by Web Editor | May 2, 2016 | News
Fourteen composite panel facilities and one corporation as a whole were recognized for their safety achievements during the Composite Panel Association’s annual spring meeting held last week in Tucson, Arizona.
Louisiana-Pacific Corp. received the Safety Innovation Award for its Behavior-Based Safety Observation Program.
Awards were also given to participating manufacturing plants with exemplary safety records, including acknowledgments for long-term, annual, safety improvement, and safety achievement. Awards were given to plants with low/less than 277,000 worker-hours per year (Class I) and high/more than 277,000 worker-hours per year (Class II).
The awardees for the best long-term safety record over the past three years were Arauco North America, Malvern, Arkansas (Class I) and Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Roaring River, North Carolina (Class II).
The annual safety award for having zero incidents among Class I plants during 2015 was shared by Arauco North America (MDF), Bennettsville, South Carolina; Kronospan LLC, Eastaboga, Alabama; Plummer Forest Products, Post Falls, Idaho; Roseburg, Taylorsville, Mississippi; and West Fraser Mills Ltd. (WestPine), Quesnel, British Columbia.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/panel-supply/composite-panel-plants-awarded-safety-records?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
by Web Editor | Jun 24, 2015 | News
Thirteen composite panel facilities and one corporation as a whole were recognized for their safety achievements during the Composite Panel Association’s annual spring meeting held last week in Bonita Springs, FL.
Arauco North America received the Safety Innovation Award for the Safety Leadership Program implemented at its particleboard and MDF mills in Moncure, NC. Arauco’s use of leadership training, monthly safety updates communications, and procedure and policy development resulted in the facilities recording their lowest incident rate in the last 15 years, while the severity and frequency of incidents also decreased. Workers’ compensation claims also dropped 90% in 2014.
Composite panel plants in the Class I (low worker-hours) and Class II (high-worker hours) were also recognized for:
• Best long-term safety record over the past three years: Del-Tin Fiber LLC, El Dorado, AR (Class I) and Louisiana-Pacific Corp., East River, NS (Class II).
• Having zero incidents among Class I plants during 2014: Arauco North America (MDF), Bennettsville, SC; Arauco North America, Malvern, AR; Arauco North America, Sault Ste Marie, ON; and Del-Tin Fiber LLC, El Dorado, AR.
• Safety improvements: West Fraser Mills Ltd. (WestPine), White Court, AB (Class I) and Langboard Inc., Willacoochee, GA (Class II).
• Achieving an incident rate of less than 50% of the industry average, over the past three years. Class I plants were: Arauco North America, Malvern, AR; Del-Tin Fiber LLC, El Dorado, AR; SierraPine, Martell, CA; West Fraser Mills Ltd. (Ranger Board), White Court, AB; and West Fraser Mills Ltd. (WestPine), Quesnel, BC. Class II plants were: Arauco North America, Albany, OR; Louisiana-Pacific Corp., East River, NS; Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Roaring River, NC; and Roseburg, Missoula, MT.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/composite-panel-plants-recognized-safety-achievements
by Site Manager | May 1, 2011 | Taking Stock
Story by Rich Donnell,
Editor-in-Chief
One of the more aggressive companies in recent years is Flakeboard, the Canada-based manufacturer of MDF, particleboard, melamine laminated products and other value-added items. We’ve been hearing a lot about Flakeboard’s investment in several melamine laminating lines, but we were wondering about its primary manufacturing plants, especially the ones it purchased from Weyerhaeuser back in 2006, and most specifically of these the MDF plant at Malvern, Ark.
Sometimes we visit plants and, as Forrest Gump said, “you never know what you’re going to get.” Especially a plant like Malvern, which has been around since 1968 and operated under four owners. Frankly, Malvern had fallen off our radar, until recently when we heard they had done some work there. During these recessed economic times, the word that a mill “has done some work” causes the editors at Panel World magazine to perk up. We asked for a visit and Flakeboard most graciously opened its Malvern doors.
While we enjoy visiting brand spanking new greenfield operations (see Uniboard-Moncure article, May 2010), we really get a charge out of touring an older plant that has undergone significant work. This is certainly the case at Malvern. For example, the old Washington Iron Works presses have undergone a total makeover, and the sanding line is now totally modernized. Operators weren’t shy about expressing their exuberance with the upgrade work and with the look of the “new” board product flowing through the plant.
At Malvern there is a spirit of re-birth, for two reasons really:
A) Flakeboard has committed some serious dollars to improving technologies throughout the plant.
B) Flakeboard is committing some serious time to improving the work force culture.
A and B don’t necessarily go hand in hand; that is, we’ve visited many a plant that did A and ignored B. From an editor’s perspective, these plants don’t make for a very enlightening visit.
You don’t necessarily have to do A while doing B, but it would seem that the implementation of B will become more effective if it’s tied into A.
However it’s done, we seem to be seeing more plants concentrating on their work force culture. There are lots of definitions of work force culture, and I’m sure there are consultants who know the exact definition, but the common thread appears to be greater participation and accountability for the work force. Pushing responsibility and decision making down the ladder if you will. Flakeboard at Malvern has gone so far as to strike the term “supervisor” from its glossary.
Of course employee empowerment is not a new concept. And we’ve seen many companies who began to change its work force culture, only to have an economic recession or an economic boom cast aside the noble notion.
Flakeboard is not one of these companies. For Flakeboard, employee involvement is part of its business philosophy. The plant manager at Malvern, Tom Quesenberry, told us that what makes the new cultural shift at Malvern so interesting is that he can look at other Flakeboard plants where the culture is embedded and clearly see where Malvern is headed.
It’s amazing what you can do at a 43-year-old composite board plant.
