Cintas Chicago First Aid & Safety Locations Certified as VPP Star Sites
Oak Brook, IL – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration formally honored Cintas Corporation’s (Nasdaq: CTAS) First Aid & Safety Division Locations in Elk Grove Village, IL and Woodridge, IL as VPP Star certified locations on Friday.
The VPP Star program was created by OSHA to recognize stand-out worksites that have comprehensive, successful safety and health management systems. Companies that have earned a VPP Star designation have achieved injury and illness rates at or below the national average of their respective industries and have established strong workplace hazard control programs.
>> Media Use Assets (available on Dropbox)
“Achieving OSHA VPP Star is a tremendous accomplishment for our Chicago market and is the culmination of continuous hard work, and dedication from every employee-partner at the locations,” said Ryan Gard, Cintas First Aid & Safety Regional Business Director. “We also realize that continuous improvement is a core value of both VPP and Cintas, which means that we are committed to continue raising the bar in health and safety. Nothing is more important than our customers' and employee-partners' health, safety, and wellness.”
OSHA established VPP Star to promote effective and cooperative worksite safety and health in both private industry and government worksites.
Achieving VPP Star certification is rigorous. Businesses must demonstrate that management and employees work cooperatively – and proactively – to prevent workplace accidents by implementing a comprehensive safety and health management system and maintaining injury and illness rates below national Bureau of Labor Statistics averages for their respective industries.
This program is OSHA’s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safety and health. To remain in the program, participants must be re-evaluated every three to five years.
Cintas’ commitment to OSHA’s VPP Star program has set a new standard for U.S. companies. As of August 2023, 127 Cintas facilities in the United States are VPP Star certified, a total that far outpaces every other American company.
“The most important requirement for earning this distinction is that the location management team and the front-line employee-partners must work together toward the common goal of eliminating workplace injuries and illnesses,” said Stephen Jenkins, Cintas Director of Health & Safety, whose department oversees the company’s VPP certification process. “Without this critical element, a company will not qualify for this recognition. We’re incredibly proud of our employee-partners’ dedication to working collaboratively to maintain safe and healthy worksites throughout our company.”
About Cintas Corporation
Cintas Corporation helps more than one million businesses of all types and sizes get Ready™ to open their doors with confidence every day by providing products and services that help keep their customers’ facilities and employees clean, safe, and looking their best. With offerings including uniforms, mats, mops, towels, restroom supplies, workplace water services, first aid and safety products, eye-wash stations, safety training, fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems and alarm service, Cintas helps customers get Ready for the Workday®. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas is a publicly held Fortune 500 company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CTAS and is a component of both the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and Nasdaq-100 Index.