Resolute is committed to providing our employees and contractors with a healthy and safe work environment. We link safety to every part of our business by maintaining world-class standards and continuously measuring and improving our performance. Here are some health and safety highlights in our 2021 sustainability reporting.
Resolute employees continued to record excellent health and safety performance in 2021, with 27 of our facilities operating without a single recordable injury. In August, our Menominee (Michigan) pulp mill employees celebrated 1,750,000 hours injury-free – an achievement that extends over nine years. The Alma (Quebec) paper mill reached 1,250,000 hours injury-free in April and then 1,500,000 hours in September; in May, the Saint-Thomas (Quebec) sawmill completed 1,500,000 hours without an injury; and our Côte-Nord (Quebec) woodlands operations attained the 1 million hour mark in August.
Our Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) incident rate for 2021 was 0.47, significantly lower than our 2020 rate of 0.62. Our severity rate, indicating the number of workdays lost or restricted due to injury per 100 full-time employees, was 21.6, compared to 16.8 in 2020.
Through the Board of Directors Safety Award Program, employees donated $241,000 to charitable and community organizations of their choosing in 2021, bringing the total donated since the program’s inception in 2010 to approximately $2.5 million.
In 2021, Resolute launched a program to reward our operations when they attain a COVID-19 vaccination rate (two doses) of at least 75%. Upon reaching the 75% target, sites with 249 or fewer employees receive $5,000 for a donation to a community organization chosen by employees, while sites with 250 or more employees receive $10,000 to donate. The program aims to encourage employees to take part in local vaccination campaigns, as well as to support charitable organizations in our operating communities. Employees have donated a total of $140,000 through this program.
We will continue to work diligently to reduce the severity of injuries and to enhance our health and safety culture through leadership and individual accountability. Our ultimate goal – zero workplace incident and zero injury.
We invite you to learn more by visiting our safety performance page on Resolute’s corporate website.
