**GAO-09-395**                      Published: May 20, 2009. Publicly Released: Jun 18, 2009.                  

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## Highlights

 

The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is responsible for ensuring workplace safety. OSHA has established a number of programs, including the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), that take a cooperative approach to obtaining compliance with safety and health regulations and OSHA's standards. OSHA established the VPP in 1982 to recognize worksites with exemplary safety and health programs. GAO was asked to review (1) the number and characteristics of employer worksites in the VPP and factors that have influenced growth, (2) the extent to which OSHA ensures that only qualified worksites participate in the VPP, and (3) the adequacy of OSHA's efforts to monitor performance and evaluate the effectiveness of the VPP. GAO analyzed OSHA's VPP data, reviewed a representative sample of VPP case files, and interviewed agency officials.

 

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## Topics

Employment

Accident preventionAccidentsAccountabilityChemical industryDocumentationFederal regulationsIndustrial accidentsInternal controlsMonitoringOccupational health and safety programsOccupational safetyPerformance appraisalPerformance measuresProgram evaluationProgram managementSafety standardsStandardsStrategic planningTransportation industryPolicies and procedures