Richard Froese
South Peace News
Mercer Peace River Pulp Ltd. is thrilled to announce it has reached a remarkable safety milestone.
The company achieved a 12-month Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) on Nov. 30, states a Mercer news release dated Dec. 17.
It is a key metric that measures the frequency of workplace recordable injuries that require medical attention beyond first-aid.
A lower TRIR indicates a safer workplace.
Managing director Roger Ashfield says all staff has contributed the milestone.
“This achievement is a testament to the hard work, dedication and commitment of the entire MPR team,” Ashfield says.
“Reaching a Rolling TRIR of 0.0 is a significant accomplishment and a testament to ongoing efforts to create an outstanding safety culture.”
The Mission ZERO safety program was introduced two years ago. At that time, MPR’s TRIR was 7.18.
Through the program, Mercer set a goal of zero harm to its workers and to ensure everyone was injury-free on the job.
“Although an ambitious goal, the team has worked incredibly hard to achieve it,” Ashfield says.
Several factors have contributed to the company’s success in achieving the milestone.
Mercer leadership team has consistently championed safety as a core value.
To facilitate their growth, coaching was provided to drive safety improvements and keep safety as a top priority.
Leaders are more present on the floor, have more conversations about safety and have focused on prevention.
Mercer transferred its focus from lagging indicators to leading indicators. In this case, the leading indicators would be safety recognition, hazard identification, Safe Work plans, worksite inspections, Safe Work and Hot Work permits, morning toolbox talks, team member and leader interactions, to name a few.
Mercer is a subsidiary of Mercer International. It is a diversified global producer of forest products, bioproducts and green electricity with operations in Canada, the United States of America, Germany and Australia.
Mercer manages about 2.7 million hectares of forest, which supplies the majority of it annual fibre requirements. Located in the boreal forest region of northern Alberta, Mercer produces both high-quality softwood and hardwood pulp.
Mercer is proud of its efforts toward fully utilizing all its biomass materials and sustainable forest management practices.