County businesses recognized for safety awards
By Andrew Bell
Published in News on June 8, 2006 1:48 PM
About 30 Wayne County businesses and agencies were recognized Wednesday for emphasizing safety in the workplace at a luncheon featuring state Department of Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry.
The event was held at the Lane Tree Golf Club.
The 49th Annual Safety Awards was sponsored by the county Chamber of Commerce, with support from R.N. Rouse & Co. and Ex-Cell Home Fashions Inc.
"Every morning, we pray for no fatalities in the workplace just because they punched in a time card. When it doesn't happen, it's a good day. When it does, though, it crushes us," Mrs. Berry told the gathering.
Companies or agencies are eligible for a safety award if there are no fatalities at the company during the year. Also, the company must have maintained a lost workday case rate of at least 50 percent below the statewide average. A lost workday case is one in which an employee misses work or work activities are limited because of a work-related illness.
If a company meets both requirements, it receives a gold award. A company receives a silver award if it meets one of the requirements.
The City of Goldsboro won many awards. The city's first-year silver award winners were the city Fire Department headquarters, the Leaf and Limbs Division of General Services and its Storm Maintenance Division. A second-year winner for the city was the Water Reclamation Facility.
First-year gold award winners for the city were the General Services Department, the Police Department Support Services Bureau and its Maintenance Division. Second-year gold winners were Fire Station No. 3, Fire Station No. 5, General Services' Garage Division, the city's Sanitation Division and its water plant.
Fire station No. 2 was the only third-year gold winner for the city, but the police investigative services bureau, fire station No. 4 and the golf course division each won a fourth-year award.
The city's engineering and street maintenance divisions won for five consecutive years of safety. Mrs. Berry presented all fifth-year winners with a plaque. The other fifth-year winner was Uchiyama America Inc.
The city's general government won a sixth-year award, along with Phoenix Construction Associates Inc. The Benson Quarry of Martin Marietta Aggregates won a seventh-year award, along with the city's Planning and Community Development divisions.
The city's Finance Department was honored for eight years of safety.
Wayne County also won several awards. The first-year silver awards went to the county's 4-H, Building and Grounds Department and Services on Aging agency.
Other first-year silver awards were presented to the Goldsboro District of Piedmont Natural Gas and T.A. Loving Co.'s building division.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office earned a second-year silver award. Division No. 1 of Ex-Cell Home Fashions Inc. and T.A. Loving's equipment division also took home a second-year silver medal. The only other silver medal winner was the building division of T.A. Loving Co., recognized for four years of safety.
Wayne County's Information Technology department won a first-year gold award. The other winners in this category were the Coastal Lumber Company, Ex-Cell Home Fashions Inc., GE Lighting, Hubbard Feeds Inc., Metalcrafters of Goldsboro Inc., Nordic Cold Storage, Piedmont Natural Gas and Wayne Memorial Hospital.
In the second-year gold award category, the county's Board of Elections, Central Services, County Manager's Office, Day Reporting Center, Human Resources Department, Inspections and Register of Deeds were recognized.
Alpha Omega Health Inc., Carolina Turkeys, Employment Security Commission, Goldsboro Inn & Metal Company, Harris Steel Erectors Inc., Nordic Cold Storage, Pearson Pump Sales & Services Inc. and Wayne Opportunity Center also won a second-year gold award.
Wayne County won the most awards in the third-year gold award category. The winners were the Cooperative Extension Service, the Department of Social Services, and the county departments of finance, health, emergency services, planning, soil conservation, tax department and veterans.
Georgia-Pacific Corp. won two awards in the same category -- the Dudley Chip-N-Saw and the Dudley Plywood Plant. Both sites are considered Carolina Star sites by the Department of Labor. The designation recognizes that the sites had a three-year average of illness and incident rates at least 50 percent below the state average. Another Georgia-Pacific Corp. operation, the Dudley OSB Plant, is also a Carolina Star site and it received a four-year gold award.
Other third-year gold winners included the N.C. Correction Enterprises and Stephenson General Contractors. The Employment Security Commission, Talecris Biotheraputics and Wayne Community College won fourth-year gold awards.
The safest local company, with a track record of 11 years without an accident or fatality, is R.N. Rouse & Co.
Million-Hour Awards were presented to companies with at least a million employee hours without an accident or fatality. Out of 200,000 employers in North Carolina, the Department of Labor only provides about 100 such million-hour awards each year.
Carolina Turkeys won two Million-Hour Awards. One was for employee work from April 4, 2005, to June 12, 2005. The other was given for operations between Nov. 14, 2005 until Feb. 5, 2006.
The largest applause of the afternoon was given to the Glenoit, LLC, division of Ex-Cell Home Fashions Inc. for four million employee hours from Oct. 15, 1998, to Dec. 31, 2005.