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By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer
reporter@arkcity.net

An emphasis on safety has paid off for Creekstone Farms Premium Beef.

Arkansas City's local meatpacking plant has joined an elite group of businesses in the state that have achieved impressive safety records, a state safety official said Wednesday.

"This is kind of a big deal," said Herb Holmberg, safety consultant with the Kansas Department of Labor. "We're in the third year of our safety award program, and approximately 40 employers in the state have received varying award levels."

The Kansas Safety Awards Program, or KSafe, recognizes employers who have worked to achieve safe work environments for their employees. The KSafe program is open to any private construction and industrial company within the state.

Creekstone has reached -- and exceeded -- the second highest award category: 500,000 work hours without a lost-time injury, Holmberg said.

Holmberg, whose office is in Topeka, visited the Creekstone plant Wednesday, addressed 20 plant safety representatives and presented two plaques for safety achievements, which are as follow: one for reaching 100,000 work-hours without a lost-time injury and the other for reaching the 500,000-hour mark.

"You should be proud of yourselves for all you've done to make that happen," said Brandi Biddle, Creekstone's director of human resources.

Before presenting the awards, Holmberg said: "It's a very important role each one of you plays in encouraging safety."

Creekstone reached the 500,000-hour level in March, Holmberg said. Since then, the plant has exceeded 600,000 work hours without a lost-time injury.

About 715 people work in the Creekstone plant, a plant official said.

A lost-time injury is defined in the manufacturing world as "an injury that requires an employee to be absent from work for one or more days because of an injury he or she received while working," according to a Creekstone press release.

"Our achievement of 500,000 work hours without a lost-time injury is truly what teamwork is all about," said Joe Lafleur, vice president of operations for Creekstone. "When everyone returns home safely and healthy to their families every day after work, it's a reward we all share."

The 20 safety representatives present for the awards presentation represent every department of the plant, said Rex Romesburg, Creekstone's environmental health and safety manager. The fabrication department alone has six safety representatives.

"We can't stress enough that what you do is a huge, huge accomplishment," Holmberg said. "This is what the department of labor wants to see -- the private sector excelling."

Creekstone utilizes a plant-safety committee and "behavioral-based" safety practices to promote a safe environment throughout the plant, Lafleur said.

Behaviorally based safety involves employees observing and coaching other employees with the goal of modifying unsafe behaviors before accidents occur.

Above: Atta boy - Herb Holmberg, right, a safety consultant with the Kansas Department of Labor, presents a plaque to Rex Romesburg, of Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, recognizing the plant's safety record of more than 500,000 work-hours without a lost-time injury. Creekstone workers in the background are safety representatives from the plant's various departments.