Waste Management of Orange County receives safety certification

Waste Management of Orange County’s (WMOC) Sunset Environmental Transfer Station has achieved Star Certification as part of the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), the highest safety achievement offered by Cal/OSHA.

WMOC’s Sunset Environmental Transfer Station is the first transfer station in the United States to be recognized as a Cal/VPP Star site, and only the second facility in the municipal solid waste industry to achieve this certification, joining Waste Management’s VPP Star Certified hauling district in Carlsbad, California.

Cal/OSHA estimates that there are 76 Star Certified sites in California and approximately 2,000 Star sites (as designated by Federal/OSHA) in the United States.

WMOC’s Sunset Environmental Transfer Station has 40 employees who perform various jobs including collection drivers, maintenance technicians, equipment operators and recycling processing line sorters, in addition to office personnel.

The Star Certification is the result of a voluntary invitation for site visits and consultation by the state’s work safety division, culminating in a multi-day audit in April. WMOC first applied for consideration for VPP in July of 2009 and spent the time between the application submission and the Cal/OSHA official VPP review conducting site improvements, safety program reviews and encouraging employee participation to meet the goals of the VPP program.