Every LP location maintains an annual safety and health training calendar and conducts aggressive safety and health-related training that goes beyond compliance to focus on skills needed to perform daily activities safely. Each LP site has a Safety Committee, made up of a
cross section of management representatives and line employees. In 2010 about 220 employees were participating in safety committees.
Members participate in worksite inspections and recommend corrective
action. They also take part in incident investigation and behavior
observation processes. Most important, they promote a culture of safe
work practices by actively engaging employees in safety processes and
recognition events.
At LP, all safety and health-related incidents are investigated. We
recognize that most incidents are symptoms of system failures and not
just physical or human causes. Few incidents occur as the result of a
single causal factor.
The real goal of investigating incidents is to prevent injuries by
sharing lessons learned across the company. That’s why we have worked
hard to create an atmosphere of open reporting of near misses. A
cornerstone of LP’s safety success is catching incidents at the near
miss level before someone gets hurt, taking action to prevent recurrence
at that location, and communicating broadly to other locations.
Contractor personnel are held to the same safety and health standards
as LP employees. All people entering the site are required to complete
an orientation before they enter operating areas. Contractors must
also have a valid Safe Work Permit before beginning work.
Safety is one of the main criteria we use to evaluate and qualify
contractors for work on LP sites. Some contractors are pre-qualified
through Tennessee Valley Training Center (TVTC). They must have an
Experience Modification Rate (EMR) of 0.99 or less and a Total
Recordable Rate of less than 5.0 to be considered for work, unless a
special variance has been granted by safety and operations leadership.
All approved contractors are maintained in a Web-based database managed
by TVTC, available to requisitioners at all LP locations.
In our industry, summer is normally a higher-injury period. In 2007,
LP began a special focus on summer safety dubbed 100 Days of Safety,
conducted from Memorial Day through Labor Day. It worked. As a
company, injury performance improved significantly during this period
compared to 2006, with seven fewer injuries recorded. The program has continued through 2011, with a special emphasis on hand safety,
hazard identification, and employee involvement. Each year, injury
performance has improved. In the summer of 2011, all plants in our OSB business were injury-free through the 100 days of safety period.
LP’s focus on safety doesn’t stop at the gates. Our employees are active as volunteer firemen and EMTs. And through our Community Impact Grant
program, we’ve helped improve the safety of our communities with grants
for projects like expanded emergency training facilities in Michigan,
safe bike trails for kids in Wisconsin, and a new school fire alarm
system for kindergartners in Alabama.