A Path to Stronger Partnerships: The Future of OSHA’s, VPPPA’s and Other Organizations’ Role in Them

The Next Edition (#4) of musings from Jim Frederick and Heather MacDougall, Esq. and CSP for workplace health and safety watchers

There has been a discussion brewing lately about how both the regulated community and OSHA need to modernize their practices to go beyond compliance to proactively managing risk, embedding safety into every aspect of decision-making. Jim notes that the Biden Administration’s OSHA leadership referred to the need for Safety as a Core Value in each and every workplace in most of their outward facing presentations, and see Heather’s February 11, 2025, blog regarding OSHA. The growing discussion focuses on being proactive, informed, and influential in shaping policies that protect workers and advance safety.

The recent focus of this topic led to an existing coalition—the Intersociety Forum—made up of over a dozen organizations, including the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), the National Safety Council, and the American Industrial Hygiene Association—publishing on March 5, 2025, three principles, that reflect the signatory organizations’ “shared commitment to protecting workers, advancing operational excellence, and promoting a sustainable, thriving workforce.” These principles include the importance of: (1) business-driven practices that set standards for success and worker well-being; (2) embracing a risk-based approach; and (3) leveraging recordkeeping for predictive insights. (Note: Nexus HSE and many other organizations have signed onto these principles in support of this effort.)

ASSP has long led the way in this effort, demonstrating its commitment to advancing consensus standards and industry best practices to help companies move beyond mere compliance. This includes advocating for the safety and health profession in an ever-evolving landscape. Its approach focuses on being proactive, informed, and influential in shaping policies that protect workers and advance our profession.

Adding to the discussion, on August 12, 2025, the Voluntary Protection Programs’ Participants’ Association (VPPPA) announced a new initiative, “Journey Toward Safety Excellence,” providing a health and safety maturity model framework and resources to lead organizations on a step-by-step improvement plan. The program was unveiled during the opening general session at VPPPA’s 2025 Safety+ Symposium in St. Louis, MO. According to VPPPA, the initiative aims to help employers reach performance benchmarks achieved by top-tier OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) sites. Along with the maturity model, the association offers a tool to conduct a gap analysis to identify where an organization currently is within the Levels 1-5, and actions to strategically bridge the gap. Once complete, organizations sign a Letter of Commitment that states their desire to advance their journey, and VPPPA members will have access to the association’s pool of experienced mentors who will educate and aid participants through a customized guide for continuous improvement.

VPPPA’s launch of the program complements OSHA’s new “Pathways to Safety and Health Success,” which builds on the concepts of VPP but expands VPP’s core elements from four to seven—management leadership, worker participation, hazard identification and assessment, hazard prevention and control, education and training, program evaluation and improvement, and communication and coordination for host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies—aligning VPP with OSHA’s “Recommended Practices for Health and Safety Programs.”

What does all this mean? See Jim’s and Heather’s takes for more—

Jim Shares a Few Thoughts:

• I believe that active, engaged, and mature Safety and Health Management Systems (SHMS) reduce risk of workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. VPP is built on SHMS principles, and I support efforts to expand SHMS adoption.

• Many workplaces choose to integrate SHMS outside of the VPP system and that is certainly good.

• Whether the VPPPA Journey Toward Safety Excellence will drive broader SHMS implementation remains to be seen.

• I’m encouraged by OSHA’s continued efforts to strengthen VPP by reinforcing its foundational elements.

• Transitioning from compliance to capacity through SHMS enables regulatory agencies to explore more effective, proactive approaches to workplace safety.

• Employers can greatly benefit from the insights of their workforce. A strong SHMS must include mechanisms for workers to raise concerns and feel genuinely heard.

Heather’s Thoughts:

Initiatives from various organizations underscore a shared commitment to moving beyond compliance and toward a risk-based approach to safety. Through platforms like the ISF, organizations are working together to advocate for the safety and health profession and to share knowledge and best practices with peers. By participating in these forums and leveraging our shared commitment, we can continue to advance our profession and ensure safety, health, and well-being for all workers.

Employers are also seeking to understand the best metrics to measure safety performance, with a focus on preventing high-severity events—with various voices in the conversation discussing the limitations of TRIR as a metric to measure safety performance and drive efforts to eliminate life-changing incidents—perhaps, aligning on a new set of benchmarking metrics (see, for example, “ASTM System for Recording Occupational Injuries and Illnesses: A recognized global standard for reporting serious injuries, illnesses and fatalities”) or a consistent benchmarkable metric for Serious Injuries and Fatalities.

These efforts will help employers and the safety profession modernize their practices to go beyond compliance to proactively managing risk, embedding safety into every aspect of decision-making.