Associates at Perdue’s harvest operation in Perry, Georgia, achieved a safety milestone recently after working three million consecutive production hours without experiencing an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable lost-time case. Counting toward the milestone began September 4, 2018.
“Workplace safety is an integral part of our commitment to our people at Perdue,” said Marc Shockley, director of Perdue’s Perry harvest operations, which employs more than 1,870 associates. “Achieving this level of workplace safety takes the daily commitment of every associate in our facility, a commitment I know they take seriously. We’re very proud of our associations for setting such a high safety standard.”
Perdue has a standard companywide safety program that encourages active employee participation and input. Associates take part in safety committees, which meet regularly to discuss safety issues, as well as perform safety inspections before the start of each shift. Associates have the authority to stop production or prevent start-up if any unsafe condition exists, In addition, every associate attends safety awareness training and is encouraged to look for and report any potential, Shockley explained.
Perdue is a leader in workplace safety among all Georgia industries and all industries nationwide combined. According to statistics released by the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), during their most recently reported year in 2019, the lost-time rate for all Georgia goods-producing industries combined as 0.70 per 100 workers.
According to the BLS, the nationwide lost-time rate for all goods-producing industries combined for that same year was 0.90 per 100 workers annually, while Perdue’s company-wide rate during that year was 0.30 per 100 associates. As of August 2019, Perdue’s lost-time rate was 0.31 per 100 associates.
