Weyerhaeuser fined $182,000 after employee struck by forklift
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HUDSON BAY, Saskatchewan - Forestry and lumber giant Weyerhaeuser has been fined $182,000 after an employee at its OSB mill in Saskatchewan was seriously injured by a forklift.
 
Provincial officials said the company pleaded guilty on July 6 to violating health and safety regulations. The incident occured October 5, 2017.
 
Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest private owners of timberlands, began operations in 1900. The company owns or controls approximately 12 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. and manages additional timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company also is one of the largest manufacturers of wood products, and a real estate investment trust.
 
Sales have been declining for the company since late 2018, which has been made worse by COVID. In April, the company temporarily reduced lumber production by 20 percent, OSB by 15 percent, and engineered wood by 15-25 perent.
 
It sold 555,000 acres of Michigan timberlands for $300 million in cash in September 2019. It also sold its Montana timberlands for $145 million last December. The company believes both sales will help boost profits.
 
In 2018, Weyerhaeuser generated $7.5 billion in net sales and employed approximately 9,300 people who serve customers worldwide.

 

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Robert Dalheim

Robert Dalheim is an editor at the Woodworking Network. Along with publishing online news articles, he writes feature stories for the FDMC print publication. He can be reached at [email protected].