Safety is engrained in every aspect of life. For some, it is a way of life. This is the case at Sonoco Recycling in Jacksonville and Wilmington. The two sites received their first Carolina Star recertification awards Wednesday, March 1. As Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson said during his visit to both sites, “Safety is not just a part of the culture, safety is the culture at the Sonoco Recycling facilities in Jacksonville and Wilmington.”
The Sonoco Recycling facilities in Jacksonville and Wilmington entered the Carolina Star program in 2019. At the presentation of the awards, the employees at each plant prepared and presented a PowerPoint showing just how seriously they take workplace safety and how integral it is to the culture at Sonoco. They included examples of what they do to keep themselves and their fellow employees safe, such as, providing monthly training, self-reporting/inspections, installing railing, preventative maintenance and creating new walkway paths.
“This is the second Sonoco Recycling facility I have had the pleasure of managing that is a Carolina Star site,” Plant Manager Gus Wiley said. “Carolina Star brings with it a culture and safety mindset you don’t see at many businesses. It’s a state of mind toward continuous improvement that we’re proud to be a part of. We enjoy the fellowship and teamwork our regional team—Safety Sharks—provides. It’s special in the fact that it everyone has a voice in their safety and contributes to our safety culture.”
The Carolina Star Program recognizes leaders in occupational safety and health that are successfully protecting employees from death, injury and illness by implementing comprehensive and effective safety and health programs and management systems. Carolina Star participants are proactive and willingly share their experience and expertise, and they encourage others to work toward comparable success. These worksites are self-sufficient in their ability to control hazards at their worksites.
For more information about the N.C. Department of Labor’s Carolina Building Star Program, please call or email LaMont Smith, Carolina Star’s recognition program manager, at 919-707-7852 or lamont.smith@labor.nc.gov.