This year, the Joint Poultry Industry Safety & Health Council (comprised of the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and US POULTRY) recognized 244 chicken and turkey facilities, nationwide, with safety awards at the National Safety Conference for the poultry industry in Destin, FL. Collectively, the three organizations represent companies that produce 95% of the nation’s poultry products and directly employ more than 350,000 workers.
In Destin, George’s was a proud recipient of nine awards, which consisted of:
- (1) Award of Distinction for its OMP Rogers processing facility
- (3) Awards of Honor for its Batesville Feed Mill, Edinburg and Springdale processing facilities
- (5) Awards of Merit for its Batesville and Cassville hatcheries, its George’s further processing facility, and its Harrisonburg and OMP Batesville processing facilities.
According to a news release from US POULTRY, along with George’s, facilities were honored in recognition for their “outstanding performance through the implementation of innovative and effective safety and health programs.” Award consideration was based on injury statistics over three years (2021-24), and an evaluation of written applications by academia and other safety experts. Sixty facilities received the highest level of recognition, the Award of Distinction. Other categories included the Award of Honor and the Award of Merit, with ninety-one and ninety-three facilities awards given, respectively.
The Joint Poultry Industry Safety & Health Council safety recognition program highlights employers that continuously improve their safety performance through the establishment of sound safety and health programs at the facility level, and it recognizes those facilities that have achieved a high level of safety performance as part of reducing occupational injuries and illness. While safety might seem like a no-brainer for poultry companies to maintain yield and quality for their products, unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Perhaps plant safety manager for George’s, Ubaldo Barriga, recently said it best when he stated, “We will never sacrifice safety or quality for yield. If we keep our people safe, yield will follow.”
Instead of something that must be done, George’s safety team works hard to instill safety as a core philosophy and value—not just a priority. This is because priorities shift from minute to hour, to day, and values do not. Rather, values stay steady and become a part of who people are, and as a team.
To further cultivate a Safety Culture and Safety Excellence, the company outlines four key Safety Principles for its team members:
- Safety is unconditional means that it’s a part of everything that’s done, and no decision within the company will be made that will put safety in jeopardy.
- Safety is a condition of employment means that leaders throughout the company have the responsibility to establish a condition at their area, their plant, or facility that nourishes and encourages safe acts and behaviors.
- Safety is everyone’s responsibility means that level of team member is encouraged and has the expectation to step up when they see unsafe acts or behaviors, or to ask if they’ve not been trained to do a position.
- All incidents are preventable. At George’s, they do not use the word “accident.” Instead, they use the word “incident,” because an incident is an outcome of a situation or occurrence that can be proactively prevented.
George’s employes more than 7,000 team members and is in the top 10 chicken producers in the country. Its 24/7 Safety Program is an integral part of their success, and they wish to thank their entire team for a job well done on its continued journey of Safety Excellence. Their team members make them proud as they embody shining examples of teamwork and dedication to a safe work environment.
