The Joint Industry Safety and Health Council has awarded seven of Perdue’s 17 food-producing operations its Award of Distinction, the Council’s highest honor for consistently implementing innovative and effective workplace safety health processes and systems. They were among 24 Perdue facilities in nine states, including 10 of the company’s food-producing plants, that received workplace safety awards at the 2018 National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry in Destin, Florida.
“For us, workplace safety is an absolute that includes an uncompromising commitment from our company and an ongoing safety culture that engages all our associates,” said Randy Day, chief executive officer. “These awards recognize company goals that put people first and our associates’ dedication to workplace safety. We’re proud of our teams’ accomplishments, and focus on continuous improvement.”
The company’s food-producing facilities that received Awards of Distinction include harvest operations in Accomac, Virginia; Cromwell, Kentucky; Lewiston, North Carolina; and Perry, Georgia; and further-processing operations in Perry, Monterey, Tennessee; and Bridgewater, Virginia The company’s hatcheries in Trion, Georgia; Vincennes, Indiana; and Santa Rosa, California; and feed mills in Elkin, North Carolina; and Petuluma, California; and Forsyth, Georgia, also received the Award of Distinction.
The Award of Distinction criteria required these facilities to maintain their key Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety metrics — Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART), and Lost Work Day Incident Rate (LWDIR) — at levels at least 50 percent better than the industry average for three consecutive years. Award consideration was also based on each facility’s written explanation of its safety programs and processes.
Facilities that were recognized with the Award of Honor, the Council’s second highest honor, include food-producing plants in Milford, Delaware and Rockingham, North Carolina, Perdue hatcheries in Eagles Springs and Kenly in North Carolina, and in Salisbury and Westover in Maryland as well as feed mills in Candor and Nashville in North Carolina, received the Award of Honor. These facilities maintained their OSHA safety metrics at least 25 percent better than the industry for at least three straight years.
In addition, a Perdue feed mill in Bridgeville, Delaware; a hatchery in Hurlock, Maryland; and a food-producing plant in Concord, North Carolina, received the Award of Merit for maintaining their OSHA safety metrics at least 25 percent better than the industry for at least two consecutive years.
Award consideration was based on injury statistics over three years and an evaluation of written applications by an independent panel of judges.
The Joint Industry Safety and Health Council comprises members from the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation. Combined, these three organizations represent companies that produce 95 percent of the nation’s poultry products and employ more 350,000 workers.
