APA honors mills for s

f P't ()sB MtLL in Tomahawk. Wi.. earned thc covetcd |'Jlnnovation in Safcty Award in the latest Safety & Hcalth Awards Pro-pram sponsored annually by ApA fbr the structural wood pancl and engineered woocl industrv.

The LP planr took the innovation prizc fbr desi-rrning and dcploying a special outsicle debarking and conveyor sysrem for stringy bark species that mitigarcs debarker disciarge plug ups and the risks associated with clearing the raw material bottlenccks by hand. Amon-e thc criteria tirr the Innovation Award is demonstration that the innovation reduced occupational injuries or illnesses.

Norbord, Torontc'r. Ont.. and Stark Truss Co., Canton, Oh.. also won Saf'est Company Awarcls in their respectlve categories. Norbord, a leading North American manulactur_ er of OSB, eamcd top honors among companies with fbur or mort: mills with a 2009 average Weighted Incident Rate (WIR) of 21.-58. Stark Truss, which produccs glulam timber and wood l-joists, won with three or f-ewer mills. The com_ pany posted a perfect 0.00 WIR for 2009.

The awards program, begun in 19g2, honors the managements and employees of companies ancl milts with the Iowest sevcrity-weighted incidence rates based on guidc_ line s established by thc U.S. Occupational Saf'et1 & i{ealrh Administration. It employs a Weighted Incident Rare that is calcuiated usine both thc number ancl severity ol'recordable incidents. Sincc 2008 wus the firsr -rclr that WtR was usecl. awards and rcports firr 2(X)9 continuc to also show, Total Incident Rate (TIR). thc ntclsure usccl in previous ycars.

Ninety-three APA mcrnbers participated in inc 2009 program. Sixteen mills representing scven ntcntDers_ Anthony Forest Products. Georgia-pacif ic Woocl products. LP. Norbord. Rosboro. She-lton Lant & Dcck. ancl Stark Truss -took hontc awards.

While the prosram awards arc limitcd to ApA ntcmbcrs. data is collected llom both nrentber and non-membcr mills in order to provicle a broad-based industry Lrerformance benchntark. A tcttal of I l8 nrills rcponed .latl fitr 2009..fhc 2009 industry TIR and WIR werc 2.18 ancl 10.64. resoectively. up slightly liom 1.99 anct 10.02 in 2(X)8.

Winncrs will bc rccocnized ancl their saf'etv accomplish_ ments celebrated during the chairman's cJinner at ApA's

edge) to deliver solid pointslX Dumstrand

annual meeting in October in Tucson, Az.

The 2009 p.og.um was the second year under a revitalized safety effort spearheaded by an APA Safety & Health Advisory CommitGe comprised of several APA member "o.puny safety professionals. Under the committee's guidance, ttrree miin goals were established: make the APA program the industry's premier safety awards program' "n.-ou.ug" the sharing of best practices to improve the industry;s safety culture and programs, and' most importantly, improve the industry's overall safety performance' fb tnose ends, several new initiatives are under way' including holding safety workshops (the first to immediately follow the APA annual meeting)' developing an industry safety professional database to share best practices and safety aierts, and expanding the safety and health section of tn" Ape, website to make it a more useful industry safety information clearinghouse and networking tool' INNOVATION IN SAFEW AWARD

Le iiomanawt, Wi.) for outside debarker and conveyor system