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Voluntary Protection Programs
Annual Evaluation of Calendar Year 2020 Injury and Illness Rates

The Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) promotes effective worksite-based safety and health. In the VPP, management, labor, and OSHA establish cooperative relationships at workplaces that have implemented a comprehensive safety and health management program. Participation in the VPP requires each VPP participant to evaluate annually the effectiveness of their safety and health management programs. The self-evaluation must include assessments of all the VPP elements and sub-elements of the VPP participant’s safety and health management program.

By February 15th of each year, VPP participants must submit their annual self-evaluation to their Regional VPP Manager. The injury and illness rates from the VPP participant’s annual self-evaluations are forwarded to the National Office where OSHA uses the information to update records and statistics, to showcase successes related to implementation of the VPP requirements, and to demonstrate that VPP participants are committed to continuously improving employee safety and health at their worksites.

Below is a summary of the findings from the calendar year 2020 annual evaluation of VPP participants’ injury and illness rates.

Site-Based Non-Construction VPP Participants

During calendar year 2020, the VPP participants experienced the following results. On average, rates for site-based non-construction VPP participants are 55 percent below the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR) and 53 percent below the BLS Days Away from Work, Restricted Work Activity, or Job Transfer (DART) rate for their respective industries. This data was collected from 1,212 Federal jurisdiction site-based non-construction VPP participants representing more than 345,000 employees.

Other results from the 2020 VPP Annual Evaluation:

  • Site-based non-construction VPP participants avoided an estimated 4,303 TCIR injuries when compared to expected results within their respective industries.

  • Site-based non-construction VPP participants avoided an estimated 2,501 DART injuries when compared to expected results within their respective industries.

  • The 1,067 site-based non-construction VPP Star participants are, on average, 53 percent below the BLS TCIR and 51 percent below the BLS DART for their respective industries.

  • The six site-based non-construction VPP Merit participants are, on average, 28 percent below the BLS TCIR and 18 percent below the BLS DART for their respective industries.

  • The 78 Federal, site-based non-construction VPP participants are, on average, 62 percent below the BLS TCIR and 55 percent below the BLS DART for their respective industries.

  • The 286 site-based non-construction VPP participants covered by the Process Safety Management (PSM) standard are, on average, 66 percent below the BLS TCIR and 64 percent below the BLS DART for their respective industries.

  • There are 577 site-based non-construction VPP participants that experienced zero recordable injuries and illnesses during 2020.

Site-Based Construction and Mobile Workforce VPP Participants

During calendar year 2020, VPP participants experienced the following results. On average, site-based construction and mobile workforce VPP participants are 74 percent below the BLS TCIR rate and 60 percent below the BLS DART rate for their respective industries. This data was collected from 46 Federal jurisdiction site-based construction and mobile workforce VPP participants representing more than 22,000 employees.

Other results from the 2020 VPP Annual Evaluation:

  • Site-based construction and mobile workforce VPP participants avoided an estimated 12 TCIR injuries when compared to expected results within their respective industries.

  • Site-based construction and mobile workforce VPP participants avoided an estimated five DART injuries when compared to expected results within their respective industries.

  • The 42 site-based construction and mobile workforce VPP Star participants are, on average, 78 percent below the BLS TCIR and 64 percent below the BLS DART for their respective industries.

  • There were no site-based construction VPP Merit participants in calendar year 2020.

  • The one site-based construction and mobile workforce VPP participant covered by the PSM standard is 100 percent below the BLS TCIR and 100 percent below the BLS DART for its respective industry.

  • There are 15 site-based construction and mobile workforce VPP participants that experienced zero recordable injuries and illnesses during 2020.