Forklift Driving Course

Ben Young will be conducting the driving course for forklift training Thursday and Friday (December 23^rd and 24^th) at 11:00 AM. Please meet in the shipping department.

Thanks,

Don

Shutdown on 12/21

We are having a shutdown tomorrow morning. The machine will take stock off at 3:00 AM (12/21). They plan to run their chests down, so they will likely stop taking stock around 2:00 AM.

We need to get into the finished stock chest tomorrow, so plan to have the chest pulled all the way down by 2:00 AM. Once the tissue mill stops taking stock, flush out the finished stock line and shut down the finished stock pump.

Open the dump valve on the finished stock chest and begin to drain the stock out of the chest. You may wash the chest from outside the man way or from the platform on top. You MAY NOT enter the chest until I arrive in the morning. Once I arrive I will work with the crew leader and electricians to lock the chest out and ready it for maintenance to enter to work on the agitators. Once the chest is clean begin to wash down the rest of the mill and tidy up.

The cleaner feed chest needs to be at least 80% full as does the dump chest. Once the work in the finished stock chest is done we will button it up and begin filling it again.

If you have any questions tonight please call me.

Thanks,

Don B.

Reminder Regarding Furnish Warehouse Safety Policy

I want to remind everyone about the new safety policy regarding pedestrians and fork trucks in the furnish warehouse. The policy is:

1)      Pedestrians may NOT walk through the furnish warehouse simply to go to or from receiving. All pedestrian through traffic must walk AROUND the outside of the building. (This part of the policy may be relaxed at the discretion of management if the need arises. For example if an item cannot be wet and must be moved by hand from receiving then management may choose to allow through traffic in the furnish warehouse.)

2)      If a pedestrian must enter the furnish warehouse in the course of performing a job related task, the following steps MUST be taken:

a.       The pedestrian must inform the pulp mill Crew Leader that they need to enter the warehouse

b.      The Crew Leader must then have all of the pulp mill fork trucks parked and shut off

c.       The Crew Leader must call the receiving department and have them park and shut off their fork trucks

d.      The pedestrian must wear a high visibility safety vest the entire time they are in the furnish warehouse (in addition to standard required PPE)

3)      If work taking longer than 15 minutes must be performed in the furnish warehouse, a member of management must be involved with planning a way to perform the work safely while allowing production activities to continue in the furnish warehouse. This could involve the use of safety tape or some other form of barrier to segregate the work area from the fork truck traffic or some other means of keeping the work area isolated.

4)      Once work is complete and all pedestrians have left the furnish warehouse any barriers or other safety precautions taken should be removed and the Crew Leader notified that the warehouse is clear. The Crew Leader will then inform the receiving department that they may resume normal activities in the furnish warehouse.

5)      The only exception to this policy is during monthly inventory. At that time a member of management will notify all affected employees of the inventory and steps will be taken to optimize safety during the inventory process.

This policy is very clear and very simple.

If ANYONE sees someone about to enter the warehouse on foot without proper PPE or without notifying the Crew Leader, STOP THEM!

If ANYONE sees a fork truck about to enter the furnish warehouse when people are walking in it, STOP THEM!

No one is to violate this policy for any reason. Fork truck traffic and pedestrian traffic should be kept separate if at all possible. It is the responsibility of EVERYONE to both follow our safety policies as well as ENFORCE them. Safety is everyone’s responsibility!

If anyone has questions regarding this policy please contact me. Violators of this policy WILL be written up! No Warnings!

Don B.

Fork Truck Training Next Wednesday 12/22

We will be conducting fork truck training on Wednesday, December 22^nd at 10:00 AM in the Admin Building Conference Room. The following employees are required to attend if they do not have a current AST fork truck license with at least 6 months left before it expires.

·         Kevin Goeddel

·         Delvis Roper

·         Willie Cunningham

·         Sammy Maroney

·         Susan Holman

·         Everette Davis

We will be holding other classes over the next few months until everyone who needs a license has one.

Remember that you cannot operate a fork truck without a current AST fork truck license! If you are caught doing so you will face disciplinary action.

If you have any questions about this training please let me know.

Don B.

Remember to stop and think about safety before you begin any task!

December Wastewater Operator Meeting

Our next wastewater operator meeting will be on Thursday, December 16^th at 7:00 AM in the Admin Building Conference Room.

Topics of discussion include

·        New pulp mill warehouse safety policy

·        Developing a culture of safety in the pulp mill

·        Implementation of SOP’s for all jobs or tasks in the pulp mill

·        Implementation of pulp mill training program

o   Sign offs on all tasks

o   Job qualification sign offs

·        Water testing frequency and logging

·        Totalizer data collection and logging

·        Continuing to keep the water plant clean and orderly

As always we will discuss any topics that are on your minds as well.

Don B.

 

December Crew Leader Meeting

Our next crew leader meeting will be held on Thursday, December 9^th at 7:00 AM in the Admin Building Conference Room.

Topics of discussion will include:

·        New pulp mill warehouse safety policy

·        Developing a culture of safety in the pulp mill

·        Furnish cost reduction efforts

o   Brightness target

o   Operating the guillotine around the clock

·        Implementation of SOP’s for all jobs or tasks in the pulp mill

·        Implementation of pulp mill training program

o   Sign offs on all tasks

o   Job qualification sign offs

·        Continuing to keep the mill clean and orderly

As always we will discuss any additional topics that are on your minds as well.

Don B.

 

New Pulp Mill Warehosue Safety Rules

A new policy is now in place to cut down on foot traffic through the pulp mill warehouse. High visibility vests will be issued to crews as they come on duty. If you have questions regarding this policy please ask.

 

To improve the overall safety in the pulp mill it has been decided that pedestrian through traffic in the wastepaper warehouse will no longer be allowed. Anyone who needs to walk to or from receiving must now walk around the outside of the building.

If someone needs to enter the wastepaper warehouse on foot to perform work or inspect wastepaper, they must notify the pulp mill crew leader and the receiving personnel. While the pedestrian is in the warehouse, all mobile equipment traffic in the wastepaper warehouse will stop. Once the pedestrian has left the warehouse, they must contact the pulp mill crew leader and the receiving department and let them know it is safe to resume operations.

In the case of extended pedestrian presence in the warehouse, accommodations might need to be made so that production is not hindered. All accommodations must be approved by a member of management! Without approval, truck traffic must stop in the wastepaper warehouse when pedestrians are present. During inventory, trucks and pedestrians will be permitted to be in the warehouse at the same time.

The area we will define as the wastepaper warehouse is the area of the warehouse between a line drawn between the first column of bay 13 to the first column of bay 14 and a line drawn between the receiving bay door nearest to the pulp mill and to the bay directly across from this door.

Red lines will be painted on the floor and the columns defining the wastepaper warehouse will be marked appropriately.

All receiving and pulp mill employees are now required to wear high visibility vests at all times. Anyone who enters the wastepaper warehouse will also wear a high visibility vest.

Anyone operating a fork truck should remember to use the horn at any intersections or any areas where pedestrians might step out into the roadway. The horn must also be used prior to backing the truck up.

 

Thanks,

 

Don B.

Information Sharing

You may pick up your check stub from me during normal business hours.

If you do not have a locker yet, please be sure you come sign up for one when you are on days again. If you do not want a locker please come sign the form stating that you do not want a locker.

If you have a locker and would like to grant me permission to place your check stub in your locker each week, see me to sign up.

If you need safety gear for slabbing rolls or splitting rolls on the guillotine please be sure to let me know. If you leave me a note in my box I can get the supplies to you. We need to be cutting as much broke and rolls as possible on night shift. Using the guillotine to split rolls greatly reduces our furnish cost, and I expect every crew on nights to begin running the guillotine throughout the night. With four people on every crew now I believe there is no reason we cannot accomplish just as much work on night shift as we do on day shift.

We had a very good month in November. We produced 2720 tons of A quality paper, our yielded cost was under budget at $412 per ton, and we accomplished all of these things safely! This is an outstanding achievement and in my opinion a sign of things to come. I believe we are all setting a new standard for excellence in this facility, and I expect to see us continue to improve in all aspects of production, cost, and most importantly safety. If you have any ideas or observations that you feel may improve any part of our operation, please do not hesitate to share it with someone in management. My door is always open to you.

I will be putting out some new safety rules regarding pedestrian traffic in the wastepaper warehouse. I will distribute these guidelines to each crew as well as speak to each crew regarding the policies.

I will also be requiring face shields for anyone cutting or chopping wire with the wire chopper. The shields have been ordered and will be distributed as soon as they arrive.

Thank you all for your hard work!

Don B.

Remember Our Keys to Success: SAFETY, QUALITY, COST!