Plum Creek Timber Company temporarily shut its Columbia Falls, Montana, plywood plant in August to review safety procedures after two workplace injuries, reports The Daily Inter Lake.
Tom Ray, Plum Creekâs vice-president of Northwest Resources and Manufacturing, said the company had been considering a market-related curtailment at the facility and that the two recent injuries had persuaded Plum Creek to take the downtime.
A worker at the plant said one of the injuries was to a woman who had some fingers cut off by unsecured equipment. In another incident, a forklift accident was believed to have left a worker injured.
The Columbia Falls plant currently employs around 140 workers, compared with 175 before the recession.
Plum Creek has improved efficiency at the plant over the last two years, and has found new markets for specialty products including MDF pressed on to plywood for school furniture.
