LP named safest in national magazine

    NEW YORK — Penton Media’s “Occupational Hazards,” the magazine of safety, health and loss prevention, has named 10 companies to its 2007 “America’s Safest Companies” list. This year’s honorees include Louisiana-Pacific Corp., the company which operates a mill in New Limerick.
    The awards were presented at a special reception in Chicago on October 15. Established in 2002, the award program recognizes companies that have demonstrated outstanding multi-level safety efforts throughout their organizations. Each of the winning organizations was evaluated on a variety of criteria that included support from management and employee involvement; innovative solutions to safety challenges; injury and illness rates lower than the average for their industries; comprehensive training programs;  incident prevention; effective communication on the value of safety; and substantiation of  the benefits of the safety process.
    “Some companies still believe that on-the-job injuries and illnesses are a cost of doing business. Our honorees see things quite differently,” said Stephen G. Minter, editorial director and publisher of the magazine. “They understand that work-related injuries and fatalities are a cost – in human and financial terms – that no company should expect to incur. That’s why they apply their management skills, ingenuity and resources to ensuring that their employees are safe, on and off the job.”
     “The safety message is clear and part of our culture: No one should get hurt while working at Louisiana-Pacific Corp.,” said Keith Harned, corporate health and safety director at the company.