Daikin Applied’s Staunton facility commits to be a Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) site
STAUNTON, VA – Aug. 7, 2017— Elevating the commitment to its team, Daikin Applied’s Staunton facility has pledged to become a VPP site, demonstrating its pact to keep workplace safety at the heart of its operation.
Among the tenets of Daikin’s organization is belief in the unlimited potential of people and its employees are central to the collective success and growth of the business. Daikin operates under the promise of People-Centered Management, which links inextricably to the pledge of work safety and the goal of becoming a VPP site.
VPP is an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) initiative that encourages private industry and federal and state agencies to take safety above legal requirements to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses through hazard prevention and control, worksite analysis, and training. The VPP process, often a multi-year journey for a business, is designed to show continuous safety and health improvement and sets forth stringent requirements that push companies to create safe and healthy working environments for all employees.
The team at Daikin’s Staunton facility, which primarily produces chillers for large HVAC installations, has been focused on the goal to become a VPP site with the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry for more than two years; this effort aligns with the Daikin team’s commitment to create better outcomes for customers. With VPP, Daikin management, employees, and OSHA have been collaborating to develop a comprehensive safety and health management system.
“We envision a workplace that incorporates a proactive safety approach into everything we do. This means a safety culture that is embodied by every employee, incorporated into every process we do, and is visible every day. Becoming a VPP site is essential to demonstrate the importance of workplace safety to our business,” says Matt Ledford, Daikin Applied Staunton Environmental, Health and Safety Manager. “As a production facility, it is important to pursue opportunities for a safe and healthy workplace to produce better outcomes for our employees. Our ultimate goal is to make sure our employees go home at the end of the day in the same condition they came to work, if not a little bit better.”
Daikin has partnered with other VPP Star sites in Virginia for mentorship, including NIBCO INC., which is serving as a mentor to help achieve the VPP goal.
For more information on VPP, please visit the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website. To learn more about Daikin’s progress and Virginia’s VPP, please visit The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry website.
