Boyne Smelters Limited (BSL) acknowledged the dedication of its workforce last week by holding two social ‘Time Out’ functions at Boyne Island. 

Over 900 employees and their partners attended the casual barbeque dinner at Boyne Golf Club in recognition of their efforts in 2012, along with the commitment shown by employees to support the smelter during the recent floods.

BSL General Manager, Joe Rea, said the poor aluminium market and high Australian dollar have continued to put BSL under significant pressure, however the smelter’s employees are continually working to improve the business wherever possible.

“It pained me that our financial challenges meant we could not offer a Christmas party for our employees last year, so we were pleased to be able to arrange a small Time Out event as a way to recognise the lifeblood of our business, our people,” Joe said.

During the recent unprecedented high rainfall, employees demonstrated their continued dedication to assist BSL by banding together to help maintain a safe and stable operation.

“We had employees coming in on their weekends and days off, people changing their roles for the day to provide additional support to various departments and employees joining together for huge clean up efforts,” Joe said.

“While we know 2013 will remain challenging for us as we work hard to become a viable aluminium smelter in the current climate, we sincerely value the commitment of our workforce and we could not make such progress without their ongoing commitment.”

Despite the tough financial pressures experienced last year, BSL employees have reason to feel proud of their 2012 efforts:

• Employees matched 2011’s best ever safety performance.
• Marked 30 years of operation.
• Successfully commissioned a new carbon bake furnace with numerous environmental and production benefits.
• Employees identified and implemented business improvements that delivered over $5 million in cost savings on site.
• Over 3000 tonnes of additional aluminium was produced, creating a total annual production of 574, 869 tonnes for 2012.