The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Challenge Program provides participating sites a “roadmap“ based on the 4 OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) elements to develop and/or improve their safety and health management system (SHMS) beyond one of minimum compliance. OSHA designed the OSHA Challenge elements and sub-elements to foster active employee involvement in a site’s SHMS.
Sites must apply to participate in OSHA Challenge and have an OSHA-approved Administrator and Coordinator. The Administrator submits stage reports to the OSHA Challenge Office for review after the site completes each of the OSHA Challenge stages. Upon OSHA approval, the site receives completion letters –1 for each stage, and 1 for completing the OSHA Challenge Program. Sites that complete all 3 stages of OSHA Challenge may submit an OSHA VPP application for an onsite assessment. Review the SMCX’s OSHA VPP and VPP element pages for additional information.
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OSHA Challenge Stage I is where the site’s written safety and health programs are reviewed by the OSHA-approved Coordinator. This review is done on site with the site’s safety and health personnel (e.g., Safety Professional, Unit Safety Officer, Safety Manager). The Coordinator makes recommendations for the site to develop or improve safety and health programs in order to meet Challenge Stage I sub-element requirements. The Coordinator also determines which sub-elements are “complete” or “incomplete”, based on OSHA Challenge Stage I requirements, and documents any actions the site needs to do to close out an “incomplete” sub-element. Stage I has 73 sub-elements.
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OSHA Challenge Stage II is where the site implements the safety and health programs and procedures developed in Stage I. This stage requires active management and employee involvement to integrate safety and health into every work practice. Again, the Coordinator determines which sub-elements are “complete” or “incomplete”, based on OSHA Challenge Stage II requirements, and documents any additional actions the site needs to do to close out an “incomplete” sub-element. Stage II has 59 sub-elements.
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OSHA Challenge Stage III is where a site improves the effectiveness of the safety and health programs and procedures developed and implemented in Stage I and Stage II. Again, the Coordinator determines which sub-elements are “complete” or “incomplete”, based on OSHA Challenge Stage III requirements, and documents any additional actions the site need to do to close out an “incomplete” sub-element. Stage III has 43 sub-elements.
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