Greenfield’s Parker Hannifin Receives Governor’s Award of Excellence

Parker Hannifin in Greenfield was one of three companies in the state of Tennessee to receive the Governor’s Award of Excellence for Workplace Safety and Health on Tuesday, June 9.

David Blessman (VPP Manager of TOSHA) and Garrett Rea (TOSHA Assistant Administrator) presented the award to employers and employees which recognizes Tennessee employers and employees meeting the minimum number of hours with no serious workplace injuries causing an employee to miss a day of work or that would restrict their normal job activities. The number of hours varies based on the size of the company.

Employees at Parker Hannifin worked over 500,000 hours without losing time or restricting their workday.

According to the Tennessee Department of Labor, Parker Hannifin in Greenfield is the only recipient of this award in Weakley County in the last five years.

TOSHA presents approximately 16 Governor’s Awards to Tennessee manufacturing and construction companies per year.

“You're making sure that you come in and go home the same way. And it's just not one person. It's not one safety director or one corporate safety director. It's each and every one of you. You should be proud of yourself and the efforts you've made in taking care of each other. What an honor. This right here is a team effort.,” Blessman stated.

The company could have gone to Nashville to pick up the award, however Barry Lassiter, Value Stream Manager for Parker Hannifin asked them to bring it to Greenfield.

“You guys are the ones that earned it. We appreciate your efforts. We appreciate you looking out for each other each and every day,” Lassiter said.

“It’s really important to take care of each other and keep a safe working environment. It is a bog award with only three in the West Tennessee region awarded this this year so you should be proud of yourselves,” Senator John Stevens said.

“I want to thank each and every one of you for doing the great job of representing Greenfield in the way you do. We appreciate you so much. I know we don’t express it every day, but we do appreciate every one of y’all and we appreciate this great honor that you have bestowed for Parker Hannifin,” Greenfield Mayor Cindy McAdams said.

VIP Guests attending Parker Hannifin to help them celebrate included the following:

Brett Huls (General Manager, Parker Sporlan Division); Frank Wilson (Business Unit Manager, Parker Sporlan Division); Forrest Beasley (Divisional Human Resource Manager, Parker Sporlan Division); Tim Schweizer (Divisional EHS Manager, Parker Sporlan Division); Mayor Cindy McAdams; Senator John Stevens; Representative Tandy Darby; Senator Paul Bailey (Chairman: Senate Commerce & Labor Committee); Brandy Lassiter (Research Analyst: Senate Commerce & Labor Committee); Monte Belew (Senior Advisor for Congressman David Kustoff); Mike & Nancy Biggs (Mike was former Mayor and Greenfield Board Member); Janna Hellums (Northwest TN Regional Director, Department of Economic & Community Development); Tessa Kyle (Northwest TN Business Development Consultant, Department of Economic & Community Development); Justin Crice (CEO, Weakley County Chamber & Joint Economic Development Corporation); Barbara Virgin (Executive Director: Weakley County Chamber of Commerce); Angie Lassiter (Administrative Assistant, Weakley County Chamber & Economic Development Board).

The plaque of excellence will be displayed inside the company. For a slideshow of photos from the event please go to dresdenenterprise.com or martinpost.news. For video clips of the event please see our Facebook pages.