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Unsafe Is Unacceptable
MaryAnne Arcand
Forestry Truck Safety
Leader Wins Award
Prince George, B.C. – (April 25, 2007) – A BC Forest Safety
Council director known affectionately throughout the industry as
“bulldozer,” has been honoured with the Interior Logging
Association’s Member of the Year Award. MaryAnne Arcand,
director of the Council’s Forestry TruckSafe and Northern
Initiatives program earned the nickname and award because of her
relentless pursuit for safety in the industry as well as her
outstanding contribution to the harvesting sector. She
received the award during the ILA’s 49th Annual Trades
Convention.
Arcand has spent the past one and a half years advocating safer
practices in the forest industry, particularly in the log hauling
sector. In the last year alone, she has met with over 6,000
workers and their families teaching them about safe practices and
responding to issues and their concerns. She has traveled to
every logging community in the province, held over 60 meetings and
spoke at over a dozen conferences.
Wayne Lintott, general manager of the ILA, says Arcand deserves
the award because she puts her heart into her work. “She’s
made a tremendous difference in our industry,” says Lintott.
“MaryAnne’s brought log haulers closer to contractors and
licensees, and opened up the lines of communication.”
Arcand says she was shocked when she received the award.
“I’m not the only one doing things,” says Arcand. “The entire
Council is just as determined as I am to make a difference and
everyone is working their tails off.”
In 2006, the Council and Arcand helped to implement the first
radio campaign targeted at drivers to encourage them to share the
road and drive safely. They also began working on a
joint-industry strategy for resource road management, adopting
vehicle identification plates for trucks and managing technical
development work on steep-slope hauling standards.
Arcand plans on continuing these initiatives through 2007 while
also focusing on a few other major projects. Two of these
projects include initiating the development of a log truck driver
certification program and working actively with the Council to
launch the SAFE Companies program for independent operators.
Arcand says the key to her job is meeting people in their
communities and helping them to believe in safe practices.
“This is how it has to be done,” says Arcand. “Bureaucratic
solutions don’t work on the ground.”
The Interior Logging Association’s Member of the Year Award was
established in 1974. The recipient is chosen by the ILA’s
Board of Directors who vote approximately six weeks before the
annual convention. Each recipient receives a plaque and a
note of recognition for their contribution to the harvesting
sector. Previous winners include Sharon Wilkinson previously
of Revelstoke and Marcel Payeur of Vernon.
The BC Forest Safety Council is a not-for-profit society
dedicated to promoting forest health and safety. The Council
was founded and is supported by all major forestry organizations in
B.C. and works with forestry employers, workers, contractors and
the provincial government and agencies to implement changes
necessary to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries in the
forest sector.
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