Louisiana- Pacific Corp. is the first recipient of Lowe''s Home Safety Council award for a work and home safety campaign that not only includes corporate employees but also their family members.
Louisiana-Pacific developed a program in five of its 63 manufacturing plants targeting employees and family members through a year-long home safety education program.
The program focused on four major home safety topics: child safety, disaster preparedness, fire prevention and fall prevention.
"Our objective was to take worker safety one step further and educate our employees about home safety," said Jim Lake, operations manager for the north central region of Louisiana-Pacific. "A total of 960 parents and children attended our home safety events."
"Although we can''t make a direct link between our home and work safety programs, we know that the five mills that participated in this program had the best work safety records in their history from January- June 2001, and they have the lowest total OSHA incident rate (1.45) of all oriented strand board (OSB) regions in the company," added Lake.
Other highlights of Louisiana-Pacific''s award-winning home safety program included:
- A home safety manual
- Five home safety events held at each of the participating plants
- Development of a family emergency escape plan
- A home safety calendar
- A child safety poster contest
- Creation of a corporate family video which focused on workplace and home safety
"By holding the events during the evenings and weekends, nearly all our staff and their families were able to participate in the program," said Lake.
"Each family attending the event developed a home emergency escape plan and was encouraged to practice it when they went home."
By continually communicating with the employees throughout a 12-month period, Louisiana-Pacific reinforced important home safety messages and successfully instructed hundreds of families on proper home safety messages.
The five LP plants participating in the safety program include: Hayward, Wis.; Dawson Creek, British Columbia; Minitonas (Swan Valley), Manitoba; Montrose, Colo.; and Sagola, Mich.
The Salute to Home Safety Excellence award will be presented annually to a home industry supplier who displays leadership in home safety by conducting an educational program targeted to either employees or consumers.
The award is designed to recognize and honor the many home safety initiatives companies in the home improvement industry conduct.
In 1999, the number of disabling injuries in the home was nearly twice that of the work place and off-the-job injuries cost the nation an estimated $36.8 billion.
To decrease the number of home injuries and increase safety in the home, Lowe''s Home Safety Council created the Salute to Home Safety Excellence award to encourage manufacturers and suppliers in the home improvement industry to develop home safety education programs for their workers or the general public.
"Our goal is to recognize companies who get involved by spreading home safety messages and ultimately creating safer American homes," said Dale Pond, chairman of Lowe''s Home Safety Council and Lowe''s Cos. executive vice president, merchandising/marketing. "We hope that Louisiana-Pacific is the first of a long line of companies who implement innovative home safety programs for their employees and the community."
by Virginia Foran