2024 2nd Quarterly Safety Initiative Winner

Riverside Gin & Storage, Inc. Winner of AgriTrust of Georgia Quarterly Safety Initiative

Bogart, Georgia - July 26, 2024 - Congratulations to Riverside Gin & Storage of Midville, Ga for being named the 2nd Quarter Winner of the AgriTrust of Georgia Quarterly Safety Initiative.

The cotton gin is a device that separates cotton fibers or lint from the seeds and trash. The lint is then compressed into bales and sent to mills to be spun into yarn or thread, while the seed (and even the trash) is used as feed, oil, or for other purposes. The typical gin in Georgia uses saw blades to pull the cotton fibers through fixed ribs. The seeds and other trash materials are blocked by the ribs and thus separated from the fiber. The ginning season only lasts for a few months, typically from September/October to December/January, but will run day and night during those months. The exposure to many dangerous hazards is great during that time, and a strong safety program is required to prevent catastrophic injuries.

Chesley Flanders and Carson Cross understand the need for safety in a cotton gin. Since 1995, they have been serving the farmers of Emanual County by ginning thousands and thousands of bales of cotton. They have seen the industry change and the equipment with it. Today's gins are a lot safer now than when they started Riverside Gin & Storage. Even with the advancements in safety, they still strive to hold biweekly meetings and promote safety as often as possible through talks and memos. Their dedication to safety has earned Riverside Gin & Storage a $2,000.00 check for winning the AgriTrust of Georgia's Quarterly Safety Initiative.

AgriTrust of Georgia is a group self-insured workers' compensation fund that provides workers' compensation insurance coverage for the agricultural industry in the state of Georgia. The Quarterly Safety Initiative is designed to encourage all of the fund members to participate in an active safety program.