MeadWestVaco’s Ontario Facility Receives Top Honors for Safety Performance

ATLANTA—MeadWestvaco Packaging Systems’ Ajax, Ontario, converting facility was recently honored for its outstanding safety performance by the Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC). Earning the PPC’s Chairman’s Safety Award, the Ajax facility, which is part of MeadWestvaco’s North American converting operations, was singled out for its commitment to safety excellence at the PPC’s annual awards banquet held this past March in Atlanta, Georgia.

MeadWestvaco’s Ajax facility was presented with the PPC’s Chairmanâ’s Safety Award for logging 747,610 hours without an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable incident. This award is given annually to the North American facility that works the most hours without an OSHA recordable incident and is based on the information compiled during the PPC’s annual Boxscore program, a statistical monthly safety program in which members’ North American folding carton manufacturing plants are grouped according to man-hours and OSHA incidents rates. Participating plants submit data, which is compiled and published, allowing participants to view local safety performance in comparison with other folding carton plants.

“MeadWestvaco takes safety very seriously and its Ajax facility is leading the industry with more than 20 months without an OSHA recordable incident,”€said James Brown, director of Business Services, Paperboard Packaging Council. “It is a tremendous honor to present the company with the Chairman’s Safety Award and recognize MeadWestvaco’s excellence performance and commitment to safety.”

Since winning the award, MeadWestvaco’s Ajax facility has continued its outstanding safety performance and is currently logging 1.3 million hours without an OSHA recordable incident. “Over the past several years, we have implemented selective safety programs in order to eliminate injuries in our facilities and ensure our employees return home to their families safely each evening,”€ said Jim Roughton, manager, Safety, Health and Environment, MeadWestvaco Packaging Systems. “Our Ajax facility is a shining example of how a well-focused safety program works and we are all very proud of this performance.”€

MeadWestvaco began implementing a safety excellence program in the late 1990s which contained a strong management systems approach. Since implementing this program the company has seen a tremendous difference in the attitudes and performance of employees embracing these concepts. The company takes safety extremely seriously and requires workers to attend daily, weekly and monthly meetings that highlight various procedures and safety drills. In addition, employees are encouraged to observe one another and provide feedback on unsafe behaviors. This observation exercise reinforces safety messages and allows employees to better understand how to safely complete tasks.

MeadWestvaco also credits its safety performance to capturing and understanding incidents. “It is important for everyone in our organization to know why and how an incident occurs,”€ said Roughton. “We encourage our employees to report hazards so that management can take preventative actions. In this way, we can learn from less serious situations and change our behaviors or work processes so that an injury does not occur. Our employees are a valuable resource and we maintain a work environment that supports safety and encourages communication.”