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The N.C. Department of Labor recognized area employers and employees at the agency’s annual safety awards banquet in Mount Airy on June 28.

“It’s really an honor for me to travel throughout the state and recognize these employers who are making a commitment to their employees’ safety and health,” Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry said. “Over the years, North Carolina has experienced a declining injury and illness rate, which now rests at an all-time low 2.3 per 100 full-time workers for private industry. These employers continue to make North Carolina workplaces some of the safest in the country.”

The awards honor outstanding on-the-job safety achievements of each recipient during 2018. Recipients are located in Bermuda Run, Boonville, Clemmons, Dobson, High Point, Kernersville, Morrisville, Mount Airy, North Wilkesboro, Rural Hall, Wilkesboro and Winston-Salem.

Commissioner Berry spoke at the banquet and presented the awards. The event was co-sponsored by the Safety and Health Council of N.C. The banquet was held at the Cross Creek Country Club in Mount Airy.

The local recipients have met the stringent requirements necessary to receive a safety award. Local recipients include:

Silver Awards

Rate of days away from work must be at least 50 percent below the industry average.

Third consecutive year

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Davie Medical Center

Gold Awards

Rate of days away from work, job transfer or restriction must be

at least 50 percent below the industry average.

First year

Forsyth County Government, Library – Lewisville Branch

Third consecutive year

Forsyth County Government, Tanglewood Park

Under program rules, companies must have been free of fatal accidents at the site for which the award is given to be eligible. The gold award criteria are based on a DART rate that is at least 50 percent below the statewide rate for its industry. The rate includes cases of days away from work, restricted activity or job transfer. The silver award is based only on cases with days away from work. They are recorded when the worker misses at least one full day of work, not including the day of the injury. The applicant must attain an incidence rate for cases with days away from work that is at least 50 percent below the rate for its industry.

More information on the Labor Department’s Safety Awards Program is available by calling 919-707-7855 or emailing Eursula Joyner at eursula.joyner@labor.nc.gov.