Corn Refiners Association Recognizes Workplace Safety Award Winners

Corn Refining Safety Levels Comparable to Office-Based Environments

April 22, 2026

Washington, D.C. - The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) today announced the winners of its annual Workplace Safety Awards, honoring CRA member company facilities that achieved high standards of safety performance in 2025.

"Corn refining in the U.S. is one of the safest jobs in manufacturing, on par with office work. Today, we celebrate the leaders who have brought our industry to that position with awards that recognize their hard-earned progress," said CRA President and CEO John Bode. "Twenty years ago, our industry's safety record was typical of heavy manufacturing. Now, it is among the safest in the manufacturing sector. This demonstrates what long-term commitment to worker protection and continuous operational improvement can achieve."

CRA and its member companies are committed to continual improvements in safety and the advancement of worker protections. These awards reflect those commitments, recognizing facilities that have demonstrated sustained operational excellence, including achieving low incident rates and maintaining extended periods without workplace-related incidents.

In 2025, five companies representing 12 facilities earned a total of 25 workplace safety awards, reflecting sustained commitment by the industry to protecting employees and supporting the communities in which they operate:

CRA Incident Rate Excellence Award: Recognizes plants demonstrating an employee total recordable incident rate of 1.0 or less, while maintaining zero lost workdays and no workplace fatalities during the calendar year.

1 Million Hours Award: Recognizes facilities operating for 1 million consecutive employee hours without an employee lost workday or workplace-related fatality.

Archer Daniels Midland

• Columbus, Nebraska

Cargill

• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Paris, Illinois

Grain Processing Corporation

• Muscatine, Iowa

Zero Lost Workdays Award: Acknowledges facilities operating for a full calendar year without an employee lost workday or a workplace-related fatality.

CRA's Workplace Safety Awards are based on rigorous, data-driven criteria and are supported by the association's Workplace Safety Statistics Program, which provides a consistent framework for measuring, benchmarking, and improving safety performance across member facilities.

###

About the Corn Refiners Association (CRA)
The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) is the national trade association representing the corn refining industry of the United States. CRA and its predecessors have served this important segment of American agribusiness since 1913. Corn refiners manufacture sweeteners, starch, advanced bioproducts, corn oil and feed products from corn components such as starch, oil, protein, and fiber.