This bill formally authorizes and modernizes the Department of Labor's Voluntary Protection Program, which encourages employers to adopt comprehensive workplace safety systems through a voluntary certification process. Employers who participate must implement hazard assessments, prevention programs, employee training, and joint safety management with workers, and they submit to annual self-evaluations and periodic on-site inspections by labor department officials. In exchange for participation, approved worksites are exempt from routine safety inspections and there is no cost to participate. The bill requires the Labor Department to modernize the program's technology within two years to streamline applications and reporting, establish performance metrics to monitor program effectiveness, and ensure that hazards identified during inspections are corrected within 90 days. The Department must allocate at least 5 percent of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's annual budget to implement and operate the program, with final regulations and full implementation required within two years of the bill's enactment.
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