La-Z-Boy Manufacturing Facility Breaks Furniture Industry Safety Record
Furniture World News Desk on
4/20/2016
La-Z-Boy recently announced that its Dayton, Tenn. manufacturing facility has broken the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) safety record after working over 6.8 million production hours without experiencing an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable lost-time case. This is a new record for La-Z-Boy, who also set the previous record with over 6.4 million hours in 2004.
The La-Z-Boy Dayton manufacturing facility has also been recognized with numerous other awards including: being named an IndustryWeek Best Plants recipient in 2012; 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.
“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 of La-Z-Boy. “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.”
Nearly 1,300 associates are employed at the Dayton, Tenn. location and manufacture La-Z-Boy’s fully customizable furniture line including sofas, chairs, ottomans and more.
“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 Chief Executive Officer. “AHFA salutes the La-Z-Boy Dayton manufacturing facility and all its workers on their achievement.”
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. Currently, the Neosho, Mo. facility has 6 million hours without a lost time case, the facility in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico has 5 million hours and Siloam Springs, Ark. has achieved 3.5 million hours.
In addition, “reduce, reuse and recycle” are part of the company’s core business culture every day. La-Z-Boy’s manufacturing facilities have reduced energy consumption by 30 percent, water consumption by nearly 50 percent and waste disposed to landfills by close to 60 percent. Recycling and reuse have increased to 90 percent, 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 an even greener tomorrow than we are today.”
More about La-Z-Boy: Headquartered in Monroe, Mich., La-Z-Boy has been producing some of the world’s most comfortable furniture for over 89 years. The company manufactures a full line of comfortable products for the living room and family room, including the company’s world-famous recliners, reclining sofas and love seats, sleep sofas, modular furniture and leather upholstery, as well as stationary sofas, love seats and chairs. It is a division of La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE: LZB), one of the world’s leading residential furniture producers, marketing furniture for every room of the home. “Live Life Comfortably.”