Schulenburg Perdue Plant Takes Top Honor at National Poultry Safety Event

At the recent 2024 National Safety Council event for the Poultry Industry in Destin, Florida, Perdues Schulenburg Plant in Texas was honored with the prestigious Award of Distinction, the highest safety honor awarded by the Council. In all, five Perdue Food processing facilities and seven additional facilities received the Award of Distinction, the most awards of any Member Company.

“At Perdue Farms, the well-being and safety of our associates is our top priority,” stated Steve Fiss, Director of Operations, Schulenburg.” One example that we’ve implemented at Schulenburg is the use of Safety App, an electronic program where safety inspections are conducted and tracked digitally; Information is accessed faster, problem areas and trends are identified quicker and action plans are implemented to prevent injuries. By doing this, it helps foster a culture where safety is paramount in every aspect of our operations.”

In total, Perdue Foods’ facilities across 15 states took home 39 Safety and Health Council Awards.

To qualify for an Industry Safety and Health Award, facilities must maintain their key Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety metrics Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) at levels lower than the industry average for three consecutive years. Additionally, facilities cannot have a severe injury or fatality (SIF) during the award period. The OSHA metric ultimately determines only 40% of the application score. An independent panel of judges score of each facility’s written explanation of its safety programs and processes comprises the majority (60%) of the award consideration. This year only 60 facilities (25%) of 244 facilities in four categories achieved a total score above 90 and the Award of Distinction.

The Joint Industry Safety and Health Council comprises members from the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation. Combined, these three organizations represent companies that produce 95 % of the nation’s poultry products and employs more than 350,000 workers.