Ballistic Missile Facility Earns Safety Kudos from OSHA
Raytheon Mission Capability and Verification Center (MCVC) at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico has earned membership in OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) at the star, or highest, level for achieving three years of excellence in employee health and safety.
A subsidiary of Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon Co., the facility provides system operations and maintenance, as well as missile processing for field surveillance, flight test, and Patriot As A Target (PAAT) missiles (Patriot legacy missiles modified to represent short-range tactical ballistic missiles). The center also performs the necessary range interface for test plans and test management activities for on-range and environmental testing. Raytheon MCVC has been working and supporting operations at White Sands for about 52 years.
"Raytheon's MCVC has demonstrated excellence in effective safety and health management," said Dean W. McDaniel, OSHA's regional administrator in Dallas. "The company's outstanding efforts at this site include maintaining an injury and illness rate that is 76 percent below the national average for its industry."
According to OSHA, Raytheon MCVC is the latest of more than 2,200 worksites representing more than 300 industries nationwide that have earned entry into the agency's VPP. Requirements include a high degree of management commitment and employee involvement; a high-quality worksite analysis, hazard prevention, and control program; and comprehensive safety and health training for all employees. Each of these elements must be effective, in place, and in operation for at least one year before a company can apply to join VPP. OSHA noted that companies in VPP achieve average injury and illness rates 50 percent below the Bureau of Labor Statistics average for other companies in their respective industries.