WASHINGTON – The American Bakers Association is creating a program to recognize individual baking facilities that are standouts in plant safety.

Plans to launch the program were announced by Max Waagner, director for global safety for Dawn Food Products, Inc., Jackson, Mich. The initiative, which will start in January 2016, was unveiled at the A.B.A. fall policy conference in Washington.

In addition to highlighting plants that excel in safety, A.B.A. said the program is meant to raise awareness of workplace safety and emphasize the importance of employee safety in the baking industry.

“This is an important initiative for A.B.A. that enriches the industry as a whole,” Mr. Waagner said. “By encouraging development of comprehensive safety and health programs at the individual plant level, we improve morale and reduce expenses related to illness and injuries, a win-win for all.” 

Participation in the program will be open to A.B.A. members that operate facilities under the jurisdiction of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and OSHA-approved state plans. Award criteria are based on the evaluation of each participating facility’s actual safety performance and implementation of effective safety and health management systems.  Actual safety performance will be determined by a facility’s Total Case Incident Rate and the Days Away, Restricted Work Activity.