Dryden plant tops in safety; wins Weyerhauser provincial award.Employees at Weyerhaeuser's Ontario forestlands operation in Dryden have been recognized by the Ontario Forestry Safe Workplace Association (OFSWA OFSWA Ontario Forestry Safe Workplace Association ) for their achievements in health and safety. On June 21, members were presented with the 2004 Provincial Health and Safety Achievement Award for Logging, while senior vice-president of timberland operation in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Tom Gideon, incoming CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Canadian operations, Craig Neeser and outgoing CEO Sandy McDade looked on as proud observers. "As of September, the group (will) have gone 12 years without a recordable injury," Dan Dedo Ontario forestlands manager says. Worldwide, Weyerhaeuser has approximately 400 operations. The Dryden facility is benchmarked in the 97th percentile percentile, n the number in a frequency distribution below which a certain percentage of fees will fall. E.g., the ninetieth percentile is the number that divides the distribution of fees into the lower 90% and the upper 10%, or that fee level for safety. "This group would be in the top four per cent of the top 400 operations. It is an outstanding achievement," Dedo says. The secret lies in obtaining and keeping a group of conscientious con·sci·en·tious adj. 1. Guided by or in accordance with the dictates of conscience; principled: a conscientious decision to speak out about injustice. 2. and focused workers who take health and safety issues seriously. "Part of the role of working for Weyerhaeuser is to approach each job with safety being in the forefront." Standard protocol such as staff meetings, tail-gate sessions and behaviour observations make up a portion of their health and safety activity. But what has worked best for the facility is making safety part of the everyday environment. "Safety for us is not a program, it is a way of doing business. (Staff) have accepted that it is possible to work everyday without an injury and it is possible to end your entire career without an injury." Approximately 40 staff members represent the planting, harvesting and new generation division. OFSWA's consultant trainee, Gary Dickie, recommended the forest land staff for the award. Last year, they won the internal presidential award having been in operation for 10 years without any recordable injury. In over a decade, there has been no Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario (WSIB WSIB Workplace Safety and Insurance Board WSIB Washington State Investment Board ) claims and only a periodic inspection from the Ministry of Labour. Dedo is not planning on changing any safety protocols for the future. Why re-invent the wheel if it is working fine, he says. The award was presented to the company that showed continuous health and safety improvements, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. OFSWA program developer-communication John Levesque. The criteria includes management's commitment to providing health and safety meetings, training programs, records of workplace inspections, documented safe operating procedures, records of investigations and incidents, emergency protocol, new worker orientation and monitoring of safe procedures. It is also based on WSIB statistics and the Ministry of Labour's inspections or incidents reports. Www.wsib.on.ca www.ofswa.on.ca www.gov.on.ca/LAB By KELLY LOUISEIZE Northern Ontario Business Northern Ontario Business is a Canadian magazine, which publishes monthly in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. The magazine covers business news and issues in Northern Ontario. |
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