Safest in the Industry

COLUMBIA FALLS — There was plenty for SmartLam president and general manager Casey Malmquist to be proud of as he stood in front of his employees at the mill in the middle of the afternoon.

They’d taken a break from their shift duties creating cross-laminated timber to sit together and be recognized — by their boss, and also by the American Plywood Association — for having built the safest work environment of all companies in the industry with three or fewer member mills.

The Safest Company 2017 Award means SmartLam has the best track record for safety out of the roughly 90 eligible mills in the category, according to APA Director of Quality Services Division Steve Zylkowski.

It’s an important award, he said, because it was born out of a need to make the entire wood-products industry safer. There were already awards for the best products and services, but there needed to be a focus on the workers as well as what they built.

“Thirty-five years ago, our industry said we needed to focus on safety,” Zylkowski said during the award presentation at SmartLam last week. “It was not uncommon in a plywood mill for people to lose a finger or an arm or get crushed.”

The APA and other industry leaders created safety programs and awards to highlight the companies doing right by their workers, to call out good behavior when they saw it.

“That’s what you are— you’re a model for the rest of the industry,” Zylkowski told the SmartLam employees. “We want to celebrate the successes when they happen.”

To determine the winners, the APA Safety and Health Awards use a calculation taking into consideration the number of health and safety incidents and their severity at a mill, as well as the time lost to injury or restricted work due to incidents. SmartLam had the best record overall, and Malmquist told his employees that the award is due to their continued hard work ensuring they keep themselves and their coworkers safe.

The culture of watching out for one another at SmartLam is a big reason this award will hang on their wall, he said.

“This is a significant recognition of what you have done,” Malmquist said. “Inherently, there is a lot that can go wrong, given the size and logistics of our product, and thankfully because of all your efforts, that hasn’t happened.” Malmquist also credited Scott Blair, SmartLam’s quality control manager and safety lead, with fostering a safer environment through programs and a focus on maintaining worker wellness. It’s an investment the company believes in; healthy employees are more productive.

And productivity is more important at SmartLam than ever. The company is expanding from its 40,000-square-foot facility behind Western Building Center to a 140,000-square-foot former lumber mill, adding $15 million worth of new equipment. Malmquist said last week he expects to be in the new facility by the end of the year, with rounds of hiring after that.

SmartLam is building the new co-op in Bozeman, and is providing cross-laminated timber for the flagship McDonald’s restaurant in Chicago. The company also provided the first hardwood CLT for an award-winning public sculpture called the “Conversation Plinth” in Indiana. There are also plans to open a SmartLam plant in Maine in 2020 or 2021.

With so much happening and coming up, it’s important to stop and remember the importance of safety in the mills.

“In the new plant, there will be four to five times the production capacity, which translates to the potential for worker accidents,” Malmquist said.

Once they received the award, the SmartLam employees took a group photo, and then passed around the framed certificate. It was hoisted overhead for cheers several times, and there were certainly selfies.

Malmquist said the company rewarded its employees in 2014 for a year without accidents with a jacket and a patch noting the accomplishment. As of last week, he wasn’t sure what the reward for the employees would be this year, but he was already brainstorming. He knew they deserved the recognition for making the right choices at the right time, which ends up making everyone at SmartLam look good.

“It literally comes down to what you decide to do in that moment,” Malmquist said. “We’re extremely proud.”