Republican senator throws VPP a life-preserver (4/29)
U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has “introduced bipartisan legislation to protect a key voluntary workplace safety program cut out of the administration’s budget proposal,” according to a press release issued by his office.
The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), will “preserve the Department of Labor’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), a cooperative program between private industry and the DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration,” according to the press release.
“The legislation we have proposed will protect the VPP and support a balanced approach to the goal of increased work place safety we all want to achieve,” said Enzi in the new release. “If we truly want to continue to improve workplace safety we need to think creatively and fashion policies aimed at getting results.
“No program has been more successful in creating such a culture of safety in the workplace than the VPP. Since it was created in 1982, Republican and Democrat administrations alike have fostered its growth. It now includes 2,284 worksites, a quarter of which are unionized, covering almost a million employees,” Enzi added.
Enzi also praised Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-SD) for including an Enzi amendment that will restore funding to the VPP.
“The bipartisan amendment Chairman Conrad included in the budget today will protect VPP funding and supports a balanced approach to the goal of increased work place safety that all of us want to achieve,” said Enzi. “Employers and workers deserve nothing less, and I appreciate Senator Conrad including this important amendment.”
The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), will “preserve the Department of Labor’s Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), a cooperative program between private industry and the DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration,” according to the press release.
“The legislation we have proposed will protect the VPP and support a balanced approach to the goal of increased work place safety we all want to achieve,” said Enzi in the new release. “If we truly want to continue to improve workplace safety we need to think creatively and fashion policies aimed at getting results.
“No program has been more successful in creating such a culture of safety in the workplace than the VPP. Since it was created in 1982, Republican and Democrat administrations alike have fostered its growth. It now includes 2,284 worksites, a quarter of which are unionized, covering almost a million employees,” Enzi added.
Enzi also praised Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-SD) for including an Enzi amendment that will restore funding to the VPP.
“The bipartisan amendment Chairman Conrad included in the budget today will protect VPP funding and supports a balanced approach to the goal of increased work place safety that all of us want to achieve,” said Enzi. “Employers and workers deserve nothing less, and I appreciate Senator Conrad including this important amendment.”
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