CATEGORY A
Bowater Canadian Forest Products
Thunder Bay, ON
CATEGORY B
Emballages Smurfit-Stone Canada
La Tuque, QC
CATEGORY C
Sonoco Canada Corporation
Brantford, ON
Once again, Pulp & Paper Canada is proud to announce the winners of its annual Safest Mill in Canada contest. As companies continually seek to curb costs and cut expenses, it is highly encouraging to see that facilities continue to prioritize safety. This year, congratulations are in order for Bowater Canadian Forest Products in Thunder Bay, ON, who secured first place in Category A, Emballages Smurfit-Stone Canada in La Tuque, QC, who came in first in Category B, and Sonoco Canada Corporation in Brantford, ON, who earned first place in Category C.
PPC’s Safest Mill in Canada contest is a rigorous competition that seeks to hold pulp and paper companies to the highest standards of safety. It is a challenge that benefits the industry as a whole through its companies, communities and employees. Participation in this yearlong process fosters a 12-month focus on safety, compelling mills to constantly evaluate workplace practices and to continually improve upon them.
The amount of Canadian mills that voluntarily participate in this contest is impressive. However, this year, Pulp & Paper Canada is calling on all Canadian pulp and paper facilities to put safety first, by taking part in our nation-wide contest. Below is a condensed version of the contest rules. For more information, please e-mail April Baxter at abaxter@pulpandpapercanada.com. We look forward to receiving your entries, and congratulations once again to this year’s winners!
The period of the contest is the calendar year from January 1 to December 31.
Every pulp and/or paper mill in Canada is eligible to take part. No formal entry is required and there is no entrance fee or other expense involved.
Each contestant must fax or e-mail to PULP & PAPER CANADA, before the 15th of the month, a monthly report of the number of Recordable Incidents composed of fatalities, lost-time injuries/illnesses (with or without restricted work), restricted work only injuries/illnesses (with or without medical treatment) medical aid injuries/illnesses and the number of payroll hours worked during the previous month. Contestants must report these injuries or illnesses for all mill employees and contractors working at the site on the mill’s payroll including temporary employees, part-time employees, employees under time limited contracts. (Important! Construction project contractor employees and any employees of outside contractors who are not on the mill payroll and who are providing services to the mill under contract such as cleaning, maintenance, repairs, etc. are not to be included as Mill Recordable Incidents. They would be recorded as an Option only.) The magazine will supply forms for reporting this data and will be responsible for the calculation and compilation of all data.
Mills are divided into three categories, A, B and C. Category A includes all mills having a monthly average of 100,000 man-hours and over. Category B includes all mills having a monthly average of 50,000 – 99,999 man-hours. Category C includes all mills recording under 50,000 man-hours. A mill may move from one class to another if its average man-hours should so require. Mills that are operated as separate units by the same company should be entered separately in their respective classes.
The mill with the lowest Total Recordable Incident Rate (accident/illness index) in each group will be declared the winner of that class at the end of the year. However, a mill with a fatality is automatically disqualified from the contest for the year in which the fatality occurs. In case of ties, the mill reporting the most payroll hours worked will be declared the winner.
Frequency rate is obtained by multiplying the total number of Recordable Incidents by 200,000 hours and dividing the total by the number of payroll hours.
The winning mill in each class will be presented with a Safest Mill in Canada shield which they retain for a year. Laminated certificates are also sent to the winning mills for the mills to keep, as well as to those recording zero injuries during the year.
A mill down for four consecutive weeks or more, is not eligible to be declared a winner. In the event of a dispute, the decision of a qualified referee will be accepted as final. Winning mills may be audited by a Pulp & Paper Canada designated independent auditor who will examine the mill’s entire safety programs and systems as well as statistics compiled by the provincial workmen’s compensation board. If requested by P&PC, eligible winners will authorize P&PC access to their dossiers at their respective provincial/federal (Canada Labour Code) workmen’s compensation boards. P&PC reserves the right to disqualify any winner if unreasonable, unjustified discrepancies are found in the reporting of Recordable Incidents. The next closest runner-up will then be appointed the winner, again, subject to the same scrutiny as the disqualified winner.
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