St. Louis, MO – Safety National recently awarded its 2015 Safety First Grant to Smithfield Foods, Inc., for installing BladeStop band saws in their large meat processing plant based out of Smithfield, Virginia. The grant was awarded to John Tignor, Corporate Director of Health, Safety and Security, at Smithfield Foods’ corporate headquarters on December 3, 2015.
Band saws have become a major contributor to serious workplace injuries, including severe lacerations and amputations. The BladeStop saw uses new technology developed by MAR Technologies designed to reduce risks of serious injury by mechanically stopping the band saw when the unit senses that a person has come in contact with the blade. Upon sensing contact with the operator, the blade stops operating within 15 milliseconds.
“We were captivated by Smithfield Foods’ creative submission to reduce severe workplace injuries,” said Dave Snodgrass, Assistant Vice President – Risk Control at Safety National. ”Fifteen milliseconds is the difference between the operator suffering a small skin cut versus what would have previously been a severe laceration or amputation.”
Over the past three years, Smithfield Foods has spent approximately $159,000 towards injuries associated with band saws. The company believes that the BladeStop would have prevented each of the events leading to these incidents.
Read more from Safety National detailing Smithfield Foods’ risk control solution.
Safety National’s Safety First Grant Program is a dollar-for-dollar matching grant that reimburses one workers’ compensation policyholder up to $10,000 annually for a creative solution designed to reduce the risk of employee injury and illness. Applicants complete online grant submissions during the nomination period, where they must detail a risk-reducing solution that applies to lines of coverage insured by Safety National and include an estimate of injury cost savings that can be anticipated. Safety National’s Risk Control Committee reviews all nominations submitted and selects one finalist each year.
Source: Safety National
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