The date of Jan. 25, 2017 may have seemed like any other day in Chicago Heights, Ill., as Signal, Escalade 2, Credit Xtreme, Panther SC, Trooper P+D and other products were running through Nufarm’s production facility. However, on this day, the Nufarm Chicago Heights team achieved a very exciting milestone. The day marked five years of continuous operation without a lost-time injury.
Much has changed over those five years, and the site looks very different today with new buildings, processes and production capabilities. What has not changed is the team’s passion to put safety first and to look at every action and every decision made with a core belief that injuries can be eliminated.
“The pursuit of zero incidents is never-ending, and no doubt the Chicago Heights team will continue to raise the bar in terms of safety culture and performance,” says Tom Lyons, executive vice president of operations at Nufarm. “As a company, celebrating important achievements such as this helps to remind us of the many exceptional accomplishments of the entire Nufarm team.”
Nufarm strives to foster an intentional culture of safety. Each meeting begins with a safety tip, as well as each weekly report from the field. Safety is not only a focus within the plant operations; it is integrated throughout the organization. Annually, the company votes on a safety slogan that provides emphasis around the theme. This year’s slogan, “Safety Starts With You,” describes the individual as well as organizational ownership of safety that Nufarm expects from its employees.
The Nufarm North American team received recognition of this milestone from the Nufarm board of directors.
“On behalf of the board and the HSE committee, I’d like to congratulate the Chicago Heights team on this achievement,” says Nufarm Limited chairman Donald McGauchie. “It sets a benchmark for the rest of Nufarm to emulate and, most importantly, it means that people have been able to contribute to our business each day without being concerned that they will suffer a debilitating injury.”
“The organization will continue to engage employees as well as challenge customers to identify both simple and more elaborate means to improve conditions and processes that ensure safety,” says Brendan Deck, regional general manager of Nufarm North America. “The aspiration of being a company that is easy to do business with and always doing that business in a safe and efficient manner drives our team on a daily basis.”