2024 Theo Award Winner: Greater Omaha Packing
Greater Omaha Packing (GOP), a third-generation privately owned beef production facility in Omaha, Nebraska, employs over 1,500 team members from 38 countries speaking 18 languages. The company operates a full-process plant, handling cattle harvesting, fabrication, ground beef production and shipping.
Like many in the meat industry, GOP faced difficult occupational health and safety challenges due to the inherent risks of meat processing work. The company recognized the need to address high injury rates, underreporting of incidents, and a diverse workforce with unique safety considerations.
Tackling the Problem
GOP implemented a comprehensive overhaul of its safety and workers’ compensation programs, focusing on five core values: teamwork, continuous improvement, integrity, commitment and inclusivity.
The company established a safety morale and resource team (SMART) comprising nearly 30 team members across all departments. This team serves as vigilant overseers on the production floor, ensuring safety remains a primary concern. GOP actively promotes injury reporting, eliminating fear of repercussions. Each reported incident is thoroughly investigated to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
GOP invests significantly in training, offering mental health, first aid and OSHA courses to frontline supervisors and SMART team members. Over 100 employees have received CPR and first aid training. The safety department has attended numerous conferences and completed various certifications to enhance their expertise.
“Our orientation now offers training in 14 different languages,” said Diana Gaines, occupational health and safety manager at Greater Omaha Packing, so instruction is personalized to each individual and allows them to learn at their own pace.
“We now provide OSHA 10 training to all of our supervisors,” added Jason Livermore, GOP’s director of EHS. “But we want them to see the bigger picture … Even team members on the floor are trained to look past the PPE and see the larger picture. We provided mental health training to the vast majority of our leadership, and we’ve also done OSHA 30 for numerous team members, as well as time management training. All that has played a critical role working with our continuous improvement team.”
The company expanded its on-site symptom intervention specialist role to provide full-time support for team members experiencing minor aches and discomfort. GOP also made COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations available to all team members.
Organization: Greater Omaha Packing * Location: Omaha, NE * Number of Employees: 1,500 * Category: Manufacturing & Heavy Industry
To foster inclusion, GOP implemented quarterly and annual award programs to recognize team members who exemplify company values. The company also established financial advisor workshops, childcare reimbursement, tuition reimbursement, and affordable mental health coverage including an Employee Assistance Program.
Recognizing the physical demands of meat processing, GOP has focused on automation, including robots for stacking final products, to reduce strain on workers.
Success to Build On
GOP’s initiatives have transformed its organizational culture, instilling a safety-first mindset across all levels of the company. This cultural shift has earned recognition from both the North America Meat Institute and the National Safety Council.
The company’s efforts have yielded impressive results. In 2023, GOP conducted over 6,000 near miss reports and safety observations, while achieving a historic low number of workers’ compensation claims — an 83% reduction from 2020. This contributed to an 80% decrease in the total cost of claims over the same period.
GOP’s total recordable incident rate (TRIR) has plummeted in the last four years, reaching an all-time low in 2023 – 79% lower than the industry standard.
This enhanced safety culture and performance have also positively impacted employee retention, reducing turnover by 40% in an industry known for high turnover rates. GOP’s commitment to safety has expanded its employment pool, particularly among refugee communities.
“We have to be good stewards to not only the company, but also the people that work here and as well as our community,” said Ryan Abell, GOP’s vice president of operations. “And the word gets out of how we treat those people and the things we do for them.”
GOP’s shipping department, which has benefited from automation efforts, has celebrated zero workers’ comp claims in over two years.
While celebrating these accomplishments, GOP remains committed to continuous improvement, learning from past claims to prevent future incidents and fostering a culture where every team member is empowered to be a safety manager. &
The Theo Award celebrates its inaugural year, honoring 31 workers’ compensation programs for their excellence and service to workers across the nation. To learn more about the award and amazing qualities each winner possesses, visit here.