The federal government has a comprehensive optional program that helps employers ensure their work sites are healthy, safe places to work. But as one can imagine, the Voluntary Protection Program run by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires a lot of paperwork.
That’s why Concurrent Technologies Corp., based in Johnstown, developed the eVPP Tool to simplify the process of getting involved in the Voluntary Protection Program. The eVPP Tool, designed specifically for military installations, makes it easier for military employees to complete the applications, annual reports and other documents OSHA requires. Each person responsible for completing some of the paperwork can log into the system and see what tasks they need to complete. They can also answer specific questions and the eVPP Tool will automatically put the answers in the right places on OSHA’s documents. Sherri Slavick, project lead for the system, compares this to how much simpler it is to complete your federal tax forms with software than by hand.
More than 3,200 people at about 300 military installations, mostly in North America, use the eVPP Tool, Slavick says. And it recently received the Technology Product of the Year Award from TECHQuest, the trade association for Pennsylvania’s technology industry.
Slavick says Concurrent Technologies would like to make the eVPP Tool mobile-friendly and is surveying its customers about how useful that would be.
Source: Sherri Slavick, Concurrent Technologies Corp.
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen