SALISBURY, Md. (Tuesday, July 16, 2024) — Perdue Farms, a fourth-generation, family-owned U.S. food and agricultural products company, today announced the achievement of a significant safety milestone. The company’s Concord, North Carolina food production facility completed an entire year without an Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) recordable safety incident, a rare safety milestone.

An OSHA recordable incident is any work-related injury or illness that’s serious enough to require medical attention, cause missed work, involve a major diagnosis, or lead to unconsciousness, all tracked by employers to improve workplace safety.

On July 11, the Concord team celebrated one year without a single recordable safety incident. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average poultry processing facility experiences 5.7 recordable incidents per 100 employees annually. The Concord facility has 270 associates which demonstrates the significance of this milestone.

“Over the past three years, the Concord team has been implementing a robust Maintenance and Reliability Strategy, which has led to a 60% improvement in overall plant downtime performance, a 140% improvement in maintenance labor spend variance to standard, and a 120% improvement in material and services spend variance to standard,” said Gregg Uecker, Chief Supply Chain and Operations Officer of Perdue Farms. “These efforts have been key in achieving this incredible safety milestone.”

The Concord site’s continuous improvement and unwavering focus on safety have been recognized with the prestigious Reliability of Everything™ Culture Improvement Award from Efficient Plant magazine and the University of Tennessee Reliability & Maintainability Center.

“This milestone is a celebration of our team’s dedication to maintaining a safe and productive workplace,” said Joe Johnson, Perdue director of operations in Concord. “This is a great milestone for our team, and I want to personally thank all our associates for their hard work and dedication.”

^{* Agri Stats is a data analytics and consulting company that focuses on the meat processing industry.}

About Perdue Farms
We’re a fourth-generation, family-owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers, and farmers through trusted choices in products and services. Perdue Foods consists of a premium protein portfolio, including our flagship PERDUE® brand, Niman Ranch®, Coleman Natural®, and Yummy®, as well as our pet brands, Spot Farms® and Full Moon®, and is available through various channels including retail, foodservice, club stores and our direct-to-consumer website, PerdueFarms.com. Perdue AgriBusiness  is a leading merchandiser, processor, and exporter of agricultural products and the largest U.S. manufacturer of specialty, organic, and non-GMO oils. It also ranks as one of the largest suppliers of organic feed ingredients in the world. Now in our company’s second century, we never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever and in USDA-certified organic proteins.  Learn more at Corporate.PerdueFarms.com.