BELGRADE, Maine - Maine-based lumber firm Hammond Lumber has received four awards for outstanding safety performance. From the Northeast Lumber Manufacturers Association (NeLMA), the awards are given to mills operating in the New England states, plus New York and Pennsylvania. 

 

NeLMA awarded Hammond for its 2018 safety performance at the company's sawmill and planer mill, whose operations didn't see an injury over the 25,000 to 50,000 combined hours worked over the year.

 

"Hammond finished first in Division 2 for the combined operations of both mills," wrote Hammond Lumber's Rob Wiles. "Divisions are determined by the number of worker-hours logged during a calendar year. A Division 1 classification represents 1 to 25,000 hours, while Division 2 represents 25,000 to 50,000 hours."

 

The business also earned first place in Division 1 for planer-mill safety, first place in Division 2 for sawmill safety, and received a certificate for achieving an accident-free year in both mills.

 

Hammond Lumber, based in Belgrade, is a third-generation Maine family-owned business that was recently named the top Maine company in sales on the Prosales Top 100 list, ranked 36th in the country. The company carries a full line of forest products, and specializes in eastern white pine, sawing more than 6.5 million board feet each year. The company has been recognized nationally for their commitment to workplace safety as a recipient of the National Safety Council's Occupational Excellence Achievement Award. In operation since 1953, Hammond has more than $250 million in sales and employs more than 800 employees across 21 locations.

 

The company has received many safety awards over 65 years of operation. Safety director Bruce Pelletier says there has not been a lost-time accident in the sawmill since 2004, nor in the planer mill since 2001.

 

Hammond established a safety committee in 1985, which meets once a month to identify and correct potential safety hazards. Pelletier has directed the committee since 2005.

 

The company employs 12 at the sawmill and six in the planer mill.

 

In June 2018, Hammond Lumber acquired EBS Building Supplies, making Hammond the largest lumber and building materials dealer in Maine.