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For the third consecutive year, Ruby Adams, safety technician aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif. has earned Special Government Employee nominee of the Year for Voluntary Protection Program's Region IX.
“I’ll be attending the VPP National Symposium in New Orleans late August where all ten region nominees are called up to the stage and introduced,” Adams said. “Then they’ll announce ‘the winner of the National VPP SGE of the Year is…’ while we all wait in anticipation.”
The symposium is attended by representatives from all over the country to include representatives from the Department of Labor, Safety & Health Director, Headquarters Marine Corps officials from the Pentagon and Quantico.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” said Adams.
The award recognizes employees who have gone above and beyond their regular work duties to become Special Government Employees and assist with VPP audits, audit report reviews, site mentoring, sharing best practices all in support of the Voluntary Protection Programs nationwide, for government, as well as commercial, facilities with representatives from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
“Ruby is the most active SGE we have on base and is directly engaged with the Region 9 VPPPA and the OSHA VPP manager for Region 9 (OSHA Region 9 covers Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, American Samoa, and Nevada),” said Ray Aguilar, Safety Division director. ”During 2016, Ruby provided support for the Region 9 VPPPA summit and she was a co-instructor for the SGE Training Course at the Region IX VPPPA in Burlingame, CA. Ruby attended the 2016 National VPPPA conference in Kissimmee, Florida, and served as a panel member on the DoD VPP discussion panel. She assisted OSHA Region VIII on two VPP onsite evaluations during the year. The first evaluation was a recertification at Cardinal Insulated Glass, located in Fargo, North Dakota in July 2016. The second evaluation was a recertification evaluation at Hunter Douglas Window Fashions located in Broomfield, Colorado in August 2016.”
Becoming an SGE entails that an employee attend two and a half days of training which encompasses how to conduct an audit referencing the 5450 Evaluating Safety and Health Management Systems for Special Government Employees Manual when you go out to a commercial site or a Department of Defense site with an OSHA representative.
“Not all of the SGEs are DOD employees, but during the time that the employees are conducting the audit with OSHA, they are considered federal government employees,” Adams said.
Audits consist of three or four days, full-scale inspections during which the SGEs and OSHA representatives review all of the site’s safety and health documentation and programs that fall under the VPP umbrella. They also engage in walk-around inspections, conduct formal interviews with 10 per cent of supervisors, employees, and contractors that encompass all shifts.
“A lot of good information is pulled from these audits,” she said. “Sometimes we even bring their best practices back with us to share here. We also keep in contact with many of the people we come into contact with and so the networking is very valuable. We can continue to share information and ideas and continue the dialog.”
The audits also help ensure that sites are focusing on the safety and health of their fellow employees and meeting or exceeding safety standards established by OSHA. Adams is usually able to go out on two audits per year, depending on her availability as well as availability of funding in the Safety Division’s budget.
The SGE of the Year regional award nomination is earned based on active participation in the VPP program. Adams had to attend and perform audits as well as maintain involvement in anything related to VPP here on base.
“I’m involved with VPP on this installation as well as the region,” she said. “I’m also the ambassador for the VPP Region IX Board of Directors and Planning Committee. I’ve been actively involved with VPP since 2006 so I’ve got a lot of VPP knowledge and experience under my belt and it is appealing on my resume.”
In fact, Adams has been the committee chair for Hazard Prevention & Control since the onset of the VPP program here at Barstow. She also assisted her department’s Collateral Duty Safety Officer (CDSO) at the time with getting VPP rolling and establishing the inspection documents.
“So when safety specialists for the base come to our division, I am the liaison and I make sure everything is ready for the inspection,” Adams said.
There is more on her work plate than that, however. Adams has played a critical role in MCLB Barstow’s ability to sustain its Star status with VPP, explained Aguilar.
“She has greatly contributed to the well-being and safety of her fellow workers, Marines and others aboard base,” Aguilar said. “Her efforts have had a significant impact on her worksite.”
Adams has worked on base since 1992, at which time she worked with Marine Corps Community Services. She then moved on to civil service in Communications in 1997. In 2011 she was reassigned to Supply and this past May she assumed her new position with Base Safety.
“I plan to stay with Safety, continue education in this field, and strive to become a safety specialist while fulfilling my VPP role,” she said.
As a VPP lead for the Hazard Prevention & Control Committee, she assists other individuals with engaging in VPP programs and activities, and she helps departments establish and maintain their VPP protocols. The program is expanding and they are always looking for more people to assist with VPP programs, activities, and events.
“Right now we assist with federal OSHA programs and audits,” Adams explained. “It appears now that we may also be assisting with Cal-OSHA sites, as well.”
“On 20 July, MCLB Barstow, received official notification that the base was approved for VPP recertification,” Aguilar said. “Our recertification is a direct result of the efforts of all our base personnel, especially our VPP members. Ruby was involved with the preparations for the recertification audit and directly participated in the assessment. I don’t see any sign of her letting up on her involvement anytime soon, and now that she works for me, I can guarantee it. Her previous supervisors (Rich Green and Reah Andrews) in Base Supply did a terrific job of supporting the base’s VPP efforts in allowing Ruby to participate as much as I needed, though.”
The current committee leads for the base are Adams, Danielle Heinze, program analyst for the Business Performance Office, Anna Jones, management assistant for Security and Emergency Services, and Mike Reyes. For more information about VPP, including how to become an active committee member or lead, contact any of these leads, or the safety specialist at the Base Safety Office at 577-6266.
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| Date Taken: | 07.27.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.14.2017 12:07 |
| Story ID: | 244802 |
| Location: | BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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