On Tuesday, Nov. 29, Croasdaile Village Retirement Community was awarded for its participation in the N.C. Department of Labor’s (NCDOL) Safety and Health Achievement and Recognition Program (SHARP) for continuing to develop and uphold extraordinary health and safety standards. The award was presented during a ceremony held at the Durham facility operated by United Methodist Retirement Homes (UMRH) Inc.
Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson, along with representatives from NCDOL’s Consultative Services Bureau, provided keynote remarks as well as presented the SHARP flag and award to Croasdaile Village and UMRH leadership and management. Commissioner Dobson applauded Croasdaile Village’s ability to maintain a safe and healthy workplace, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating, the COVID-19 pandemic of the past two years has presented an immense challenge to our state’s medical workers and caregivers, like the folks here at Croasdaile Village,” Commissioner Dobson said. “Despite all of this, this community has met the challenge head on and continues to safely and effectively provide services to those in need.”
Throughout the journey to reach SHARP status, Croasdaile Village has been working with Blair Byrd and Bruce Pearson—safety consultants with the NCDOL’s Consultative Services Bureau—since 2014. During the award ceremony, Byrd emphasized the exclusivity of becoming a SHARP-certified workplace.
“There are roughly 175 SHARP sites out of a total of around 260,000 businesses and workplaces across North Carolina,” Byrd said. "That places Croasdaile in unique company and continues a vision that started a few years ago with managements’ commitment to obtaining SHARP recognition.”
Executive Director of Croasdaile Village Retirement Community, Heather March, explained that both employees and residents are crucial to the development and execution of workplace safety operations within the facility.
“Employees and residents in our community work together to identify workplace hazards and how to fix them, maintain compliance with OSHA standards and to offer an environment where safety and healthcare are a top priority,” March said. “We have both an employee safety and resident safety committee and both are active. I am extremely proud of everyone in our community for being a part of such an elite group of businesses.”
UMRH is a provider of choice for retirement living and continuing care services in North Carolina. Founded in 1945, the mission of the UMRH Inc., a faith-based, nonprofit, life plan organization, is to provide a lifestyle of wellness and overall enrichment with access to long-term care for a diverse population of senior adults.
Croasdaile Village opened its doors in 1999 as a faith-based senior living community. As a not-for-profit retirement community, the focus is solely on improving the quality of life for residents. It offers senior adults an independent lifestyle, services and amenities that make life easier and more enjoyable, and a continuum of care that addresses the needs of residents as they grow older.