Each year, we offer an account on our Safety record in our annual report. The following excerpt is from the 2004 Canfor Annual Report.
At Canfor, "Safety Comes First at Canfor" is not just a slogan but an integral part of our corporate culture. With over 10,000 employees our first measure of success is the health and safety of our people. As part of our commitment to safety, Canfor undertakes an internal safety audit of its operations to determine the winner of the President's Safety Award. The audits are conducted by Canfor employees and are based on strict safety criteria. With the addition of legacy Slocan operations this year's President's safety award was awarded to the top operations in our East, West and Central regions in recognition of their excellent safety performance. This year's President Safety Award was awarded to Grande Prairie in the East Region; Plateau in the West Region; and Intercontinental Pulp in the Central Region.The winners of the Woodlands Safety Awards were Alberta in the East and Vanderhoof in the West.
Canfor's overall Lost-Time Accident frequency rate continues to improve. Several lost-time accident free milestones were achieved during the year:
- CRDC - 13 years
- Grande Prairie - 1 year
- JD Little Forest Centre - 6 years
- PG Wood - 10 years
- Tackama Lumber - 1 year
- Taylor Pulp - 2 years
Overall, Canfor operations reduced their MIR from 6.21 in 2003 to 4.97 in 2004. Canfor's overall lost time frequency rate was also lowered from 1.67 in 2003 to 1.48 in 2004.
As a leading integrated forest products company how we compare within the industry is extremely important to us. Based on the 2004 BC Forest Industry Advisory Service (FIAS) reports, Canfor's Interior sawmills ranked first out of six in the Interior Lumber Sector in the Lost Time Frequency and Medical Incident Rates. Englewood Logging Operation ranked second out of four in the Coast Forest Sector in terms of Lost Time Frequency Rate and third in Medical Incident Rate. Furthermore, within its comparative group of five companies in the Panels/Plywood sector, Canfor ranked third in terms of Lost Time Frequency Rate and second in Medical Incident Rate (MIR).
Among BC's 11 primary pulp mills Canfor's four pulp and paper operations ranked as follows: Taylor Pulp first, PG Pulp second, Intercon third, and Northwood fourth in Lost Time Frequency Rate, and Northwood first, PG Pulp second, Intercon third and Taylor Pulp fifth in Medical Incident Rate.
Canfor has committed to developing a three-year health and safety strategy designed to prevent medical incidents from occurring and improving on our positive trend in this area.