NAICS Code: 484110 – General Freight Trucking, Local

Number of employees: 100 Onsite; 294 Corporate-Wide

Lynden Transport Inc. (LTI) is a family of transportation companies primarily serving Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. LTI formed in 1954 after the completion of the Alcan Highway and began providing service to major Alaska communities that were located on the highway system. With 294 employees corporate wide and 168 in Alaska, LTI provides full air, marine, and truck services throughout Alaska. The Anchorage distribution hub employs 100 workers with the remaining spread out throughout the state, including Fairbanks and Soldotna. LTI has been working with Alaska Occupational Safety and Health (AKOSH) Consultation since 2014 to assist in identifying hazards and improving hazard mitigation and prevention practices. The Anchorage location has been working towards Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) status since 2018.

After each Consultation visit, LTI has always taken prompt corrective action whenever a hazard is identified. It adheres to the hierarchy of controls when correcting and preventing hazards and workplace injuries. During the most recent visit, AKOSH Consultation identified hazard communication standard issues with the labeling of cleaning products that were not in their original containers. To address this issue, LTI removed the items from the facility and replaced them with prepackaged cleaning products to reduce the chance of any further issues with secondary labels.

In 2018, the facility had a Total Recordable Case (TRC) and Days Away Restricted or Transferred (DART) rate that exceeded the national average for its industry. Because of this, LTI was not eligible for full SHARP status, but met the requirements for Pre-SHARP in 2019. A review of the company’s 300 logs by Alaska’s SHARP Coordinator showed possible over reporting of injuries. By working with AKOSH Consultation, LTI was able to ensure that it did accurate injury and illness reporting. In addition, LTI re-evaluated its current procedures and implemented new procedures to reduce potential hazard exposures that incoming freight may pose. This newly improved process requires a job hazard analysis to be performed, and for personnel with appropriate training and experience to address the potential exposure.

The Anchorage location was accepted into SHARP in June of 2021 for its exceptional workplace safety and health efforts. The Soldotna location has also achieved SHARP status. SHARP acknowledges small and medium-sized businesses that have used OSHA On-Site Consultation services and operate exemplary workplace safety and health programs. Small businesses that achieve SHARP status receive a deferral from OSHA or State Plan programmed inspections for the period that the SHARP designation is valid. Acceptance of a worksite into SHARP is an achievement that identifies the employer as a model for occupational safety and health among its business peers.

Companies interested in SHARP can contact their local OSHA On-Site Consultation program to discuss details and schedule an on-site safety and health evaluation. To locate the On-Site Consultation program nearest you call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) or visit www.osha.gov/consultation.