Table of Contents
Engineered wood manufacturers from across North America were named winners of APA – The Engineered Wood Association’s 2024 Safety and Health Awards — the premier safety award program for North America’s engineered wood products industry. The program promotes and recognizes operational excellence with the goal of reducing injury and illness rates.
The Safest Company Award went to three members. Domtar won in the category of three or fewer mills, West Fraser won for companies with four to 10 mills, and LP earned the title for companies with 11 or more member mills.
There were two winners in the prestigious Innovation in Safety Award category. Domtar’s Larouche, Quebec, mill won the Equipment-Based Innovation in Safety Award for their submission, “Distancing Handle,” while LP’s Jasper, Tx., mill won the Jack Wagner Process-Based Innovation in Safety Award for their submission, “Safety Champions – Future Leader Development – Safety Projects.”
Seventy-six APA member manufacturing facilities participated in the 2024 program.
“We’re proud of our members commitment to workplace safety,” said APA president Mark Tibbetts. “As an industry, it's important we continue advancing best practices to keep our workplaces safe and protect our teams.”
Now in its 17th year, the program continues to improve overall safety performance and encourages sharing of best practices to improve the industry’s safety culture and programs.
Cole Bryant, corporate safety and environmental manager at RoyOMartin, and APA Safety and Health Committee chair, said incident rates don’t tell the entire story. Employees’ mental health matters, too.
“I am proud of our industry’s initiatives that focus on the mental well-being of our work families,” Bryant said. “Life can feel overwhelming at times for us and for our families. That’s why it matters so much that we are making resources available to support our team members and their families both at work and at home.”
The full list of winners and more information on the APA Safety and Health Awards Program can be found on the association’s website at www.apawood.org.
