PRINCETON, BC (Jan. 10, 2013) – On Dec. 21, 2012, a very significant safety milestone was achieved in the forests around Princeton.
The entire Weyerhaeuser Princeton Timberlands organization – contractors and employees – celebrated going two years of working without a recordable injury.
“This is quite an achievement,” says Rob Marshall, manager of Weyerhaeuser’s Timberlands organization in Princeton. “Weyerhaeuser has a vision of having an injury-free workplace so everyone can go home safe and sound every day. Forestry work has many hazards, but they have shown it can be done safely. These are world-class results and very few forestry organizations can make this claim.”
This safety accomplishment includes an average of 120 people working in the woods operation every day. They are involved in all aspects of forestry work: planning, timber cruising, road construction, road maintenance, harvesting, hauling, planting, scaling and surveying.
“I give a lot of credit to the Weyerhaeuser staff, the contractors and their employees for all working hard on all the little things that make up a safe working environment,” said Marshall. “Everyone should feel proud they work in an operation with this kind of safety record.”
Marshall noted that on Dec. 21, 2011, they had celebrated one year of working without an injury. “That was new territory for us,” he commented. “We had never gone a full year without someone getting hurt on the job. Now, we are two years without a recordable injury.” (In general, a recordable injury is a work-related injury that requires medical attention from a health professional.)
Fred Dzida, Director of Canadian Timberlands for Weyerhaeuser, added his congratulations. “Recognizing the challenging conditions we have all faced during the past few years, this is a huge accomplishment,” says Dzida.
The Weyerhaeuser Timberlands organization is responsible for forestry operations on 424,000 hectares of forest in the Princeton and Okanagan Falls areas that support the Weyerhaeuser sawmill in Princeton.
Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world’s largest forest products companies, began operations in 1900. We grow and harvest trees, build homes and make a range of forest products essential to everyday lives. We manage our timberland on a sustainable basis in compliance with internationally recognized forestry standards. At the end of 2011, we employed approximately 12,800 employees in 11 countries. We have customers worldwide and generated $6.3 billion ($6.2 billion US) in sales from continuing operations in 2011. Our stock trades on the New York Stock exchange under the symbol WY. Additional information about us is available at http://www.weyerhaeuser.com.