A log truck heads to our Raymond mill. “A lot of people here grew up together, and some are related, so our dedication to safety really comes down to caring about each other,” Spencer says.
Caring about the safety of your peers becomes even more personal when you spend time together outside of work and know the names of each other’s children. That kind of tight-knit community feeling is especially common in rural towns like Raymond, Washington, where our sawmill employs a significant percentage of the local population.
“Relationship building is a main pillar of our safety strategy,” says Spencer Headley, mill manager. “It starts on the mill floor, with lots of interactions between leaders and hourly employees, and it’s deepened by the many connections we all share within our community.”
Spencer says the trust built by these relationships is key to both the mill’s recent safety performance and its 95 percent safety engagement rate. In fact, the team’s dedication to creating safer conditions for all employees earned the mill a 2023 Wood Products Award for Safety.
The same attitude also inspires the mill’s extraordinary involvement with the town of Raymond, which includes fundraising, volunteering, mentoring and more. On July 16, we announced Raymond as our second THRIVE community to significantly boost these efforts. Over the next few years, the company will invest $1 million in local initiatives identified by community members.
“I found out last week and it was the hardest secret I’ve had to keep in a really long time,” Raymond mayor Dee Roberts said during a July 17 community celebration of the THRIVE designation. “Weyerhaeuser has been here for so many years and has weathered many storms, but they continue to stay, they continue to invest in our community. I know it hasn’t always been easy. They’ve survived a couple strikes, they’ve survived COVID, but they’re still here and they still care about our community, and that’s what’s important for us to recognize. I know that they raised my family. They raised my husband’s family. And that says a lot, and I know that they’re raising all of your families out there, too. Again, thank you to Weyerhaeuser. Thanks for looking at Raymond and realizing we’re worth that million dollars.”
A drone view of our Raymond mill. Members of the safety lead team represent many areas of the mill, including filing, shipping, electricians, machinists, millwrights, technicians and representatives from both the sawmill and planer production teams.
PROUD TO LIVE AND WORK IN RAYMOND
Our THRIVE program provides targeted support to five of our rural operating communities. Last November, we selected Zwolle, Louisiana, as the first beneficiary, and the company is working closely with civic leaders and community members to develop plans customized to local needs.
“We want our employees to be proud of where they work, and we want the people of Raymond to be proud that Weyerhaeuser plays such a significant role here,” Spencer says. “That’s been a big motivation for our year-over-year progress in the culture and conditions at the mill.”
Ken Russell, an electrician and a third-generation Weyerhaeuser employee, has been with the company long enough to gain an overarching view of that progress. Since he first joined Weyerhaeuser more than 30 years ago, the mill’s safety evolution has led to dramatically fewer incidents and near misses. Just in the last five years, Raymond went from being a safety focus site to a safety leader.
“Nothing is more important than going home safe, and we’ve changed so many aspects of our daily operations to achieve that,” Ken says. “It’s not just about physical safety improvements, it’s about working together as a team and making sure everyone feels comfortable coming forward with concerns.”
Raymond mayor Dee Roberts makes remarks during the July 17 celebration of Raymond's selection as our second THRIVE community. Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz listens at right.
OPENING LINES OF COMMUNICATION
Early in his career, Ken was elected the chairman of the union-led safety committee, and he’s been deeply involved in safety at the mill ever since. He’s now a member of the cross-functional safety lead team, which has 20 members from nearly every department and station at the mill. These members act as safety liaisons between their peers and site leaders, and they meet regularly to discuss potential improvements.
“Once you get the buy-in from our hourly folks, they grab a hold of the safety projects in their departments and they don’t let go,” Ken says. “The projects affect them personally, and they take pride in the results.”
Spencer and other site leaders are present on the floor every day, engaging in hands-on interactions. They emphasize that safety always comes first, even if it means temporarily slowing down or stopping work. Safety one-on-ones, casual toolbox talks and leadership safety walks make it easier to identify hazards as a site-wide team.
“Our leaders make it clear that they’re invested in us, our growth and well-being,” says Josh Gamage, a journey machinist. “I feel confident that my participation matters and that what I bring to the table has value.”
Spencer Headley, Raymond mill manager; Mayor Roberts; Katie Hooker, corporate giving manager; Chrissy Doyle, Raymond safety manager; and Nancy Thompson, senior director of Advocacy & Philanthropy, at the July 17 celebration.
FROM SMALL CHANGES TO COMPLEX PROJECTS
Over the last year, Raymond successfully completed a number of safety efforts, including a curve saw modernization project, several improvements in machine guarding, safer access to log yard equipment, and electrical safety training to protect against arc flash, a sudden explosion or electrical discharge.
“We’ve had big capital projects, like spending $100,000 on handrails and guarding to keep folks out of our log processing area, and small changes, like replacing fragile bolts on anvils with more durable shear bolts,” says Christina “Chrissy” Doyle, safety manager for the site.
Thorough, in-depth training on standard operating procedures and ready access to documentation improves safety compliance. Everyone is encouraged to ask lots of questions and take the time to read through safety documents if they feel fuzzy on any processes.
Some members of our Raymond team gather for a photo during the July 17 celebration.
GETTING SAFER EVERY DAY
Raymond leaders have a five-year plan to continue upgrading the mill and improving its safety. That includes a new continuous-drying kiln project, which will replace aged and dated equipment with state-of-the-art technology.
“As safety manager, I have all the resources I need, and I feel empowered by upper management to take bold actions that lead to tangible improvements,” Chrissy says. “Our goal is for everyone at the mill to feel that same support, and I believe they do.”
Thanks to the THRIVE investment, all citizens of Raymond will feel that support, too.
“I work in every corner of the state,” Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said at the July 17 celebration. “And I see something that we have got to fix, which is that we have rural communities that are the producers of our food, our water, our wood and our energy. And we have urban consumers. And those two have not been more divided in my entire lifetime. The sooner we bring them together to realize our urban communities are absolutely dependent on our rural communities and vice versa, we will actually be a far better society, a far better humanity… This goes a long way to actually doing that kind of investment to make sure that’s possible, so thank you."
