Fonterra Whareroa Awarded for Excellence in Safety

Media Release
29 September 2003

Fonterra Whareroa Awarded for Excellence in Safety and Employee Development

Fonterra's Whareroa site had a successful night at last Friday's Taranaki Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards, held in New Plymouth.

The site received not only the ACC Thinksafe Workplace Safety Award, but also the Tertiary Education Commission Training and Development Award.

Competition for the awards was strong, with 220 entries received, according to Chamber of Commerce general manager Nicola Walsh.

Site manager Mike Corbett said the ACC award judges were impressed by the company's workplace safety systems and their implementation. Whareroa has worked hard at improving safety procedures over the last three to four years, working closely with OSH, as part of OSH's achiever programme, and in partnership with ACC, Mr Corbett said.

"This award is recognition of the tremendous amount of work put in by our site staff. This season Fonterra Whareroa has had 140 accident-free days, which is a site record," says Mr Corbett.

The site's success in the Training and Development Award reflects the emphasis the company puts on educating its workforce through in-house training programmes. Central Region Human Resources Manager Michael Cooper said these programmes were a natural extension of Fonterra's desire to add value to its products.

"These awards are something the whole company, including our shareholders, can and should be very proud of," Mr Cooper said.

-ENDS-

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