Terrace Bay Public Library Digital Collections

Terrace Bay News, 28 Mar 1957, p. 2

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PAGE TWO LongLac Pulp and Paper Company at Terrace Bay has just been presented with a major safety award. The presentation was made in Toronto on March 25th. The occasion was the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Ontario Pulp and Paper Makers' Safety Association. The award went to the Terrace Bay mill as winner of the Ontario-wide Accident Prevention Competition for 1956 among Class "A" pulp and paper mills (those working more than 50,000 man hours per month). Presentation of the trophy was made to LongLac's Mill Manager, J. C. Wig by George L. Carruthers, Presi- dent of the Ontario Pulp and Paper Makers' Safety Association, sponsors of the contest. Mr. Carruthers is President and General Manager of the Interlake Tissue Mills Company, Merriton, Ontario. Since its start-up in November, 1948, the LongLac mill at Terrace Bay has had a consistently good safety record. In 1949 a key union executive in the industry wired: "To-day is the anniversary of the signing of the first labour agreement at Terrace Bay... I particularly wish to compliment all concerned on the wonderful safety record accomplished during that period which is unparalleled in the history of the pulp and paper industry for the first year of operations..." That year the mill placed 7th in the Ontario com- petition. In six intervening years prior to placing Ist in the 1956 competition, LongLac finished fourth once, third once and second four times. But during that period the mill has received more than a dozen awards in other safety competitions. Included in that total are certifi- cates of merit and achievement from the American Paper and Pulp Association, Ontario Pulp and Paper Makers' Safety Association and National Safety Council. Of six National Safety Council awards received, two were the Council's second highest form of industry recognition, the 'Award of Merit'. One of these awards cited the LongLac operation for working more than a million man hours without a single lost-time injury. Since start-up in 1948 the Terrace Bay mill has chalked up nearly 11 million man hours with an aver- age of less than five lost-time injuries for every million man-hours worked. During the past five years, the mill has operated with less than three lost-time injuries per million man-hours. Such a safety record would be an outstanding achievement for any industrial operation. From the outset, the basic theme of mill operation has been 'Quality Production with Safety'. (This theme, coined at Terrace Bay is now used by numerous corporations and safety organizations in Canada and the United States.) It has been a valuable key to acci- dent prevention activity . . . a philosophy by which to operate. To implement that philosophy it was determined early that accident prevention activity should be a function of the line organization, stemming from the Mill Manager through superintendents and foremen in the same manner as any other management function. Various committees assist in the promotion of Safety. Key committee, mill-wide in scope, is chaired by the Mill Manager, J. C. Wig. When asked to comment on the most important factors in LongLac's safety pro- gram, Mr. Wig cited a number of things. "The most important factor," he said, "is the philo- sophy of top Kimberly-Clark management toward safety." (The LongLac mill is a totally owned subsi- diary of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah, Wiscon- sin.) "Every management man in the Corporation knows that a poor safety record can get him into more hot water than just about any other thing. Conse- quently, accidents are of as much concern as a 'down day' in the mill." Mr. Wig also paid tribute to his predecessor, D. C. Porter (former LongLac Mill Manager, now Mill Mana- ger at a Kimberly-Clark affiliate, Coosa River News- print Company). Under Mr. Porter's leadership, the LongLac organization built a sound accident preven- tion program. It was his cherished hope that some day the mill would win the Ontario contest and become "the bride" rather than "the bridesmaid" it had been by placing second four times during his seven years tenure as Mill Manager. "Another very important factor" said Mr. Wig "is the excellent support given to our safety program by the three Labour Unions at Terrace Bay. Without such support," he said, "the task of preserving life and limb in our mill would be much more difficult." Not content with present laurels, the people at Ter- race Bay have set a new target for 1957: 'The Safest Mill in Canada'. It's an enviable goal, one which will tax the ability of everybody on the LongLac payroll to work without injury to themselves or their fellow- workmen. At Terrace Bay mill, 'Safety is Everybody's Business".

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