AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. - The Composite Panel Association announced several industry innovation awards at its annual spring meeting, held April 7-10 at Amelia Island, Florida.

Annual Safety Awards were given to participating manufacturing plants with exemplary safety records, including acknowledgments for long-term, annual, safety improvement, and safety achievement. For each award, plants were categorized by low worker hours (Class I) and high worker hours (Class II).

• Arauco North America, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (Class I), and Arauco North America, Albany, Oregon (Class II), were awarded for the best long-term safety record over the past three years.
• The annual safety awards for facilities having the lowest incident rate in their class for 2023 were awarded to Plummer Forest Products, Post Falls, Idaho, Arauco North America, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and St. Stephen, New Brunswick, for Class I plants, and Arauco North America, Albany, Oregon, and Bennettsville, South Carolina, for Class II plants.
• The two plants recognized for safety improvement were Florida Plywoods, Inc., Greenville, Florida (Class I), and Arauco North America, Albany, Oregon (Class II).
• Four plants were recognized for achieving an incident rate of less than 50 percent of the industry average over the past three years. Class I plants were Roseburg, El Dorado, Arkansas, and Arauco North America St. Stephen, New Brunswick. The Class II plants were Arauco North America, Bennettsville, South Carolina, and Grayling, Michigan.

Safety Innovation Award
Weyerhaeuser’s Columbia Falls plant received the Safety Innovation Award for implementing the “Installation of Proximity Alert Warning System (PAWS).” The Innovation Award recognizes a mill that has instituted a new policy, process, or technology, making it a safer workplace. PAWS accomplished this by ensuring individuals and rolling stock operators maintain a safe distance of at least 10 feet from each other. 

Inaugural Industry Innovation Award
Winner of the CPA's inaugural Industry Innovation Award is Ahlstrom for its sustainable paper-based balancing foil product that provides a moisture vapor barrier incorporating anti-mold and anti-fungi properties. Developed by the Decorative Surfaces Council (DSC), the awards program recognizes significant and creative advances in technology, product development, and service solutions in the North American composite panel industry.

During the meeting, the CPA also recognized Eddie McMillian as the 2023 Brock R. Landry Industry Leadership Award recipient. The Landry Award is given annually to an industry leader in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the composite panel industry. 

Founded in 1960, the Composite Panel Association (CPA) represents the North American composite panel and decorative surfacing industries on technical standards, industry regulation, and product acceptance. CPA General Members include the leading manufacturers of particleboard, medium density fiberboard (MDF), hardboard and engineered wood siding and trim in North America, representing more than 92% of industry manufacturing capacity in the United States, Canada and Mexico. For information, visit CompositePanel.org.