Herman Miller, Inc.'s Greenhouse Seating Operations and the Zeeland Main Site Operations Receive Renewed MIOSHA Recognition of their Workplace Safety and Health Excellence

Contact: Judith Shane (517) 322-1791

Agency: Licensing and Regulatory Affairs

"Herman Miller should be commended for its exemplary corporate commitment to workplace safety and health," said MIOSHA Director Doug Kalinowski.  "They have created a corporate culture where workplace safety and health is a top priority.  This company recognizes that a safe workplace provides the foundation for a productive workplace."

MIOSHA established the Michigan Voluntary Protection Program (MVPP) program in 1996 to recognize employers actively working toward achieving excellence in workplace safety and health.  Since 1999, Michigan has recognized 27 MVPP Star companies.  Herman Miller's Greenhouse Seating Operations first received MVPP Star approval on October 3, 2005, and was recertified in 2008.  Their Zeeland Main Site Operations first received MVPP Star approval on July 17th, 2008, and both sites received renewals of the award on August 3, 2011.

The recertification of the MIOSHA Star Award is an excellent reflection of Herman Miller's commitment to environmental, health and safety excellence and of the 1,500-plus employees at the Greenhouse and Main Site Operations who helped make it possible.   

Herman Miller is confident that together with their employees they will continue to drive their environmental, health and safety programs (EHS) toward obtaining the ultimate 2020 goal of ZERO work-related injuries.   

Herman Miller's corporate mission is to create great places to work.  A key element of this is to create a safe, healthy and productive work environment for its own employees.  Herman Miller employees participate in the EHS programs through EHS teams, monthly training, safety activities, events and initiatives, self-inspections/audits, and ergonomics.   

Areas of excellence include:

• Ergonomics,
• Incident Investigations,
• Site Newsletters,
• Safety Suggestions Programs,
• Behavioral Based Safety Programs, and
• Employee Involvement. 

Examples of Herman Miller employee engagement include:

• Safety Cup  - The Safety Cup was held in June 2010 to coincide with the World Cup soccer event.  Teams participated in several Safety Cup events.  The goal was to get work team members thinking about safety along with World Cup trivia.  The teams had three days to complete quiz questions and the winning team received lunch.
• SAYL'ING for Safety  - This event focused on the recently introduced SAYL chair and ran for one month.  It recognized both employees' involvement in safety discussions, suggestions, or behaviors, and also employees' proper use of tools and equipment (such as lifting equipment, gloves, etc.).  Each instance of such a behavior was acknowledged with a ticket toward winning a SAYL chair.
• Strain-Sprain Tabular  - Since the start of 2010 strain sprain injuries have steadily climbed to the top of the ladder to become their number one injury/incident type.  This three-week program had several events to bring focus to Strains/Sprains.  Events centered on problem solving, entering safety suggestions, ergonomic identification and exercises, and work place knowledge.
• Michigan   Voluntary Protection Program (MVPP) Karaoke - At a monthly safety training session, a script written to the tune of "YMCA" was presented to all work team members.  It incorporated all of the MVPP elements, benefits of "STAR" recognition, employee connection and involvement, why they work safe, being the best of the best, going home safely every day, and why they are proud to be an MVPP company.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Fashion Show  - In another monthly safety training session, team members modeled personal protective equipment to the music of Lady Gaga.  They demonstrated the proper way to wear various types of hearing protection.  They also showed various types of gloves and acceptable footwear.  Employees had fun and were energized on their way out of this training!

Herman Miller strongly believes in creating a healthy and health-positive workplace.  The health and well-being of the community is an essential goal for all Herman Miller employees, and an integral part of their aspiration to create a better world.  As a company committed to ergonomic design, their goal is to make every employee and every customer comfortable, safe, and productive at work by applying these principles:  fit the user; fit the task; and allow for posture change and activity variety.

Herman Miller works for a better world with inventive designs, technologies and related services that improve the human experience wherever people work, heal, learn, and live.  Its curiosity, ingenuity, and design excellence create award-winning products and services, resulting in more than $1.6 billion in revenue in fiscal 2011.  Innovative business practices and a commitment to social responsibility have also established Herman Miller as a recognized global company.  In 2011, Herman Miller again received the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation's top rating in its annual Corporate Equality Index and was also cited by FORTUNE as the "Most Admired" company in the contract furniture industry.  Herman Miller trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MLHR. For additional information, visit www.hermanmiller.com .

Join us on  Facebook & click "Like" to add MIOSHA as one of your Favorite Pages.  For more information about LARA, please visit www.michigan.gov/lara .  Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/michiganLARA , " Like " us on Facebook or find us on YouTube www.youtube.com/michiganLARA .