(Salem) – Valliscor LLC, a chemical manufacturing firm in Corvallis, has stepped up its commitment to on-the-job safety and health by completing its first year in Oregon OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP).
SHARP, primarily set up to help small- and mid-sized businesses, coaches companies on how to effectively manage workplace safety and health. It empowers employers to continuously improve. In turn, companies are recognized for their success in reaching specific benchmarks. An employer becomes a graduate when it completes five years of SHARP.
Valliscor is known for its innovation, so it’s no surprise it embraced SHARP. Located within the Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Institute, Valliscor is an Oregon State University-licensed spinoff company. Its unique process allows customers in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, polymer, and electronics industries to easily add fluorine to other molecules.
In joining SHARP, Valliscor assessed and tackled a variety of safety and health issues. Pedro Molina Sanchez, safety and regulatory affairs lead for the company, said the process was “extremely valuable” in helping improve “almost every aspect of our health and safety practices and policies.”
Noting the “expertise and extensive support” of Oregon OSHA consultants, Sanchez said SHARP “accelerated our transition from a reactive to a proactive approach” to workplace safety and health. That includes increasing the company’s capacity “to identify, analyze, and communicate hazards derived from our operations more efficiently,” Sanchez said.
SHARP encourages Oregon employers to work with their employees to identify and correct hazards, and develop and implement effective safety and health programs. The benefits of the program, which is part of Oregon OSHA’s consultation services, include lower injury and illness rates, decreased workers’ compensation costs, increased employee morale, and lower product losses.
Oregon employers that have been in business for more than one year are eligible to apply for SHARP. Get more information about the program. Lean more about Oregon OSHA's no-cost consultation services.
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Oregon OSHA, a division of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, enforces the state’s workplace safety and health rules and works to improve workplace safety and health for all Oregon workers. For more information, visit www.osha.oregon.gov.
The Department of Consumer and Business Services is Oregon’s largest business regulatory and consumer protection agency. For more information, go to www.dcbs.oregon.gov.