Almond Brothers Lumber, LaSalle Lumber tops in safety

Almond Brothers Lumber Co. and LaSalle Lumber were recently awarded the 2023 John Edgar Rhodes Sawmill Safety Exellence Award by the Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA).

Almond Brothers Lumber of Coushatta was one of three mills in Division I (producing 50 million board feet or less) and LaSalle Lumber of Urania was the only mill in Division III (producing more than 150 million board feet annually) receiving the award for having zero reported incidents in 2023.

SFPA Lumber Manufacturer members are considered for the award based on standardized information submitted using OSHA Form 300A," according to and SFPA press release. Awards are presented in three divisions and safety performance is judged by how each mill's safety record stacks up against facilities with comparable lumber output throughout the year.

"In an industry where worker safety is of utmost importance, operating without any reportable incidents is a significant achievement," SFPA Executive Director Eric Gee said. "We are extremely proud of each of these operations and their commitment to safety excellence."

Other winners include:

Division I: McShan Lumber Co. of McShan, Alabama; Swift Lumber of Atmore, Alabama

Division II: West Fraser of Fitzgerald, Georgia; West Fraser of Lake Butler, Florida; West Fraser of Blackshear, Georgia; West Fraser of Mansfield, Arkansas

LaSalle Lumber Co., a partnership of Hunt Forest Products and Canada-based Tolko Industries, was the only Division III winner.

According to SFPA, the eight recipients represent 2,282,255 total hours worked among 987 employees. It also is the second consecutive year when seven SFPA mills had zero repoted safety incidents.