AFL, the Spartanburg-based global manufacturer of fiber optic cable and related network infrastructure products, earned Plant Safety Awards from South Carolina Manufacturers and Commerce for all five of its Spartanburg County manufacturing facilities at the organization’s 2026 annual recognition ceremony, the company announced May 5.
The SCMC Plant Safety Awards recognize facilities that have sustained incident rates — specifically the rate of lost workdays, job transfers, and work restrictions — below the statewide manufacturing average. AFL’s five South Carolina locations all met that threshold, earning the designation at a ceremony AFL also sponsored.
Larry Pearlman, AFL’s vice president of Environment, Health, Safety and Security, served as a speaker at the SCMC ceremony. The company’s leadership has pointed to the recognition as validation of AFL’s safety culture across its Spartanburg footprint, which spans multiple specialized manufacturing sites producing fiber optic cable, cable accessories, hardware, and conductor products.
AFL has deep roots in the Spartanburg economy. The company, which maintains its global headquarters in the county, employs thousands of workers across its South Carolina sites and has been one of the anchor tenants of the region’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem. Its fiber optic and connectivity products serve telecommunications networks, electric utilities, and industrial applications in more than 50 countries.
South Carolina Manufacturers and Commerce, the state-level advocacy and recognition body for the manufacturing sector, conducts the Plant Safety Award program annually. Facilities nominate themselves by submitting incident data compared against Bureau of Labor Statistics benchmarks for South Carolina’s manufacturing industry. A low lost-workday rate and low restricted-duty rate are the primary qualifying criteria.
The recognition comes as AFL has increased its community investments alongside its plant operations. In April 2026, the company committed an additional $4.5 million to the AFL Foundation, its philanthropic arm, to expand its global grant-making and community programming. The AFL Foundation focuses on workforce development, STEM education, and humanitarian relief, aligning the company’s capacity investments with the broader Spartanburg County workforce pipeline.
For Spartanburg manufacturers broadly, the SCMC ceremony is one of the key annual benchmarking events. Other Upstate facilities across BMW Manufacturing‘s supply chain and Michelin’s network of plants compete in the same program. AFL winning for all five of its locations in the same year underscores a consistent safety infrastructure that goes beyond individual plant performance.
