The companies were honoured in recognition of their performance through the implementation of innovative and effective employee safety and health programmes.

Poultry companies in the US have suffered a lot of criticism about their worker safety record, with the latest story this week being safety violations found by inspectors at a Tyson Foods plant in Texas.

However, the Council said the latest data demonstrate the enormous progress poultry processors have made in improving safety.

The total recordable poultry processing illness and injury rate for 2014 was 4.3 cases per 100 full-time workers (per year), down from 4.5 in 2013. This represents an 81 per cent decrease from 1994 (the oldest data available on the BLS website), when the recorded rate was 22.7.

"Today our industry’s safety record is almost equal to that of the rest of the manufacturing industries.

"Although great improvements have been made, industry safety professionals are continuously looking for ways to improve. No matter their role, safety is a commitment expected of all employees in the industry,” said the Council.

The Council consists of members from the US Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation, which collectively represent companies that produce 95 per cent of the US’s poultry products.