VPPPA Board Chooses Executive Director
Susan Jordan Sikes, whose career in safety and health includes 21 years with OSHA, is taking the post after R. Davis Layne retired in July. She said the staff wants to achieve Star status in their headquarters.
The Voluntary Protection Programs Participants' Association, Inc. brought aboard a new executive director during its 28th annual conference, which ended Aug. 23 in Anaheim, Calif. The VPPPA national board of directors announced Susan Jordan Sikes will take over the position starting in October. She succeeds R. Davis Layne, a former top official at OSHA who retired as VPPPA executive director in July and is now serving the association as senior advisor.
"In our search for a replacement for Davis Layne, our attention quickly turned to someone all of us have known for numerous years, but who also brings great experience and knowledge along with her passion for VPP," VPPPA Chairperson Mike Maddox said in the association's news release.
"It is truly an honor and privilege to serve as executive director for the national VPPPA," Sikes said. "I look forward to the endless opportunities before me and to serving multitudes of passionate and professional people who share the vision of achieving occupational safety and health excellence. The national VPPPA staff and I are committed to achieving OSHA VPP Star approval in our headquarters and to working diligently to increase and promote VPPPA member services. We will continue to work closely with our partners in OSHA, labor, private industries, federal and state agencies, and other countries to grow VPPPA and to provide assistance in our collective efforts to reduce occupational injuries, illnesses, and deaths."
According to the release, Sikes has 27 years of experience in occupational safety and health, including 21 years at OSHA, where she worked as a regional training and grants officer, compliance safety and health enforcement officer, safety and health program management expert, and regional VPP manager. She left the agency in 2006 to join Plexus Scientific Corporation, where she assisted the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army in establishing the Department of Defense Voluntary Protection Programs Center of Excellence.