Enhancing safety on forestry roads: Millar Western launches campaign for winter log-haul season.
pdf/woodlands-forestroadsafety-printad-2006.pdf CAUTION ADVISED ON FORESTRY ROADS
Whitecourt, Alberta-As Millar Western gears up for its winter log-hauling season, it is advising the public to use extreme caution on forestry roads, urging users to remember the three “S’s” of road safety: be seen, by driving with your lights on; slow down, to navigate changeable road conditions; and, if stopping, pull well off to the side of the road.
This winter, more than 50 log trucks will be transporting approximately one million m3 of timber from harvesting sites located near the communities of Fort Assiniboine, Fox Creek, Swan Hills and Whitecourt, to Millar Western’s manufacturing facilities in Whitecourt. Recognizing these arteries are used for multiple purposes, Millar Western is launching a public education campaign, including radio and newspaper advertisements, to promote safe usage of area roads.
“Our professional log-truck drivers have an extremely difficult job, hauling heavy loads on narrow roads, in often challenging conditions,” said Darin Leadley, Whitecourt Wood Products’ Logging Production Coordinator. “These rigs have a longer stopping distance than passenger vehicles, meaning truckers can’t react as quickly to obstacles put in their way. We are asking all road users to exercise care, for their own safety and for that of our drivers.”
Shelley MacLean, the Environmental and Safety Coordinator for the company’s Whitecourt Woodlands group, said that safety is the number one measure of success in Millar Western’s winter log-haul program, adding that the company uses safety performance as a key measure when awarding log-haul contracts. All log-truck drivers attend a safety orientation and must meet the company’s rigorous safety standards, as a condition of continued employment.
“If everyone abides by the three “S’s” – be seen, slow down, and pull to the side – we will achieve our objective of an incident-free log haul season,” said MacLean.
For more information, contact:
Louise Riopel
Corporate Communications
(780) 486-8270
Shelley MacLean, RPF
Environmental and Safety Coordinator
(780) 778-2221, ext. 2149