Salisbury, Md. (Monday, November 23, 2015) — Associates at Perdue’s Monterey, Tenn., operation achieved a safety milestone on September 7, 2015 after working 2 million production hours without experiencing an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable lost-time case. Counting toward the milestone began in July 2014. More than 940 associates work at the Monterey further-processing operation.

“All of our associates should be very proud of this accomplishment, because they are the ones who make our workplace safe,” said Jeff Beckman, Perdue director of operations. “Perdue has a strong safety program, but it takes the cooperation and commitment of all of our associates to make it work.”

According to Beckman, 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 as well as monthly training, and specialized training as needed.  They are also continually encouraged to look for and report any potential hazard in order to help drive continuous improvement in the workplace.

In May, the Monterey team received the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner’s Award of Excellence for demonstrating a strong commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace and surpassing two million safe production hours.

Perdue is a leader in workplace safety

Perdue is a leader in workplace safety among all Tennessee 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 2014, the lost-time rate for all Tennessee industries combined was 0.70 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 1.1 per 100 workers annually, while Perdue’s companywide rate during that year was 0.20 per 100 associates. As of October 2015, Perdue’s lost-time rate was .13 per 100 associates.

Perdue’s companywide OSHA Total Recordable Incident Rate is 2.25 as compared to the current Poultry Industry rate of 4.33, and is also better than the Goods Producing rate of 3.80.

Perdue Farms is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for everyone we touch through innovative food and agricultural products. Since our beginning on Arthur Perdue’s farm in 1920, to our expansion into agribusiness and the introduction of the PERDUE® brand of chicken and turkey under Frank Perdue, and continuing with our third generation of leadership with Chairman Jim Perdue, we’ve remained family owned and family operated. We are the parent company of Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness. Through our PERDUE®, PERDUE® SIMPLY SMART®, PERDUE® HARVESTLAND®, COLEMAN PREMIUM® and COLEMAN ORGANIC® food brands; agricultural products and services; and stewardship and corporate responsibility programs, we are working to become the most-trusted name in food and agricultural products. Learn more about Perdue Farms at www.perduefarms.com.