Enzi Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Preserve VPP Workplace Safety Program

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced today that he has introduced bipartisan legislation to protect a key voluntary workplace safety program cut out of the Administration’s budget proposal.  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.

“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.  “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.

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