Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 8/28/17


Butterball has created and implemented new programs that reduced its OSHA Recordable Injury Rate by 87 percent, earning it recognition by National Underwriter Magazine as a winner for its Excellence in Workers’ Comp Risk Management Award.

To maintain the caliber of safety that led to this accolade, Butterball has prioritized achieving certification in the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP).

Butterball’s initiative is aimed at protecting its more than 6,600 workers across its six facilities. Over the past two years, Butterball’s Mount Olive, NC, Huntsville, Ark., and Carthage, Mo., facilities individually achieved 3 million hours worked without an OSHA lost-time recordable injury.

Additionally, OSHA has named four of Butterball’s plants as “VPP Star Sites” under its Voluntary Protection Program. It is the highest designation available, and today the company remains one of just two poultry companies in America with this certification. 

“At our facilities across the country, safety is always a priority — every meeting begins with the topic of safety. Our award-winning safety programs demonstrate that commitment,” Senior Director of Corporate Risk Management Brian Rodgers said. “The foundation of our safety management process is built upon the core principals of the VPP program, which are management commitment and employee involvement; worksite analysis; hazard prevention and control; and safety and health training.” 

Butterball has also received the Joint Poultry Industry Safety’s Award of Distinction, the highest category available, for its Huntsville, Ark., Carthage, Mo. processing facilities, Raeford, N.C., hatchery and Turkey, N.C., feed mill. The company received the Award of Honor for its Mount Olive, N.C., Ozark, Ark., and Jonesboro, Ark., processing facilities and Goldsboro, N.C., hatchery location.

Headquartered in Garner, N.C., Butterball is the largest producer of turkey products in the United States, producing more than 1 billion pounds of turkey each year. Butterball products made in six processing plants in North Carolina, Arkansas, and Missouri are currently distributed throughout the United States and in more than 45 countries.

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