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Safety

Hormel Foods is a leader in our industry for employee safety and is known for its award-winning programs. The dedicated corporate safety department develops and administers company-wide safety policies to ensure the safety of each employee and compliance to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) programs. This department conducts periodic safety audits to ensure compliance with company safety policies. In addition, each production facility operates with a designated safety manager who works with plant management to guarantee safety policies are implemented and enforced.

Our Safety, Health and Ergonomic Policy stresses our philosophy that safety and ergonomics are a team effort that requires every employee’s participation. Each plant operates with defined safety committees consisting of plant employees and members of management who attend monthly meetings. Safety committees are comprised of more than 2,100 hourly and salaried employees. These committees perform monthly safety audits and ensure corrective actions are implemented. They are also responsible for assisting in the development of the plant’s safety processes.

Safety Statistics

This commitment is evidenced by our injury incident rates being equal to or below the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) industrial average for NAICS 3116 Animal Slaughtering and Processing.

The Total Case Incidence Rate (TCIR) is defined by OSHA as the number of recordable incidents multiplied by 200,000 hours and divided by the total hours worked that year.¹

In 2007, TCIR at Hormel Foods was 7.6 vs. the most recent BLS industry average incident rate of 8.4 for NAICS 3116 Animal Slaughtering and Processing. In 2008, our company-wide TCIR was 6.5 — a decrease of 17 percent from the previous year’s rate.

Days Away from Work Injury and Illness (DAFWII) is when an injury or illness involves one or more days away from work. In 2007, the DAFWII rate at Hormel Foods was 0.8 compared to the most recent BLS industry average of 1.2 — about 33 percent below the industry average. In 2008, our company-wide rate decreased by 25 percent to 0.6.

Days Away, Restricted or Transfer (DART) measures the days the employee has restricted work activity or job transfer, or both. In 2007, our DART rate was 4.6 vs. the industry average of 5.5, which means we had 16 percent fewer days that employees were away from work, had days of restricted work activity or a job transfer compared to the BLS industry figures. In 2008, our rate was 4.1 — an 11 percent improvement from the previous year’s company-wide rate.

¹In the United States, OSHA publishes summary data showing the TCIR for the various industry types.

Ergonomics

Injury prevention is the key focus of our ergonomic program. Hormel Foods voluntarily implemented an ergonomics program in 1987, and today each plant has an active ergonomic committee consisting of plant employees and management. Each ergonomic committee meets on a monthly basis to discuss ergonomic related challenges and to conduct ergonomic job assessments. These efforts have resulted in a year-over-year reduction in our soft-tissue injury incident rate.

Safety Training

Employee safety training is conducted by plant supervisors on a monthly basis and is the key to our successful safety program. Each plant safety manager coordinates monthly safety training for plant supervisors who train their respective employees.

Safety training topics consists of:

• Automated external defibrillator
• Asbestos awareness
• Bloodborne pathogens
• Chemical spill cleanup
• Confined space
• Contractor safety
• Electrical safety
• Emergency action plan - fire/chemical
• Ergonomics
• Eye and face protection
• Fall protection
• Fire protection/extinguisher
• Forklift
• Hazard communication
• HAZWOPER
• Hearing conservation
• Hot work permit
• Inclement weather/tornado
• Lockout
• Personal protective equipment
• Process safety management
• Reach in/machine guarding
• Respiratory protection
• Safety orientation

Safety Excellence Program

Our Safety Excellence Program is designed to promote a safer workplace and increase safety awareness through the recognition of plants that meet or exceed company safety goals. Safety Excellence goals for recordable injury/illness, lost time injury/illness and soft-tissue injury incident rates are reviewed annually and maintained well below the BLS industry average for NAICS 3116 Animal Slaughtering and Processing. Since 1994, facilities compete each year for the designation of Safety Excellence award winner. Despite increasing the criteria for the award, each year the number of facilities to participate has increased. In 2007, 18 of the 39 facilities participating in the program received the highly coveted Safety Excellence trophy. In 2008, 20 of the 43 participating facilities achieved Safety Excellence.

Industry Safety Recognition

Our processing plants annually receive recognition for their outstanding safety performance from the American Meat Institute (AMI). In 2008, 17 locations received an AMI award. Among this group, six plants received the AMI Award of Honor, which is the highest level awarded for outstanding safety performance. The remaining locations received the Award of Merit, Award of Commendation or Award of Certificate. Award levels are based on an application that is reviewed and scored by the National Safety Council.

Minnesota Governor’s Safety Awards

During the 2008 Governor’s Safety Awards luncheon, held in conjunction with the 74th Minnesota Safety and Health Conference, several Hormel Foods locations were recognized for their outstanding 2007 safety performances.

The following locations were presented Governor's Safety Awards:

Award of Honor: Exceptional accomplishment in reduction of injuries and illnesses in the work place.

• Hormel Foods Corporate Office
• Jennie-O Turkey Store Corporate Office

Outstanding Achievement: Continuing improvement and /or a continuing outstanding record.

• Austin Plant
• Lloyd’s Barbeque Company

Meritorious Achievement: Better than average performance in incident rates.

• Jennie-O Turkey Store Benson Avenue Plant
• Jennie-O Turkey Store Willmar Avenue Plant

Nebraska Star Award

During the 2008 Nebraska Safety, Health and Environmental Conference, the Fremont Plant was presented the Star Award for occupational safety excellence by the Nebraska Safety Council.