MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) and National Safety Council recognized four Maple Leaf Foods plants with awards for their workplace safety achievements.

Speedvale in Guelph, Ontario, Cappola in Toronto, Ontario, and Walker Drive in Brampton, Ontario, all received the Award of Honor. Toronto Poultry in Toronto, Ontario, received the Award of Merit. In September 2018, Maple Leaf's Edmonton plant received the Award of Honor from the Poultry Industry Safety Council.

NAMI’s awards are designed to motivate employers to improve their safety performance through the establishment of sound and health programs at the plant level and recognize those plants that have achieved a high level of safety performance.

"Today we celebrate our operational achievements in workplace safety, but we know there is still work to be done to make our workplaces even safer," said Michael H. McCain, president and CEO. "We have set a goal to reduce injuries by an additional 20 percent by 2021, on the path to our aspiration of zero injuries at all Maple Leaf sites."

Maple Leaf Foods saw its overall "recordable injury rate" reach an all-time company low (0.66), comparable to world leaders in "all manufacturing" in 2018. In the same year, 29 Maple Leaf sites sustained 0 recordable injuries.