel, program and project managers, safety managers and coordinators, as well as safety committee members in the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Numerous personnel from multiple DOE M&O contractors from the region were in attendance to represent their companies and take advantage of the training opportunities. A large number of workshops were offered and topics ranged from a VPP application and recertification to succession planning for safety success. The keynote speaker, Dr. Klaus Hofer, discussed information on usability mapping and applications of the science of safety. In a fascinating presentation, he detailed how the way safety documents are designed structured can have a large impact on how users read them and, therefore, how well the information is processed and understood.
Mr. Alfred Traylor, Director of the Office of Worker Safety and Health Assistance, represented the Department of Energy and the DOE Voluntary Protection Program. Speaking at the general session opening session, he commented on the large number of “DOE-VPP” logos on attendees’ shirts, jackets, and other apparel and what this means to him to see such pride in the program. Additionally, he discussed the current status of the program to include coming updates to DOE-STD-1232-2019, U.S. Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program, and solicited feedback from the field. As the DOE-VPP is built on mutual partnership, Mr. Traylor thanked each of the participants in attendance for their support of the program and continued focus on worker safety and health.
More information on the DOE Voluntary Protection Program can be found here or you can reach the DOE-VPP team at [email protected].
MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
Alfred (Al) Traylor is the Director, Office of Worker Safety and Health Assistance within the Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security.