2013 WINNER OF
AgSafe, a California agricultural safety association, awarded its 2013 safety awards at its annual conference in Monterey, Feb. 28. This year the award for Safety Professional of the Year was given to Espie Estrada of the Blue Banner Company, a WG member and large citrus grower-packer located in Riverside, Calif. The award, called the “All Ways Safe Agricultural Safety Award” is a collaborative effort between AgSafe and DuPont Crop Protection to honor those that protect agricultural workers. The program recognizes both companies and individuals for their efforts to ensure the safety and health of our industry's tireless workforce.
Estrada joined Blue Banner several years ago and instituted significant changes in its work procedures and renewed focus on employee safety and training. The results over the last couple of years have been remarkable, with Blue Banner having virtually no injured workers or lost time due to injuries and its workers’ compensation premium shrinking to reflect that experience. These outstanding results were a direct result of Ms. Estrada’s focus on safety and made her a worthy recipient of the individual safety award. Ms. Estrada credited her management team and her employees as critical factors in her success. She also thanked Western Growers Insurance Services (WGIS) for its help and safety training efforts as well as its strong support for her loss reduction efforts.
Pictured above: (standing) Sergio Loya, with Western Growers Loss Control; John Knaak with Blue Banner; Henry Estrada; WG Account Manager Leo Sanchez; and WG’s Greg Nelson; (seated) Carlyn Knaak and Espie Estrada.
