Associates at the Perdue Foods’ operation in Lewiston-Woodville, North Carolina recently received two workplace safety awards from the North Carolina Department of Labor. The more than 1,800 associates were recognized for working nine million consecutive production hours without an Occupational Safety and Health Administration lost-time injury from June 27, 2012 to January 16, 2015, according to a company news release yesterday.
Since then, the associates have surpassed 10 million consecutive hours for the second time in the operation’s history. They also received the Commissioner’s Gold Award for no lost workdays and a DART rate that was at least 50 percent below the statewide rate for its industry for the second year in a row. The DART rate includes cases of days away from work, restricted activity or job transfer. For 2014, Perdue’s DART rate was 0.89 per 100 workers.
“It’s really an honor for me to travel throughout the state and recognize employers such as Perdue who are making a commitment to their employees,” said Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry. “These employers are helping to make North Carolina workplaces some of the safest in the nation.”
“At Perdue, we have a very strong safety program, but it’s important to recognize that it was our associates, and their daily commitment to working safely, who made this happen,” said Jeff Stalls, Perdue director of operations in Lewiston. “We encourage active participation and input from our associates to ensure we maintain a safe work environment. Associates have the authority to stop production or prevent start-up if any unsafe condition exists. Additionally, every associate attends safety awareness training, and is encouraged to look for and report any potential hazard.”
Perdue is a leader in workplace safety among all North Carolina industries and all industries nationwide combined. According to statistics released by the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, during their most recently reported year in 2013, the lost-time rate for all North Carolina industries combined was .80 per 100 workers.
According to those same Bureau of Labor statistics, the nationwide lost-time rate for all industries combined for that same year was 1.10 per 100 workers annually, while Perdue’s companywide rate during that year was .15 per 100 associates. As of March 2015, Perdue’s lost-time rate was .19 per 100 associates.
Perdue’s companywide OSHA Total Recordable Incident Rate is 2.35 as compared to the current poultry industry rate of 4.50, and is also better than the Goods Producing rate of 3.90.
