PBN Manufacturing Awards 2021
Excellence in Safety Performance & Records: Finlay Extracts & Ingredients USA Inc.
Finding the balance between running a business in a COVID-19-clouded world and protecting its employees is of critical importance to Finlay Extracts & Ingredients USA Inc., doing business as Finlays, a privately owned business-to-business supplier of tea, coffee and botanical solutions to beverage brand owners worldwide.
Finlays operates across the U.S., with locations in Rhode Island, Texas and New Jersey. The company has campuses in Lincoln, Cranston and North Kingstown at the Quonset Business Park, as well as a global commercial network covering the United Kingdom and Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
In addition to its coffee and tea extracts being used within food and beverages as a base ingredient, Finlays also sources and provides soluble coffee, roasted coffee bean, green bean, leaf tea and soluble tea.
In the ongoing effort to reduce the risk of the coronavirus being brought into its facilities, Finlays’ administrative personnel have all worked remotely since March 2020. In addition to implementing a pre-entry health screening process and building barriers to separate screeners from individuals entering the workplace, Finlays halted domestic and international business travel for the bulk of 2020.
“The health, well-being and safety of Finlays’ workforce, both at home and in the workplace, is a vital component to the success of our business,” said Shaun Galligan, Finlay’s head of environmental, health and safety for the Americas. “An employee who feels their safety and health are of importance to the business is more likely to be motivated and engaged in … [environment, health and safety] programs.
“It is the responsibility of each employee to report unsafe work acts, occupational hazards, near-miss incidents, major or minor injuries, and instances where the air, water or soil could be adversely impacted due to our operations,” Galligan said.
The company’s manufacturing employees meet on a daily basis as part of the Operations Visual Management Board to discuss occupational health, safety and environmental issues. Additionally, employees are empowered to stop any work process in which an occupational hazard cannot be controlled or eliminated.
“The culture and climate at Finlays is such that we promote all employees to speak up with regards to issues they may have of a health and safety nature,” said Julian Davies, chief operating officer for the Americas. “We aim to listen and respond accordingly and make investment where required. The health and safety of our employees is fundamental to our business. Our business is operated in accordance with a set of our core values, and our health and safety policies and procedures directly reflect those values.”
The effort appears to be working. As of March 2021, the company’s Rhode Island facilities have gone more than two years without an Occupational Safety and Health Administration recordable incident or an incident resulting in lost time, job transfer or restriction.
Finlays recently announced that its Rhode Island operations are now recognized by the International Organization for Standardization for certifying its ISO 45001 standard.
Businesses that receive this certification can ensure that their organization operates free of recognized occupational-related health and safety hazards. This assurance is validated by certifying that the business’s occupational health and safety management systems are upheld to the 45001 standards and maintaining that certification year after year.
“Finlays’ Rhode Island facilities are one of the first in the food and beverage industry to certify to the new ISO 45001 standard,” Galligan said. “We are extremely proud of this, our performance at the Rhode Island sites, our aggressive management of COVID-19 and the organization’s continued commitment to occupational health and safety.”
In addition to keeping its highly trained and skilled operators working and producing, the company’s focus on environment, health and safety brings with it an increase in customers.
“When an organization has a stellar safety record, it provides prospective customers the assurance that we operate in a compliant manner and are a socially responsible business,” Galligan said. “Naturally, this contributes to our sales revenue.”
