Voyageur Panel recognized for its safe workplace

Ken Johnston
Editor

Mike Lowes is pretty proud of the honour bestowed upon Voyageur Panel on the Ontario Forestry Safe Workplace Association.
Lowes, the safety coordinator at the plant, said that they strive to provide as safe a workplace as possible at Voyageur Panel and the OFSWA award is just icing on the the cake.
The awards were created by OFSWA to recognize significant efforts by member firms to improve health and safety for their employees.
Traditionally the awards were based on the number of accident free hours an operation had. However, the criteria for the awards has changed. Now they are based on a company, “Showing significant improvements in the internal training they are doing, their best practises and their active involvement in health and safety activities,” said OFSWA CEO Cecil Demers.
Voyageur Panel joined a group of 20 other firms recognized for their efforts in providing a safe working environment.
The award selection process was based on evaluations of each firm’s health and safety meetings, training programs, workplace inspections, safe operating procedures, injury/incident investigation, emergency plan, legislative compliance, worker training, orientation and monitoring, initiatives in health and safety and improvements in total injuries.
The award was based on performance by Voyageur Panel during 2001.