Poultry industry facilities with outstanding safety programs are invited to apply for recognition under the Joint Poultry Industry Safety Award Program, it was announced here today. The program recognizes facilities that have achieved injury and illness rates below the industry average for three consecutive years through the implementation of innovative and effective programs. Poultry or egg processing plants, hatcheries, feed mills or rendering facilities that are operated by member companies of the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association are eligible to apply.
Workplace injury and illness rates for poultry processing facilities have declined by 75 percent over a 16 year period (1994 through 2009), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Craig Wyvill, retired division chief of the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s Food Processing Technology Division states, “The dramatic reduction in recordable injuries and illnesses is not surprising when you consider that over the past 25 years the industry has put considerable emphasis not only on complying with safety regulations but also on proactively tackling safety challenges. The industry’s efforts have changed the way safety is handled in processing plants today.”
Award program application forms are available by clicking on the following link – application. Application forms can also be obtained on the www.poultryegginstitute.org website. The application deadline for the 2011 awards is March 1, 2011. The annual awards will be presented during the National Safety Conference for the Poultry Industry, June 1-3, 2011, at the Savannah Marriott, Savannah, GA.
The Joint Industry Safety and Health Council are made up of members from the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation. Collectively, the three organizations represent 95 percent of the nation’s poultry products and employ hundreds of thousands of workers. USPOULTRY, Jan. 17