Raleigh, N.C. – May 5, 2010 – Butterball, LLC – the nation’s largest poultry processor – received five safety awards from the American Meat Institute (AMI), including the Award of Honor, the institute’s highest safety award. The awards were presented during the institute’s annual Worker Safety, Human Resources and The Environment conference April 28 – 30 in Kansas City, Mo.
The AMI Safety Awards honor meat processors that have implemented effective worker safety programs for their employees. The multiple award levels are determined by evaluating overall incident rates and components of each plant’s safety program.
The following awards were presented to five of Butterball’s processing locations:
• Huntsville, Ark. and Mt. Olive, N.C. – Award of Honor
• Carthage, Mo. and Ozark, Ark. – Award of Merit
• Longmont, Colo. – Award of Commendation
“We are excited to have five of our plants recognized by such a prominent industry organization, such as the AMI,” said Brian Rodgers, director of safety and risk management. “Butterball is dedicated to upholding the highest level of worker safety standards and this award serves to further motivate us to continue expanding and improving successful safety programs.”
Occupational safety can present challenges for companies in the food processing industry. By utilizing this awards program, the AMI is working to increase awareness about the importance of worker safety and encouraging processors to develop safety programs that meet or exceed industry standards.
“Butterball is a leader in worker safety,” continued Rodgers. “In addition to these recent accolades from AMI, Butterball has received national recognition for its worker safety programs from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program (OSHA VPP).”
Butterball’s reputable safety programs have secured prestigious recognitions for four of the company’s six plants, located in Carthage, Mo.; Jonesboro, Ark.; Ozark, Ark.; and Huntsville, Ark. These plants have been designated OSHA Star Sites, with the exception of the Ozark, Ark. site recently recognized with the OSHA Super Star award, the organization’s highest safety rating.
About Butterball, LLC:
Butterball, LLC is the largest producer of turkey products in the United States. Headquartered in Garner, N.C., Butterball produces more than 1 billion pounds of turkey each year, and the company supplies its products to more than 15 countries. Perhaps best known for its succulent whole bird products, the company also has a broad array of offerings for deli, retail and foodservice.
As the industry leader in quality and food safety, the company employs numerous processes to ensure the health of birds and implements recognized prevention measures to exceed food safety standards in its seven plants located in North Carolina, Colorado, Arkansas and Missouri. In addition, Butterball has surpassed important workplace safety and health benchmarks set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program.
The company’s three-pronged approach to Doing Business Right focuses on self-governance, sustainability and social responsibility. The initiative plays a key role in providing internal oversight for integrating values that are important to the company, in particular its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint.
For more information about Butterball, visit www.butterball.com <http://www.butterball.com> . You can also call 1-800 BUTTERBALL for answers to your most puzzling questions about turkey preparation.