The U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center, Europe hosted the Department of Defense's Voluntary Protection Program Workshop in Pirmasens, Germany, April 4 through 7 to promote worksite-based safety and health.

An impressive 116 attendees joined the four-day, two-session workshop, with session one geared for commanders and managers, and session two focused on supervisors, additional duty safety representatives and employees. Presentations covered such varied topics as the VPP process for management and employees, union participation and workplace hazard identification.

Representatives from the European Regional Medical Command, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and the Baumholder Medical Clinic attended the workshop. At the close, Col. William Stubbs, USAMMCE Commander, thanked the DoD VPP Center of Excellence team for traveling to Germany and sharing safety and occupational health insights with the USAMMCE team. Col. Stubbs voiced great appreciation for all the workshop participants and everyone taking time out of their busy schedules to join the program.

USAMMCE has made significant progress in its VPP initiative. USAMMCE began the VPP Stage I effort June 2010 and reached 66 percent Stage I completion. By April 2011, USAMMCE had attained a 78 percent completion rate. As of April 11, USAMMCE is at 90 percent Stage I completion. The goal is to complete Stage I by July 2011 and move into Stage II, the implementation part of VPP.