DOBSON, NC. — Wayne-Sanderson Farms recently announced that some of its facilities received the Silver and Gold awards from the North Carolina Department of Labor’s (NCDOL) Occupational Safety and Health Division.

The company’s Newton Feed Mill Facility received a Silver Award, while the Dobson Fresh Processing Facility and Elkin Hatchery Facility each received Gold Awards (2nd and 3rd consecutive years, respectively).

“The culture we’ve developed is the key to our successful safety performance,” said Travis Tilley, Dobson Complex safety manager for Wayne-Sanderson. “We constantly train on safety being everyone’s personal responsibility, and managers and supervisors work hands-on with team members to find safer ways to work and make safety the top priority on every task.”

Details from the agency said that the NCDOL OSHA Gold Awards are based on industry-standard DART rates covering injuries requiring days away from work or restricted activity/job transfers. In contrast, Silver Awards are based only on the number of cases that are days away from work.

The company noted that both awards show Wayne-Sanderson’s efforts to improve and sustain workplace safety under the Zero Accident Culture framework, which works on awareness, training and direct employee involvement.

These awards come after the Dobson Complex received 23 awards from the recent Joint Poultry Industry Safety Recognition Awards banquet, with the Dobson Processing and Hatchery facilities receiving Awards of Honor and Awards of Distinction, respectively.

Wayne-Sanderson Farms is the third-largest poultry producer in the United States and operates 23 fresh and further-processing facilities. The company employs more than 26,000 people.