North Carolina Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry joined the Clinton-Sampson Chamber of Commerce and local businesses Thursday night to celebrate achievements in safety.
Awards honored outstanding on-the-job safety achievements for companies based in Clinton, Kenansville, Rose Hill, Tar Heel, Wallace and Warsaw.
The annual safety awards recognizes private and public firms throughout the state that achieve and maintain good safety records. According to Berry, the program is designed to stimulate interest in accident prevention and to promote safety in the workplace by providing an incentive to employers and employees to maintain a safe and healthful workplace.
“It’s really an honor for me to travel throughout the state and recognize these employers who are making a commitment to their employees’ safety and health,” Berry said. “Over the years, North Carolina has experienced a declining injury and illness rate, which not rests at an all-time low 2.3 per 100 full-time workers for private industry. These employers continue to make North Carolina workplaces some of the safest in the country.”
The program, which has been in operation since 1946, extends to more than 5,000 firms and about 3,000 awards are presented annually. There are two types of awards presented through the program — Annual Safety Awards and Million-Hour Awards.
Recipients of the awards have met stringent requirements necessary to receive the safety recognition.
Under program rules, companies must have been free of fatal accidents at the site for which the award is given to be eligible. The gold award criteria are based on a DART rate that is at least 50 percent below the statewide rate for its industry. The rate includes cases of days away from work, restricted activity or job transfer. The silver award is based only on cases with days away from work. They are recorded when the worker misses at least one full day of work, not including the day of the injury. The applicant must attain an incidence rate for cases with days away from work that is at least 50 percent below the rate for its industry.
During her time as labor commissioner, Berry has witnessed the illness and injury rate for North Carolina consistently plunge, as the number is down from 5.3 reports per 100 employees.
“This wouldn’t have happened without each of you doing what you do each and every day,” Berry said. “The safety programs have certainly paid off for North Carolina.”
Berry was elected to the statewide position in 2000, after serving eight years in the North Carolina House of Representatives. She has been reelected in 2004, 2008, 2012, and most recently in 2016. The Catawba County native is the state’s first female labor commissioner. She has plans to retire at the end of this term in 2020.
Businesses receiving silver awards were Bay Valley Foods, Cintas Corp., the City of Clinton, Murphy Family Ventures, Prestage Farms and Smithfield Hog Production. Gold award recipients include the City of Clinton, Murphy Family Ventures, Prestage Farms, S&W Ready Mix Concrete, Smithfield Hog Production, Schindler Elevator Corp., Duplin Marketing, Lear, Star Telephone Membership Corporation, House of Raeford and Ecno Oil Inc.
