"The poultry industry has been diligent in reducing recordable injuries and illnesses over the past 25 years," said Mike Klun, environmental health and safety manager of Cargill Value Added Meats. "Thus, it is important to acknowledge the excellent safety performance achievements the poultry industry has accomplished. We hope by highlighting these facilities we can all learn additional practices and tools to further protect our co-workers.”
Award consideration was based on injury statistics over three years and an evaluation of written applications by three judges: Craig Wyvill, recently retired director of the Agricultural Technology Research Program at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (G.T.R.I.); Gary Pohlmann of Marsh Risk Consulting, and Doug Britton of G.T.R.I. Awards were presented to 48 facilities with eight in the highest category — “Award of Distinction.” Other categories included “Award of Honor” and “Award of Merit.”
The Joint Industry Safety and Health Council consists of members from the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation. Collectively, the three organizations represent 95% of the nation's poultry products and employ hundreds of thousands of workers.
The following companies won the Award of Distinction:
? Butterball LLC — Alix, Ark., feed mill, Huntsville, Ark., Mt. Olive, N.C. and Ozark, Ark.
? Cargill Turkey Production LLC — Temple, Texas, feed mill.
? Equity Group Kentucky Division LLC — Albany, Ky.
? Simmons Foods Inc. — Van Buren, Ark.
? Wayne Farms LLC — Pendergrass, Ga.
The following companies won the Award of Honor:
? Butterball LLC — Carthage, Mo.
? Cargill Value Added Meats — Waco, Texas
? Cobb-Vantress Inc. — Siloam Springs, Ark., feed mill
? Equity Group Eufaula Division LLC — Bakerhill, Ala.
? Equity Group Georgia Division LLC — Camilla, Ga., fresh and further processing
? Gold’n Plump Poultry — Cold Spring, Minn.
? Perdue Farms Inc. — Dillon, S.C.; Perry, Ga., cook plant; Rockingham, N.C.; and Salisbury, Md. processing
? Simmons Foods Inc. — Siloam Springs, Ark., further processing; Siloam Springs, Ark., hatchery; and Siloam Springs, Ark., Plant 1
? Townsends of Arkansas — Batesville, Ark.
? Tyson Foods River Valley Animal Foods, Seguin, Texas
? Wayne Farms LLC — Danville, Ark., feed mill; Danville, Ark., hatchery; and Laurel, Miss., hatchery
The following companies won the Award of Merit:
? Cobb-Vantress Inc. — Fayetteville, Ark., hatchery; and the Wadesboro, N.C., hatchery
? Equity Group Georgia Division LLC — Camilla, Ga., hatchery
? Gold’n Plump Poultry — Luverne, Minn.
? Marshall Durbin Companies — Jasper, Ala.
? Michigan Turkey Producers — Grand Rapids, Mich.
? Perdue Farms Inc. — Candor, N.C., feed mill
? Sanderson Farms Inc. — Hammond, La.; Laurel, Miss., processing
? Sara Lee Corporation — Storm Lake, Iowa.
? Townsends Inc. — Siler City, N.C.
? Tyson Foods River Valley Animal Foods — Robards, Ky.
? Tyson Foods Inc. — Hope, Ark.; Hope, Ark., feed mill; Hope, Ark., hatchery; and Rogers, Ark.
? Wayne Farms LLC — Danville, Ark.; Decatur, Ala., processing; Decatur, Ala., West further processing; Dobson, N.C.; and McComb, Miss.
