Perdue’s Schulenburg, Texas Associates Achieve Significant Safety Milestone
June 30, 2020
Schulenburg, TX (June 30, 2020) – Associates at Perdue Foods’ production facility in Schulenburg, Texas, have achieved a significant safety milestone by completing more than one year without an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable incident. June 1, 2020 was the one-year mark for the injury-free milestone at the Schulenburg plant, which employs 75 associates who produce Perdue’s Spot Farms® and Full Moon® pet treat products.
OSHA defines a recordable incident as one that requires medical treatment beyond first aid, as well as one that causes days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job, loss of consciousness or death.
“At Perdue, we have an industry-leading safety program, but it takes the engagement and commitment of all of our associates to make it successful,” said Jeff Beckman, Vice President of Operations for Premium Prepared Foods. “Our value of teamwork guides our culture of maintaining a safe and secure environment for our associates. Combined with the extra safety measures we have implemented in our operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus remains on ensuring our associates return home safely at the end of each workday.”
Perdue has a standard, companywide safety program that encourages active associate 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 work shift. Associates have the authority to stop production or prevent start-up if any unsafe conditions exist. In addition, every associate attends safety awareness training and is encouraged to look for and report any potential hazard.
Perdue is a leader in workplace safety
Perdue is a leader in workplace safety among all industries in Texas and nationwide combined. According to statistics released by the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, during their most recently reported year in 2019, the OSHA recordable incident case rate for all Texas goods-producing industries combined was 1.90 per 100 workers.
According to those same Bureau of Labor statistics, the nationwide OSHA recordable incident case rate for all goods-producing industries combined for that same year was 3.40 per 100 workers annually, while Perdue’s company wide rate during that year was 1.90 per 100 associates. As of June 2020, Perdue’s OSHA recordable incident case rate was 1.56 per 100 associates.
To learn more about the extensive safety measures Perdue Farms has implemented to protect its associates during COVID-19, click here.
About Perdue Farms
We’re a fourth-generation, family owned, U.S. food and agriculture company in our 100th year of business. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers and farmers through trusted choices in products and services.
The PERDUE® brand is the number-one brand of fresh chicken in the U.S., and the company is the leader in organic chicken in the U.S., and Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company. Now in our centennial year, 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. Learn more at corporate.perduefarms.com.