SFPA sawmill safety awards given

Seven Southern Pine sawmills that are members of the Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA), including three from Louisiana, were recently awarded recognition for Sawmill Safety for 2018, according to the SFPA.

SFPA lumber manufacturer members are considered for the award based on information submitted regarding occupational injuries and illnesses. Safety performance is judged by how each mill’s safety record stacks up against facilities with comparable lumber output throughout the year. The results for 2018 included reports from 54 mills that recorded nearly 20 million employee hours and aligned into three divisions.

Division I includes sawmills that produce 50 million board feet or less. In Louisiana, the Weyerehaeuser Company's Zwolle mill received the 2018 Sallmill Safety Award.

Division II covers facilities that produce 51 to 150 million board feet. In Louisiana Weyerhaeuser's mill in Holden received the 2018 Sawmill Safety Award.

And Division III includes mills that produce more than 150 million board feet annually. In Louisiana, the Weyerhaeuser mill in Dodson was recipient of the 2018 Sawmill Safety Award.

“A safe workplace is no accident and these seven mills have created safety solutions that work for the lumber manufacturing industry,” said SFPA Executive Director Tami Kessler. “We commend these companies that excel at making safety in the workplace a top priority,” she added.

The awards were presented recently in Atlanta during SFPA’s 35th Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Exposition.

Recipients of the SFPA 2018 Sawmill Safety Award (L-R): Scott Vande Linde, West Fraser, Inc.; Hunter McShan and John Hunter Allgood, McShan Lumber Co.; Eric Gee, SFPA Deputy Director; Jamey Ramer, Craig Forbes and Zach Pepper, Weyerhaeuser; SFPA Chairman Donny White, Ray White Lumber Co.; Tami Kessler, SFPA Executive Director.