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Safety Videos Get Thumbs Up From Industry
These safety videos are based on actual real world incidents and accidents, which has made them especially effective in gaining the attention of plant employees in a way that goes beyond the scope of typical safety training methods. The board’s July production, “Death in the Oilfield”, is based on an actual incident at a U.S. facility where three people lost their lives. All nineteen videos are available on the US Chemical Safety Board’s web site as well as on You Tube.

Go to the CSB Video Room...

"Achieving VPP takes dedication, planning and commitment," emphasized Assistant Secretary for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "It is not an easy road as you develop and learn to manage a detailed, comprehensive, and effective safety and health management system that is unique to the needs of your worksite. . . By your selection as VPP's 2,000th active participant, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Pearl River, proclaims both its individual success and the longstanding and growing success of VPP.

What did it take for Wyeth Pearl River, the largest employer in Rockland County, to become a VPP Star participant? The facility already had a long history of pioneering, breakthrough achievements. For 100 years, Pearl River has been developing and manufacturing vaccines and other drugs that have profoundly impacted the health and well-being of millions of children and adults around the world. A culture of excellence is firmly established.

Even so, it took two and a half years before the facility's diverse workforce – managers, research scientists, technicians, safety specialists, maintenance personnel, pharmaceutical and biotech operators, supervisors, shop floor personnel, quality personnel, directors – was ready for the OSHA VPP team that arrived last April for a week-long site evaluation. On the way to achieving VPP Star approval, Wyeth Pearl River:
achieved an unprecedented level of management commitment and buy-in to integrating workplace safety and health into every aspect of planning and operations;
created new and expanded opportunities for meaningful employee involvement in the design and implementation of job hazard assessments, routine inspections, accident/incident investigations, emergency response, and other VPP-required and site-appropriate systems and procedures;
ensured that everyone working at the 550-acre campus participated in ongoing safety and health training that the OSHA team cited as a "best practice" in its recommendation for VPP Star approval.

"This achievement is the result of a two-and-a-half year effort to make workplace safety the responsibility of every employee on site," said Mike McDermott, Vice President, Site Operations for Wyeth in Pearl River. "Safety has always been a top priority in Pearl River, and when we applied for VPP, we set our sights on being the best in the industry. We worked aggressively to make improvements in our safety programs, communication and training, and we are delighted to be recognized as a VPP Star worksite, Wyeth's eighth Star."

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