Release Date: January 26, 2022
Contact: Ariana Hanaity, Communications Coordinator, ahanaity@vpppa.org 703-761-6517
Falls Church, VA – The Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA) today announced its latest strategic partnership with AuditSoft, a leader in innovative technology for OHS auditing purposes. The first collaboration between the two partners will be the launch of VPP Online, a new cutting-edge program aimed at simplifying the process by which Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) participants submit their annual self-evaluations.
The VPP Online platform, available for use by both federal and state plan VPP sites, allows for easy collaboration among team members by providing a single location for all report information and supporting documents to be uploaded. Additionally, the program reduces calculation errors commonly seen in the self-evaluation process by automatically calculating necessary statistics that are required for submitting the report, including injury and illness rates by NAICS code. Most importantly, this platform allows for the standardization of the online self-evaluation, by creating a consistent process to upload and deliver the necessary information in the correct format that can be repeated year after year.
“This partnership is very exciting for both organizations,” said Terry Schulte, VPPPA Chairman of the Board. “The VPP Online platform expands the capabilities of collaboration and will help make the experience of submitting annual self-evaluations much more seamless, saving VPP Managers and their teams hours of time compiling these reports.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires each VPP participant to perform an annual self-evaluation of its safety and health management system. This self-evaluation, reflecting the previous calendar years’ experience, must be submitted to the participant’s OSHA Regional VPP Manager by February 15 of each year. 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.
“AuditSoft is immensely proud to partner with the VPPPA in launching an innovative application that truly transforms the way VPPPA members complete their OSHA VPP Annual Self Evaluation (ASE). VPP Online automates many tedious tasks and is the first corporate solution, spanning all regions and states, built specifically for real-time team collaboration. The resulting time saving allows OHS (Occupational Health and Safety) professionals to focus more time on collaboration and improving their OHS programs, rather than manual administrative tasks,” said TJ Snyman, AuditSoft COO.
The platform, expected to launch in February 2022, will be available for use with customizations being continually added to conform to each state’s unique requirements.
For more information about VPP Online, please visit: VPPonline.co.
AuditSoft was founded by a team committed to reinventing OHSMS Audits. Through the application of innovative technology and Design Thinking we have enhanced not only the process, but also the level of value-add. The value is realized through trusted actionable audit outcomes that help mitigate associated OHS risk, drives continuous improvement, proves good corporate governance, and goes beyond just compliance. Learn more at auditsoft.co.
Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA) Inc., is the world’s leading organization dedicated to cooperative occupational safety and health management systems. Consisting of both VPP and non-VPP companies, member sites continuously striving to achieve safety and health excellence. VPPPA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Visit vpppa.org to learn more.