September 3, 2019 —Eugene, OR—The Health & Safety Institute (HSI) today announces the closing of its acquisition by Waud Capital Partners from the Riverside Company. Chief Executive Officer Chad Birckelbaw and the current management team will continue to lead HSI.

Founded in 1977, HSI is the keystone brand in the emerging safety and compliance business category, delivering technology and content solutions to the nation’s community of emergency care and occupational safety professionals. As the industry’s premier provider of online safety training, nationally accredited CPR and First Aid instruction, and chemical management, HSI is known for its product breadth, innovation, and record of supporting many of America’s most successful brands.

New Partnership

The partnership with Waud Capital will enable HSI to continue building on its mission of making the workplace and community safer. With a focus on customer-led product development and commitment to excellent service, HSI and its family of brands have seen accelerated growth in the last several years.

“Waud Capital has deep business and technology services experience. We expect to rapidly enhance and expand our product offerings, continue developing our foundational platform, and explore new verticals and markets. We look forward to working collaboratively with our partners at Waud Capital to identify and unlock growth opportunities as we execute our strategy,” said CEO Chad Birckelbaw.

Platform

HSI’s scalable platform—Pillar—is an unmatched suite of safety & health resources, covering immutable needs shared by all organizations: training, content, automation, and recordkeeping. Pillar offers the supreme utility of integrated compliance tools for safety data sheet (SDS) management, environmental health and safety (EHS) training, and a learning management system (LMS), all with the simplicity of online access.

With Pillar, HSI is able to offer organizations a “one-stop shop” for critical training needs, and affordable, enterprise-level software, supporting a range of complex compliance requirements. HSI anticipates evolving new capabilities to help employers fully match specific regulatory structures and capture market share-expanding opportunities by supporting a broader spectrum of industries and professional roles.

About Health & Safety Institute

HSI is the only provider capable of addressing the full set of environmental health & safety (EHS) and emergency care compliance and training needs for individuals, businesses and trainers. The Health & Safety Institute brand family includes: American Safety & Health Institute & Medic First Aid, 24-7 EMS & Fire, Summit Training Source, EMS Safety, HSI Learning Systems, and SafeTec. Learn more about the Health & Safety Institute.

About Waud Capital Partners

Based in Chicago, Waud Capital Partners is a leading growth-oriented private equity firm with total capital commitments of approximately $3.0 billion since its founding in 1993. Waud Capital partners with exceptional management teams to build market-leading companies within two industries: healthcare services and business and technology services. Since its founding, Waud Capital has successfully completed more than 275 investments, including platform companies and follow-on opportunities. For additional information on Waud Capital, visit www.waudcapital.com.

Learn more about workplace safety training.