WHO: Hendrickson Trailer Suspension Systems

Mitchell, South Dakota

WHAT: Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s

Star Level Designation

BACKGROUND: The company earned recognition for its safety and health programs leading to its recertification as a Star Level Voluntary Protection Program site. ­The Woodridge, Illinois-based company employs about 79 workers in Mitchell and about 3,500 nationwide.

The Mitchell site was initially approved as a VPP site in February 2009. Hendrickson now has eight VPP sites nationwide, seven sites hold International Standards Organization 45001 Certifications.

Hendrickson Trailer Suspension System employees cut, stamp, bend, and form sheet steel into a variety of components that are welded together to create suspension systems for over the road trailers and trucks for commercial and military grade vehicles. The site maintains excellent hazard reporting and correction systems.

“For more than 13 years, Hendrickson Trailer has shown a consistent commitment to employee safety and health excellence and the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program. A heavy industrial manufacturing worksite with such an effective safety and health program is a great example for others,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Jennifer S. Rous in Denver. “Star Level designation in the VPP is the highest safety achievement a company can earn from OSHA. Hendrickson Trailer’s levels of management commitment and employee engagement were areas of excellence noted by the members of the VPP evaluation team.”

OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs recognize and promote effective worksite-based safety and health management systems. In the VPP, management, labor, and OSHA establish cooperative relationships at workplaces that have implemented comprehensive safety and health management systems. Approval into VPP is OSHA's official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have created exemplary worksite safety and health management systems.

Learn more about OSHA.