The Smithfield Health and Safety Policy statement identifies employee health and safety as a core principle of our business, and clearly defines our intent to lead the industry in health and safety practices. The policy assigns safety responsibilities at all levels of the company. Smithfield Foods' president and CEO approves the policy each year and then issues a statement of his support and expectations regarding the policy’s objectives. Each independent operating company (IOC) implements the safety policy for its own facilities. We strive to make proactive changes to equipment, structures, machinery, or procedures to eliminate the potential for incidents.
Smithfield has a corporate director of health and safety, as well as senior-level safety managers at each IOC. At the supervisory level, all managers—from line supervisors to plant and farm managers—are trained in health and safety issues. Over the past several years, Smithfield has invested additional resources to support our advanced safety management systems. In 2011, we had a total of 61 facilities-based professionals and 13 corporate safety process professionals. These individuals are tasked with guiding and training their management teams, while providing technical information and resources to support health and safety management and employee welfare.
Smithfield’s corporate-level steering committee, made up of 11 senior health and safety officials from across the organization, holds monthly teleconferences to discuss safety initiatives, best practices, upcoming regulatory changes, and any emerging issues identified at the company. Their work highlights the issues that affect meat production and processing, and allows them to effectively collaborate with our peer companies to raise standards across the industry. Within our organization the steering committee is focused on identifying potential hazards and preventing incidents associated with nonroutine activities and catastrophic accidents. Smithfield’s corporate health and safety director and other Smithfield steering committee members sit on the American Meat Institute Health and Safety Committee. Recently, they were instrumental in developing a new machinery and equipment safety design checklist that will encourage safer equipment throughout the meat industry.
