The Southern Forest Products Association has announced the recipients of the John Edgar Rhodes 2023 Sawmill Safety Excellence Awards. The SFPA Safety Awards embody the impact, dedication, and legacy of the Association’s founding leader, John Edgar Rhodes.
The eight award recipients represent a record of 2,282,255 total hours worked among 987 employees – achieving safety excellence with zero reported incidents. As a side note, this follows two years in a row where seven member mills reported zero incidents.
SFPA Lumber Manufacturer members are considered for the award based on standardized information submitted using OSHA Form 300A. Awards are presented in three divisions and safety performance is judged by how each mill’s safety record stacks up against facilities with comparable lumber output throughout the year.
“In an industry where worker safety is of utmost importance, operating without any reportable incidents is a significant achievement,” said Eric Gee, SFPA’s executive director. “We are extremely proud of each of these operations and their commitment to safety excellence.”
Division One: (SFPA member mills that produce 50 million board feet or less annually)
- Almond Brothers Lumber Co. – Coushatta, LA
- McShan Lumber Co. – McShan, AL
- Swift Lumber – Atmore, AL
Division Two: (SFPA member facilities that produce 51 to 150 million board feet annually)
- West Fraser – Fitzgerald, GA
- West Fraser – Lake Butler, FL
- West Fraser – Blackshear, GA
- West Fraser – Mansfield, AR
Division Three: (SFPA member mills that produce more than 150 million board feet annually)
- LaSalle Lumber Co. – Urania, LA
About John Edgar Rhodes
Having a successful career in the forest and paper industry, Rhodes was chosen to lead the Southern Pine lumber industry. Before joining SFPA, Rhodes was a personal secretary to Frederick Weyerhaeuser and was well-versed in forest management, newsprint production, and lumber manufacturing. A well-respected and celebrated leader of the early forest products industry, Rhodes served as SFPA’s founding secretary-manager from 1915 until his untimely death in 1923. Under Rhodes’ leadership, the Association grew into the model trade association in American industry. He was a champion for the forest products industry – advocating for proactive forest resource management and standardized grading rules