La-Z-Boy announced that its Dayton, Tenn., manufacturing facility has broken the American Home Furnishings Alliance safety record for highest number of production hours without an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable lost-time case.

The residential furniture manufacturer achieved more than 6.8 million production hours, breaking its own record of more than 6.4 million hours set in 2004. Nearly 1,300 associates are employed at the 1.2 million-sq.-ft. facility in Dayton.

“At La-Z-Boy, safety isn’t just a word; it’s a mindset of every employee. It’s ingrained in our culture and in everything we do,” said Kurt Darrow, chairman, president and CEO. “We are extremely proud of our safety record, but it takes the commitment of our associates to make it work, so I congratulate them on this remarkable achievement.”

The La-Z-Boy Dayton plant has been recognized with numerous other awards, including being named one of 10 Best Plants in North American for 2012 by IndustryWeek; receiving the Commissioner’s Award of Excellence for Workplace Safety and Health from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development; and becoming one of the first manufacturing facilities to become certified for Enhancing Furniture’s Environmental Culture (EFEC) through the AHFA.

“This is an enormous accomplishment that demonstrates La-Z-Boy’s aggressive commitment to safe operations and a safe work environment for all its employees,” said Andy Counts, AHFA CEO. “AHFA salutes the La-Z-Boy Dayton manufacturing facility and all its workers on their achievement.”

Company officials said safety is paramount to all La-Z-Boy manufacturing facilities, and employee safety has improved greatly, with OSHA recordable incident rates being reduced by half since 2012. According to La-Z-Boy, the Neosho, Mo., facility has 6 million hours without a lost time case; the facility in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, has 5 million hours; and the Siloam Springs, Ark., facility has achieved 3.5 million hours.

Officials added that “reduce, reuse and recycle” are part of the company’s core business culture every day, citing that it has reduced energy consumption by 30%, water consumption by nearly 50% and waste disposed to landfills by close to 60%. Recycling and reuse have increased to 90%, and most of the wood products used in the company’s manufacturing efforts are from sustainable resources or recycled materials.

“We are committed to protecting our environment and preserving the planet for future generations,” said Darrell Edwards, senior vice president and chief supply chain officer at La-Z-Boy. “Our focus has been and always will be on integrating environmentally sound and sustainable practices into our daily business decisions and to help ensure (we are) even greener tomorrow than we are today.”

(Source: Furniture Today)