The Governor’s Safety and Health Award is a special recognition presented by the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet to companies for their outstanding safety and health performance. It also encourages companies to develop programs designed to reduce and eliminate occupational injuries and illnesses.
The Ashland distribution center earned their most recent award in May for achieving 949,381 hours of work time without suffering lost time to injury or illness over the two-year period from June 1, 2019, through June 30, 2022.
“Our Ashland distribution center has a tremendous culture of prioritizing safety and health among its 170 employee-partners and leadership team,” said Stephen Jenkins, Cintas Director of Safety and Health, in the release. “Receiving another Governor’s Safety and Health Award is a testament to the distribution center’s outstanding efforts to implement best practices, foster a safety-first mindset and proactively address potential hazards. They are a great example of the continued success we can achieve keeping our employee-partners safe and healthy when we all work together.”
Andrew Glass, the distribution center’s Safety Coordinator, and Rachel May, Production Coordinator, accepted the award on the facility’s behalf during the 2023 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference and Exposition, held in mid-May in Louisville, Ky.
The Ashland distribution center is one of Cintas’ 124 Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP)-certified locations across the United States. VPP is a program run by the U.S. Occupational and Safety and Health Administration that recognizes employers and workers who have implemented effective safety and health management systems and maintain injury and illness rates below National Bureau of Labor Statistics averages for their respective industries.
VPP certification is rigorous, and businesses must demonstrate that management and employees work cooperatively and proactively to prevent workplace accidents, and that they display a joint commitment to hazard prevention and control, perform ongoing analysis and implement effective training programs. In addition to submitting detailed annual reporting, locations must also undergo a thorough on-site inspection by OSHA and third-party assessors every 3-5 years to maintain certification.
