Northrop Grumman Receives OSHA Awards

Northrop Grumman Corporation announced today that its Newport News sector received two awards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The Newport News sector was recognized as the largest Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) STAR site. The VPP, administered by OSHA and the Department of Energy, is a cooperative effort among labor, management and government. OSHA awards the STAR only to those companies with comprehensive, successful safety and health programs that are in the forefront of employee protection and demonstrate continuous improvement. Newport News first became a STAR site in 1995, and was re-certified at the prestigious STAR level in 2000. Michael Williams, a 23-year employee of Newport News who works with the Welding Services group, has been awarded the 2002 Safety & Health Achievement Award by the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants' Association (VPPPA) for his outstanding health and safety activities. Williams was one of only two people in the country to receive this award. The VPPPA Safety & Health Achievement Award Program is an opportunity for hourly employees to be recognized for their knowledge on health and safety issues and for their VPP outreach efforts within their worksite and community. Candidates for this award spend less than 25 percent of their time on organized safety programs and initiatives and are not safety and health professionals. Williams, a resident of Newport News, is a member of Welding Service's Safety Team. In this role, he works to continuously improve the safety of employees throughout his department. He served as team leader on his department's Safety Training Team and developed and presented an annual safety training program to hundreds of employees and their supervisors. In his community, he has been active in Earth Day service and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.