In food processing facilities, a strong safety culture is essential to effective sanitation. Sanitation teams play a critical part in maintaining environments that are safe, clean, and compliant. These teams work around complex machinery and operate in environments that require constant attention. While the risks are inherent, it is the approach a sanitation provider takes to managing safety that defines their ability to protect workers and create a culture of long-term operational success.
This is where family-owned sanitation companies, like Fayette Industrial, often stand out. With a long-term focus and a deep commitment to our teams, we prioritize safety in ways that go beyond compliance, building cultures that consistently protect people and operations alike.
At Fayette, we believe that being a family-owned business allows us to take a more personal and thoughtful approach to safety—one that’s centered on long-term investment in our people. Without the pressure of short-term returns, we can dedicate the time and resources needed to ensure our teams have the training, PPE, equipment and support to stay safe. We’ve seen firsthand how putting our people first builds a stronger safety culture, which leads to more consistent, reliable sanitation for our partners.
Here’s why family-owned companies like Fayette are built to lead on safety.
- Safety Built on Responsibility, Not Reactivity
Many companies talk about safety as a priority. At Fayette, we treat it as a responsibility.
In an industry known for high injury rates, our safety record stands out. Our Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) is well below the industry average—and it stays that way because we don’t wait for incidents to improve our practices. We act early, often, and with purpose. We're proud to kick off 2025 with a Q1 TRIR of just 0.72.
Our safety culture is proactive because it’s personal. Our safety director works alongside our teams in the plants—listening, learning, and helping to adapt our processes. From slips and trips to chemical exposure and lockout/tagout procedures, we look for the root cause of the issue.
As a family-owned business, we have the flexibility to make decisions that prioritize people over profit margins. That gives us the freedom to reinvest in our teams, equipment, PPE, and training as often as needed. It’s a long-term mindset that allows us to protect people today and build stronger operations for tomorrow.
- Workforce Decisions That Prevent Turnover—and Accidents
Behind every safe shift is a team of people empowered to do their jobs with confidence, consistency, and care.
Since raising our minimum hiring age to 25 at the start of 2024, we’ve seen a positive trend in overall safety performance, including a reduction in our TRIR. Prior data indicated that a significant portion of serious incidents involved employees aged 18–24, often linked to behaviors such as rushing or not paying attention. By adjusting our hiring practices, we’ve taken a proactive step toward improving workplace safety.
We’ve built a culture that people want to be part of. Our turnover rate is significantly lower than industry norms, and that’s not by accident. We offer competitive wages, prioritize the right fit during hiring, and make sure every new team member receives role-specific training. With the right hiring and onboarding processes, we see less retraining, fewer gaps in knowledge, and more consistent performance.
Fully staffed teams mean we’re not choosing between hitting a deadline and following safety protocols. There’s no pressure to rush or take shortcuts—just safe work done the right way. It also means leaders can stay focused on what matters most: keeping their teams safe. When managers aren’t stretched thin covering shifts or cleaning equipment themselves, they’re free to be present, observant, and responsive—coaching in real time and reinforcing the culture that keeps everyone safe.
For our customers, that translates to fewer disruptions, stronger audit outcomes, and crews they can trust to get the job done safely every night.
- Safety Leadership That Starts on the Floor
At Fayette, safety leadership is rooted in experience. Many of our managers have worked in the same facilities where they now lead sanitation teams. They’ve worked the overnight shifts, been exposed to the equipment, and understand the environmental risks of sanitation inside a food processing plant.
We equip our leaders with plant-level insights and open lines of communication, so they can make informed decisions that reflect the specific needs of their teams. By focusing on leading indicators, injury data trends, and consistent feedback, we stay ahead of potential risks—making proactive adjustments to prevent injuries before they happen.
Tracking near misses and first-aid cases is part of that approach. It gives our teams a chance to learn and improve together, without waiting for a major accident to prompt change. Across the board, our proactive safety culture is always growing with the needs of the plants and the people in it.
- Communication and Accountability That Keeps Everyone Safe
In our experience, the difference between a close call and a serious injury often comes down to one thing: whether someone felt empowered to speak up.
From day one, team members are encouraged to call out potential risks, report near misses, and raise concerns without hesitation. We’ve built a culture where speaking up is seen as looking out for one another, and those small moments of awareness can prevent serious injuries.
That mindset extends beyond just our teams. We believe in working side by side with our customers to keep everyone safe. If we notice something in a facility that could pose a risk, even if it falls outside our direct responsibilities, we speak up. It’s part of being a good partner and looking out for the well-being of everyone on site.
We also share what we see. Site-level metrics, near-miss trends, and real-time observations all feed into a bigger safety snapshot that helps our customers, and our teams stay aligned.
At Fayette, safety is at the core of our operations. As a family-owned business, we are uniquely positioned to make long-term investments in the well-being of our teams. We prioritize not just compliance, but the continuous improvement of safety practices, ensuring that our workforce has the resources and support needed to work safely each shift.
Working with a family-owned sanitation provider means a partner that truly cares. By being proactive, retaining our employees, driving safety leadership, and maintaining open communication, we protect our teams and ensure consistent, high-quality sanitation for our customers—because when it comes to safety, ownership matters.