Ten Wayne Farms’ facilities were recently honored by the Joint Industry Safety and Health Council for outstanding safety performance by implementing innovative and effective safety and health programs at the 2015 National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The award levels are based on an evaluation of each eligible facility’s actual safety performance as well as a written evaluation of key components of an effective safety and health program.

The Award of Distinction, the highest accolade available, was presented to nine Wayne Farms’ facilities which include two prepared foods plants both located in Decatur, Alabama; three hatcheries located in Troy, Alabama, Laurel, Mississippi, and Elkin, North Carolina; four fresh processing plants in Union Springs, Alabama, Dothan, Alabama, Enterprise, Alabama and Pendergrass, Georgia.

The Pendergrass fresh processing plant won the Award of Distinction for the sixth consecutive year and four of the facilities moved up from the Award of Honor to Award of Distinction.

The award of Honor was bestowed upon the Danville, Arkansas hatchery.

“Year after year our employees work diligently together to further strengthen the safety measures at each of our facilities and this year was no different,” says Reggie McLee, Director of Safety and Loss Prevention for Wayne Farms.  “We are extremely proud that more Wayne Farms’ facilities received the Award of Distinction than any other year.  This accomplishment is taken with the highest regards and is a true testament to our dedicated employees and their passion for safety in the workplace.”

In addition to traditional safety practices, Wayne Farms has implemented a behavior based safety initiative called WorkSAFE, which empowers employees to identify and address unsafe behaviors, conditions, and actions through regular audits, evaluations, and collaboration with Wayne Farms Management members.

Award consideration was based on injury statistics over three years and an evaluation of written applications by two judges: Doug Britton, program manager for Agricultural Technology Research at Georgia Tech Research Institute and George Nassif of Aon Global Risk Consulting.

The Joint Industry Safety and Health Council are comprised of members from the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation. Collectively, the three organizations represent companies that produce 95% of the nation’s poultry products and employ over 350,000 workers.

Source: Wayne Farms LLC