Rayonier 2022 Sustainability Report: Safety

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 21, 2024 / Rayonier

Safety is a way of life at Rayonier and one of the cornerstones of our culture. It is embedded within every action we take and guided by a fundamental respect for people.

Originally published on Rayonier.com

Our Senior Leadership Team and Board reinforce the importance of maintaining a strong safety culture. Our guiding principle is that all of our employees and contractors should return home safely each day. We believe that nearly all accidents are preventable, and we encourage our employees and contractors to challenge unsafe behavior with a zero-tolerance mindset. We take steps to help our employees feel comfortable raising any safety-related concerns, and we do not tolerate retaliation against teammates or contractors who report suspected violations. Leadership of our U.S. safety program resides with the Director of Health & Safety, who reports directly to the Executive Vice President & Chief Resource Officer. Leadership of our New Zealand safety program resides with the Director of Health & Safety, who reports directly to the Managing Director, Rayonier Matariki Forests.

NEW ZEALAND

In New Zealand, workplace safety is regulated by the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and our comprehensive safety management program includes both employees and contractors pursuant to local laws. We are proud to have 100% of our eligible New Zealand contractors Safetree certified by the New Zealand Forest Industry Safety Council (FISC). In 2022, we focused on reinforcing the "start when certain" approach; health and safety systems, processes, and technology; and improving the driving experience for log truck drivers.

"Start when certain" approach

In 2022, we created a Health & Safety Advisor position and appointed an existing employee with the requisite skills. The new role is primarily focused on contractor and operations facing activities. With this resource in place, we began a series of critical risk activity reviews. Through the team's collaboration with our contractors, we have released an updated repair and maintenance safe system of work manual and are reviewing our tree felling safe work requirements. These initiatives continue to reinforce our "start when certain" approach to safe work practices.