C&I is honored to be the first engineering firm site-based in Illinois to earn the coveted Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star-certification from OSHA.  Ray Roberson, C&I’s Executive Director of Operations and Safety, noted the bottom line to the achievement is that C&I genuinely cares for the safety and health of our employees and the clients we serve, and we chose to pattern our Safety program after the top-shelf VPP example.  The accreditation demonstrates C&I has been measured to a safety standard and succeeded.  As many of C&I’s clients embody VPP, the desire to emulate it was paramount.  VPP is commonly associated with construction firms and manufacturing facilities, but participation by an engineering firm is rare.  In fact, OSHA was surprised to initially see an engineering firm apply, but was convinced once C&I’s rationale was communicated.  Ray explained, “Our team, intermittently onsite, is not exposed to the daily hazard reminders plant personnel receive.  As such, being acutely aware of how to safely navigate a refinery or plant is magnified.”  Once OSHA understood this rationale, they embraced C&I’s desire to attain the VPP Star certification designation.  C&I is quite proud of achieving VPP Star certification status in November of 2018.