The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) said it recognized more than 50 dairy company operations for their outstanding achievements in worker safety. Each operation or plant received the IDFA Dairy Industry Safety Recognition Award in a program that has highlighted workplace safety in U.S. dairy companies for 15 years.

“Safety is the dairy industry’s No. 1 priority,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of Washington, D.C.-based IDFA. “Dairy companies continually go above and beyond to provide a safe and productive work environment. These member companies are shining examples of how to implement innovative and proactive approaches to workplace safety and achieve great results.”

In addition to an application, the awards were based on injury statistics provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Judges included Dave Crowley, senior environment and health safety director for HP Hood LLC and chair of IDFA’s Environmental Worker Safety Committee; Daniel R. Flynn, a partner at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP; Kathie Canning, editor-in-chief of Dairy Foods magazine; Emily Lyons, associate at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, formerly with IDFA; and Taylor Boone, IDFA’s coordinator of regulatory affairs.

“These awards highlight both hard-working employees and managers who’ve committed to forming a safe workplace environment and have produced the outstanding safety performance to prove it,” Crowley said. “The industry’s continued success relies on those who go the extra mile to promote positive employee involvement and a culture of continuous improvement in workplace safety.”

The award program includes categories for both processing facilities and trucking operations in the dairy industry. In addition to the 27 plant-safety award winners, IDFA recognized five companies as a Most Improved Facility based on significant decreases in recordable-injury cases and the rate of days away from work, restrictions and transfers for each of the last two years when compared to all other facilities that applied.

IDFA also recognized 21 trucking operations for their outstanding safety records and programs.

IDFA will issue a call for nominations for the next Dairy Industry Safety Awards competition in early 2019.  

2018 Facility Award winners

• 31 Logistics, Haines City, Fla.
• Centennial Farms Dairy, Atlanta, Ga.
• Danone North America, Bridgeton, N.J.
• Danone North America, Fort Worth, Texas
• Danone North America, Mt. Crawford, Va.
• Dean Foods Le Mars, Le Mars, Iowa
• Dean Foods of Decatur, Ind., Decatur, Ind.
• Foremost Farms USA, Lancaster, Wis.
• Foremost Farms USA, Marshfield, Wis.
• Foremost Farms USA, Preston, Minn.
• Hiland Dairy, Chandler, Okla.
• Jilbert Dairy, Marquette, Mich.
• Kroger Riverside Creamery, Riverside, Calif.
• Layton Dairy, Layton, Utah
• Lehigh Valley Dairy, Schuylkill Haven, Pa.
• Leprino Foods Co., Waverly, N.Y.
• Oak Farms Dairy, Houston, Texas
• Pace Dairy Foods Co., Rochester, Minn.
• Pace Dairy of Indiana, Crawfordsville, Ind.
• Prairie Farms Dairy, Carbondale, Ill.
• Prairie Farms Dairy, O’Fallon, Ill.
• Prairie Farms Dairy, Springfield, Ill.
• Schreiber Foods Inc., Fullerton, Calif.
• Swan Island Dairy, Portland, Ore.
• Swiss Premium Dairy, Lebanon, Pa.
• Tolleson Dairy, Tolleson, Ariz.
• Vandervoort’s Dairy, Fort Worth, Texas

2018 Most Improved Facilities winners

• California Dairies Inc., Turlock, Calif.
• Foremost Farms USA, Reedsburg, Wis.
• Foremost Farms USA, Plover, Wis.
• Foremost Farms USA, Sparta, Wis.
• Saputo Cheese Lancaster, Lancaster, Wis.

2018 Transportation Award winners

• 31 Logistics, Haines City, FL
• Dean Transportation Inc., Decatur, IN
• Lehigh Valley Dairy Farms – Hagerstown, Lansdale, PA
• Oak Farms Dairy, Atoka, Okla.
• Oak Farms Dairy, Beaumont, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Bryan, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Dallas, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Denison, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Houston, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Lake Charles, La.
• Oak Farms Dairy, Laredo, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Lufkin, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Springfield, Mo.
• Oak Farms Dairy, Sweeny, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Texarkana, Ark.
• Oak Farms Dairy – Main Street, Uvalde, Texas
• Oak Farm Dairy – Front Street, Uvalde, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Victoria, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Wichita Falls, Texas
• Oak Farms Dairy, Wichita, Kan.
• Oak Farms Dairy, San Antonio