Goodyear Recognized for Workplace Safety

Goodyear has a new certification that no other city in Arizona currently has. The Arizona Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (ADOSH) has recognized the city of Goodyear as a Star site in its Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). VPP is the highest level of recognition a workplace can achieve for safety and health excellence, and Star status is the highest level of recognition within the program. The city's Public Works department and Parks and Recreation department both received the designation.

"We pride ourselves on providing exceptional customer service to our community, and in order to do that we need healthy, safe employees. We want our employees to go home in the same, or even better, condition than they came to work in," said Goodyear City Manager Julie Karins.

"The city of Goodyear has been intentionally focusing on our wellness and safety program for the past ten years. This effort emphasizes the Whole Employee philosophy as a central component of our organizational culture," said Goodyear Human Resources Director Lyman Locket. "Achieving this prestigious status confirms that we're on the right track."

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Arizona OSHA closely evaluated the city's health and safety practices for months. The evaluation included observation, a thorough documentation review, formal and informal interviews with city leadership and staff, and in-depth site inspections.

ADOSH was impressed by the city's comprehensive wellness and safety protocols, which include regularly scheduled mandatory safety meetings, hands-on safety training, contests and surveys focused on safety, job hazard analysis and standard operating procedures, citywide and department-level safety committees, and its holistic approach to employee and culture strategy. The city was also lauded for its COVID-19 response.

"There's a reason the city of Goodyear won an award at the Industrial Commission's Annual Workplace Safety Recognition Day," said ADOSH Director, Jessie Atencio. "The city has repeatedly demonstrated that they take the health and wellbeing of their employees seriously and their methods should be viewed as best practices among other municipalities. The city of Goodyear's VPP Star Site status is well deserved."