Perdue Farms Recognized As Leader In Poultry Industry Workplace Safety

SALISBURY, Md., Aug. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighteen Perdue Farms facilities have earned Joint Industry Safety and Health Council awards for consistently implementing innovative and effective workplace safety health processes and systems. Six of the locations received the Award of Distinction, the Council's highest honor. The awards were announced during the 2020 virtual National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry.           

"At Perdue, people come first in our company goals and these awards reflect an ongoing safety culture and our associates' commitment to workplace safety," said Perdue Farms' CEO Randy Day. "Our associates are passionate about maintaining a safe work environment and I'm proud to see their efforts rewarded this way. As we continue to navigate through the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus remains on ensuring we are providing safe places to work and returning our associates home safely at the end of each workday."

The company's food-producing facilities that received the Award of Distinction include operations in Accomac and Bridgewater in Virginia and Monterey, Tenn. Company feed mills in Salisbury and Hurlock in Maryland and Cofield, N.C., also earned the award.

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.

Facilities that were recognized with the Award of Honor, the Council's second highest honor, include food-production operations in Milford and Georgetown in Delaware, Lewiston and Rockingham in North Carolina, Perry (harvest), Ga., Salisbury, Md., Cromwell, Ky., and Dillon, S.C. In addition, feed mills in Bridgeville, Del., and Candor, and hatcheries in Candor and Vincennes, Ind., also received the Award of Honor. All of these facilities maintained their OSHA safety metrics at least 25 percent better than the industry for at least three straight years.

Award consideration was based on each facility's injury statistics over three years and a written explanation of safety programs and processes by an independent panel of judges.

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, all associates attend safety awareness training and are encouraged to look for and report any potential hazard.

To learn more about the extensive safety measures Perdue Farms has implemented to protect its associates during COVID-19, click here.

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 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.

­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.

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SOURCE Perdue Farms