Our People
Our commitment to ensure employee health and safety, while we promote an energized, empowered and engaged workforce.
Health & Safety
Ensuring the health, safety and well-being of our employees is a fundamental responsibility. The Leprino culture we foster emphasizes employee welfare, both on and off the job.
Safety Vision
To be the world’s safest food manufacturing company, driven by the world’s safest employees.
Safety Mission
We will create a world-class safety culture through leadership, personal commitment and accountability. Together, we are all responsible to care for each other’s health and safety and are dedicated to preventing all injuries before they happen.
Achieving world-class safety
Our rigorous safety management framework involves ongoing risk assessments, prevention, mitigation and emergency planning. Critical aspects include detailed procedures on safe work methods and the incorporation of safety into the design of equipment and facilities.
Dedicated safety professionals support each location, and they coordinate with the corporate Safety Team to promote knowledge sharing and drive consistent best practices across the organization. The Leadership Team regularly reviews safety progress and policies while addressing key strategic issues related to health and safety risks.
Employee involvement and engagement
Active employee engagement occurs through ongoing training, daily pre-shift meetings and facility-wide meetings. All facilities have established safety teams, and everyone at every location has the opportunity to participate in the safety process and safety-related discussions. We encourage employees to sign an annual pledge to make a personal commitment to improve safety for themselves and co-workers, striving to eliminate all injuries.
Measurement and assessment
Employees, teams, managers and senior leadership regularly review Leprino’s safety performance and identify opportunities for improvements. The use of safety scorecards, goals and incentives keeps the focus on prevention and shared progress.
We conduct site visits and annual assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of our approaches.
Our Performance
Our 2022 safety performance was 52% better than the dairy manufacturing industry average. 2023 industry average performance data will be updated when available.
Safety Goal
Achieve performance in the top quartile of the dairy products manufacturing industry sector and industry average.*
OSHA Recordable Incident Rate
| Fiscal Year |
Recordable Incident Rate |
Industry Average |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2.43 | 4.9 |
| 2019 | 3.08 | 4.8 |
| 2020 | 2.43 | 4.3 |
| 2021 | 2.32 | 4.5 |
| 2022 | 2.34 | 4.6 |
| 2023 | 2.06 | TBD |
Dart Rate
| Fiscal Year |
DART | Industry Average |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1.81 | 3.4 |
| 2019 | 2.15 | 3.2 |
| 2020 | 2.26 | 3.0 |
| 2021 | 1.84 | 3.2 |
| 2022 | 1.86 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 1.71 | TBD |
*Industry Average: We compare our fiscal-year performance with the latest available annual data from OSHA for average of the dairy products manufacturing industry sector. Industry values reported reflect weighted calculations based on location sizes.
Key 2023 Safety Achievements
Promoting Employee Wellness
Supporting Employees
Our integrated efforts help support employees through life events and contribute to increasing morale, productivity and overall employee satisfaction. They also help maintain cost-effective programs for both Leprino and employees where they share the cost. Dependents of Leprino Foods employees are eligible for postsecondary education assistance through the LeprinoScholars Scholarship Program that has been supported by the Leprino Foods Company Foundation.
Contributing to Employee Health
Through their voluntary participation in designated initiatives, employees can earn money on an annual basis toward their health reimbursement account (HRA) or health savings account (HSA) if participating in any of our medical plans. This contribution is in addition to the company seed ranging from $350 to $700.
Employee Engagement
Our culture is driven by our people and a shared ownership mentality to be the best at what we do. We act with urgency, adaptability and a sense of purpose. We collaborate through conscious inclusion and demonstration of mutual trust and respect, rooted in a passion for our work and each other.
Our Performance
We monitor various measures, such as retention, turnover, employee referrals and employee engagement, to understand our progress on attracting, developing, engaging and retaining our people.
Employee Wellness
Employee Retention
Percentage of employees by years of employment, at end of fiscal year 2023.
Better together: strengthening diversity and inclusion
Driving diversity and inclusion (D&I) is one of five key strategies supporting our Engage and Develop Our People business priority.
Better Together initiatives
Our programs foster self-awareness and promote inclusion for our employees. We ensure equitable systems and processes that impact recruitment and performance management. We also cultivate intentional relationships with organizations supporting underrepresented communities.
Measurement and evaluation
We assess progress through qualitative and quantitative measures and report performance on our D&I Scorecard. Diversity and inclusion questions are included in our employee surveys and managers evaluate their own inclusive leadership practices through a 360-degree assessment.
Our Performance
We review a range of measures for diversity such as gender, race and ethnicity, age, and tenure, along with indicators of an inclusive culture. We also assess employee perceptions of diversity, inclusion and sense of belonging through our employee engagement surveys and other input.
3% increase
In women in leadership positions
2021–2023
2% increase
In total racial diversity in leadership positions
2021–2023
2023 Highlights
Supplier Diversity Award
In early 2023, Leprino Foods received the 2022 Diversity and Inclusion Supplier of the Year Award from a major customer. As a company, we have worked hard to elevate our D&I platform and practices, and we continue to prioritize this every day.
LeprinoScholars Scholarships Awarded
22 scholarships were awarded for the 2023-2024 academic year to dependents of Leprino Foods employees from across the company. Recipients were selected by an independent third party based on factors including academics, community involvement and work experience.
Gina Award Recipients
Our annual Gina Awards recognize our stellar employees who demonstrate initiative, outstanding performance, significant contributions, and/or achieving exceptional results during the year across 12 different categories. Gina Award winners are nominated by their peers and selected by the company’s officers.
This year’s Corporate Gina Award recipient for the GR category was Brian Demers.
Award winners from other locations will be announced in early 2024.
Mike Leprino Sr. Awards
The Mike Leprino Sr. Award embodies the characteristics most valued by Mike Leprino Sr. — work ethic, loyalty, tough-mindedness and a positive attitude. Recipients have an infectiously positive attitude that inspires and motivates others. They care about making the business better and actively participate in the problem solving process. Their passion, dedication and enthusiasm make them a role model amongst their peers. This year’s Corporate recipients are Alondra Louie and Greg Zavala. Award winners from other locations will be announced in early 2024.
