Celebrating Safety at Sappi's Cloquet Operations

Safety We have established a global goal of zero workplace incidents consistent with “Project Zero” and our overall safety program. In 2016 the Lost Time Incident Frequency Rate (LTIFR) was 0.69, which is higher than our 2014 benchmark. Unfortunately, multiple incidents have occurred at both the Westbrook and Somerset mills. The Technology Center, Boston office and South Portland office, however, all had zero LTIFR, and the Cloquet Mill continues to demonstrate outstanding performance, ending the year with an LTIFR of 0.13. Cloquet employees surpassed One Million Work Hours Without a Lost Time Injury twice in the fiscal year.

A redoubled focus on increasing awareness through daily safety communications is ongoing. Critical safe behaviors have been defined with front-line leaders providing observations and corrective feedback. At Somerset, union and management leadership are meeting regularly and working collaboratively to drive safety improvements. We have revisited our Cardinal Safety Rules and emphasized incident reporting and early treatment with the objective of severity reduction. Regular meetings are taking place with involvement of senior mill leadership across each area of operations. In addition, the new employee safety orientation has been streamlined and updated to include the SafeStart skill building program for all employees.