Morton Salt in Grantsville and Phillips 66 in Salt Lake City are members of the OSHA Region VIII Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association and are among 35 “Zeroes Heroes” companies in the six-state mountain region of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Morton Salt and Phillips 66 achieved OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program status and demonstrate that developing comprehensive safety and health programs remains the most effective way for businesses to prevent injuries and illness on the job:
To understand the significance of the Zeroes Heroes status consider that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that private industries reported 2.6 million injuries and 5,190 fatalities in 2021.
At a June 7, 2023, conference in Westminster, Colorado, Region VIII VPPPA recognized its 35 zeroes heroes and presented awards for significant achievement in the safety and health profession.
“These ‘Zeroes Heroes’ sites show that by committing to systems-based approaches to employee safety and health – such as the OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs – employers can keep workers safe and free of injury,” explained OSHA Regional Administrator Jennifer Rous in Denver. “OSHA applauds the hard work of our VPP partners that kept their worksites free of workplace injuries in 2022. The determination of these companies and a group of volunteers to provide members with conferences, training, mentoring and other assistance to ensure effective safety and health programs is a model for others to follow.”
During the June conference, OSHA Region VIII VPP also presented Leaders of the Year awards to Jonathan Caccamise from Onward Energy’s SWG Arapahoe LLC in Denver; Joseph Sviatko from Black Hills Energy’s Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Ryan Hellman from Hellman and Associates LLC in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.
The OSHA Region VIII named Bob Simmons of Marvin, a building materials wholesaler, its Special Government Employee of the Year for his service on multiple VPP onsite evaluate teams, assistance with formal training programs, and for providing driver safety outreach in his voluntary service.
OSHA Region VIII also recognized four companies for successfully completing at least 10 continuous years of participation in the VPP program, namely RK Industries in Denver; Northrop Grumman in New Town, North Dakota; NuStar Energy’s Central East Region in Jamestown, North Dakota; and Phillips 66’s Casper Station in Casper, Wyoming.