A Culture of Prevention: Leading the Way to COR/OSSE Certification
In 2015, when Breanne O’Neil joined the industrial slurry pump manufacturer as a talent acquisition manager, she saw an organization that cared, yet still operated with an “it’s how we’ve always done it” mindset. “Safety… always mattered,” she says. “We didn’t really have a lot of big problems, but it was a lot more procedural than cultural.”
Sparking change
Over the years, as the company’s products grew larger and more complex, Hevvy/Toyo Pumps sometimes needed outside support to safely complete high-power testing. During one of those tests, an arc flash occurred. Luckily, no one was injured but the potential outcome was clear: relying on luck was not a safety strategy.
For CEO Justin Van de Velde, the incident landed heavily. O’Neil remembers him “white as a ghost,” thinking through the worst-case scenario and the unthinkable call to a worker’s loved ones.
From that point forward, leadership committed to building a culture of prevention—one where safety sits alongside the other big goals of the organization. Remembering a conversation from a few years earlier, Van de Velde took a closer look at pursuing COR certification—and certification in the Occupational Safety Standard of Excellence (OSSE)—before announcing that O’Neil would lead the company along their certification journey.
Roughly 10 months later, at the height of the pandemic, Hevvy/Toyo Pumps completed its first external audit and achieved certification with a score of 99 percent.
"Leadership built a culture of prevention at Hevvy/Toyo Pumps North America—one where hazards are identified early, near misses are reported, and systems improved before an injury could occur."
The importance of visible sustained leadership
What made the difference in Hevvy/Toyo’s approach to safety was more than a binder of policies—it was visible, sustained leadership support. Throughout the entire COR/OSSE certification process, executives were part of and helped lead the process.
The company reinforced that reporting is welcome and non-punitive, offering multiple ways to speak up: an open-door approach, email, and even anonymous reporting via QR code. Safety expectations were embedded into hiring and onboarding, and the organization invested in consistent and ongoing training to keep knowledge current and prevent complacency.
For Hevvy/Toyo Pumps, OSSE certification is proof of something deeper: a company-wide commitment to ensure every employee can raise a concern, learn from near misses, and go home safe.
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In 2025, Hevvy/Toyo Pumps was presented a Ruby Pinnacle Award for their ability to maintain their COR/OSSE certification through annual maintenance audits, continued leadership commitment to professional development and continuous learning at all levels, reducing their Injury Rate below their average Classification Unit (CU) over a 3 year period, and improving their experience rating by 10% over a period of 3 years after certification.
