THUNDER BAY - The most important thing for staff and managers at the Resolute Forest Products sawmill is making sure every worker goes home safely at the end of the day and that dedication to safety is once again benefiting local children and families in the community.
Resolute Forest Products is celebrating 250,000 hours without a health and safety incident at its sawmill on Fort William First Nation.
“For the corporation, right from our board of directors right to everyone who works for the company, this is our number one priority, that everyone goes home safe every day,” said Michael Martel, vice president of operations with Resolute Forest Products.
To celebrate the milestone, Resolute donated $5,000 to the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre.
“It feels really exciting for the children and families who are going to benefit from this,” said Steve MacDonald, executive director with the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre. “We are working very diligently at the charity right now to raise funds to increase accessibility to the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre, so this gift is going to be a big boost to that effort.”
Martel said the charity is voted upon by the 225 employees at the sawmill and for the second year in a row, they chose the Children’s Centre.
“Children are very important to them,” he said. “Multiple times we have chosen this charity and we feel that taking care of youth in our community is very important.”
“When I joined the foundation last year, I learned all about the great safety record and how meaningful it is to support a local charity and for them to support the children and families of George Jeffrey once again is quite amazing and we are really thrilled and most importantly really grateful,” MacDonald added.
Health and safety incidents are defined as injuries to workers requiring medical attention. Last November, a boiler system feeding the kilns caught fire, but the fire was quickly contained and there were no reports of injuries.
