Associates Share Safety Best Practices and Motivation for Maintaining a Safe Work Environment

The National Safety Council’s National Safety Month in June encourages workers to become familiar with and incorporate safety best practices in their workplaces. Last year, the GSF Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) team introduced the “Why I Work Safe” program, inviting associates to write down their safe work habits, pledge to follow safety guidelines, and share why they work safe with pictures of their loved ones.

To highlight the importance of workplace safety, GSF selected a few quotes from associates’ EHS pledge cards, which include notes about how they will contribute to a safe work environment. Their stated commitments to GSF’s safety culture spanned various topics, such as wearing protective gear, decluttering work areas, and controlling hazardous energy when operating machines and equipment:

1. “Before working on a machine, I should always do a lockout tag out.” – Araceli Benavides (City of Industry, California)

2. “I’ll call out any unsafe acts I witness and make sure I wear the proper PPE when going into the plant.” –Yuri Rosales (City of Industry, California)

3. “I will make sure that I keep my work area free of debris to ensure my safety as well as my fellow employee.” – Antonio Pena (City of Industry, California)

Earlier this month, June 7 marked the United Nations’ (UN) World Food Safety Day to raise awareness about the importance of food safety. For the second consecutive year, GSF held a Food Safety Awareness Week from June 6–12 to align with the UN’s campaign. Featuring activities, informational materials, and an online quiz, GSF aimed to motivate all associates to make a take action to help prevent, detect, and manage food safety risks.

Following these activities, GSF selected members of the Food Safety and Compliance team to reflect on what drives them to maintain the highest food safety standards. Their responses ranged from customer confidence and consumer health to optimizing product consistency and building brand equity:

1. “Our customers trust us to be ambassadors for their products. It is our #1 priority to ensure our consumers remain safe and can trust the products we produce. Family and friends eat our products daily. I want people outside of GSF to speak highly about our service. It makes me feel like we are making a difference and have earned the praise we seek on maintaining the highest standards.” – Allison Brumfield (Conyers, Georgia)

2. “My drive is to ensure GSF’s Food safety/quality and associate safety are ‘world class’ every day.” – Craig Bond (City of Industry, California)

3. “The consequences of food safety issues may have fatal outcomes for both food business owners and consumers. Foodborne illness can affect people profoundly. These events cause dramatic disruptions in their everyday life activities. If food safety practices are applied, these cases can be prevented, which is what drives me to uphold the highest standards.” – Monica Buendia” (Conyers, Georgia)

Thank you to all associates who continue to support GSF standards by practicing safe workplace habits in their roles.