Perdue Farms received 25 safety awards from the Joint Industry Safety and Health Council. From left to right are Reddick White, safety and security manager in Lewiston, N.C., Frank Cruice, senior director of corporate safety and security, and Derek Helms, safety and security manager in Perry, Ga.
Perdue garners 25 workplace safety awards from Joint Industry Safety and Health Council
August 29, 2017
Salisbury, Md. (Wednesday, August 30, 2017) — The Joint Industry Safety and Health Council has recognized Perdue with more awards than any other poultry company for consistently implementing innovative and effective workplace safety health processes and systems. Twenty-five Perdue facilities in 11 states, including 11 of the company’s 16 food-producing plants, received awards at the 2017 National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry.
“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 — the Council’s highest honor — include operations in Bridgewater, Va., Concord, N.C., Cromwell, Ky., Dillon, S.C., Lewiston, N.C., Milford, Del., and Monterey, Tenn. The company’s hatcheries in Murfreesboro, N.C., Vincennes, Ind., and Westover, Md., and feed mills in Bridgeville, Del., Forsyth, Ga., and Nashville, N.C., 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 a food-producing plant in Accomac, Va., two plants in Perry, Ga., and another in Rockingham, N.C. Perdue hatcheries in Dillon, Hurlock, Md., Trion, Ga., and Santa Rosa, Calif., as well as a feed mill in Petaluma, Calif., 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, Perdue feed mills in Elkin, N.C., and Washington, Ind., 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.
About the Joint Industry Safety and Health Council
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.
About Perdue Farms
We’re a third-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.
We focus on continuously improving everything we do, constantly learning, and sharing those insights across different production methods. That innovative approach is driving change throughout the company and onto farms. This continuous advancement is leading us toward our vision of becoming the most trusted name in food and agricultural products.
The PERDUE® brand is the number-one brand of fresh chicken in the U.S., and Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company. As we approach our 100th anniversary in 2020, our path forward is about getting better, not just bigger. 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 chicken, turkey and pork, and in USDA-certified organic chicken. We’ve increased our support for the family farm by creating new markets, including specialty crops. Through agricultural services, we give farmers more options for the acre, including conversion to organic production and products and services that increase the sustainability of conventional agriculture. Learn more at www.perduefarms.com
