Pictured at the LTA Tracker Board at PL Oat Plant recognising 2500 LTA free days are Nicola Cooney (EHS Manager Agri Ops), Jim O Neill (Chief Operations & Supply Chain Officer) & Matt McLoughlin (Portlaoise Site Safety Rep)

Glanbia Ireland’s Food Oat Plant recently celebrated a major Health & Safety milestone by achieving 2500 days with no loss time accidents. The plant in fact has never had a loss time accident since it began operation at the end of 2013.

To mark this achievement which is a record in GI, Jim O’Neill, Chief Operations and Supply Chain Officer, called to the site (adhering strictly to site Covid protocols!) and thanked the team for their accomplishment. A presentation of a specially designed jacket for the occasion was made by Jim to site employees in recognition of their achievement.

The Food Oat Plant manufactures McCann’s Irish Oatmeal for the North American market as well as gluten free oat products for the European market. The plant has six processing lines and two packing lines.

Nicola Cooney, Head of Environmental Health & Safety, leads the H&S system at the plant and has introduced a number of new initiatives from her experience in other Glanbia manufacturing sites. According to Nicola, the key to maintaining this standard is a positive safety culture on site where everyone is fully engaged in the importance of Health & Safety. Managers and employees share the importance of health and safety management aligned with a mindset for continuous improvement and respect for each other and their workplace.

Matt Mc Loughlin, Employee Health & Safety Representative, also plays a key role in positively promoting Health & Safety with site management. Matt, who works in production since the plant was commissioned in 2013, believes the key is highlighting that “Safety First” is always the best option as it’s sustainable and ultimately results in safe plant and environment. There have also been a number of initiatives through the introduction of the GI Good Save program which have enhanced the safety performance of the site.

The plant has recently upgraded and improved its 3M process including revisions of its Safety KPI’s and weekly performance reviews under the expert guidance of Claire Clancy from the GPS team. We endeavour to have many more accident free days in our plant.