26 / SEEDWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2019 OUR TOP PRIORITY is zero safety incidents for all our colleagues. We want everyone in the Nufarm family to go home safely every day. We implement risk identification processes and reduc- tion measures and strive to engrain the safety-first mentality into our everyday culture. We have seen the results of this in the metrics we track. An example is our plant in Chicago Heights, Illinois, which has gone more than six years without a lost time injury. We encourage everyone within the Nufarm family to be safety conscious. We challenge them to look for ways that they can take safety home with them. During our fire safety awareness month we encouraged our employees and col- leagues to have a fire evacuation plan for their workplace as well as for their home. When you go home to your loved ones, do you have a safety plan for them in the event of a fire? If they complete and submit a safety plan they receive a free carbon monoxide detector for their homes. We strive to have everyone take this safety narrative to our entire Nufarm family to encourage safety first in their home life as well as in their work lives. Safety is engrained into our culture. At the beginning of every business meeting, we have a Sustainability Share for safety. We present brief tips to help everyone be aware of how their surround- ings are changing from day to day and throughout the year whether at work, while traveling, making a sales call or at home. We have safety goals that are more than top down, they are in our culture throughout our entire organization. In our manufacturing facilities we go beyond the standard OSHA proce- How We Integrate Safety Culture Into Our Entire Community BRANDON SCOTT, MARKETING MANAGER, NUFARM @NufarmUS • brandon.scott@nufarm.com • www.nufarm.com dures – these are certainly critical and crucially important – but they are present everywhere. We go one step farther in our safety culture. For example, at the beginning of every shift, our manufactur- ing team starts their day with a Tool Box meeting to discuss specific safety risks and how they plan to ensure each other’s well-being during the day. For our field sales people we require driver safety/defensive driving courses. We also stress other activities that are not always thought of as safety – ergonomics while sitting at your desk, the risks of a sedentary lifestyle of not getting up and moving around during the day, exercise at home and sleeping habits to promote a healthy lifestyle. We want Nufarm to be successful not just today, but for many years to come. WHEN YOU READ THIS, we will all be back from our holiday vacations and settled into our “normal” work routines. However, the Christmas break was a great reminder of the importance of completely disconnecting to recharge your batteries. It’s easy to take time away from the office these days because you can still be responsive via email and phone — that’s the beauty and power of smart phones. They are wonderful, but they also don’t allow you to easily disconnect. A few days before the office was to close for the holiday, my husband asked: “Are you really going to shut down?” I didn’t give much thought to it at the time, but he later asked if I was going to turn off all the notifications on my devices. I cringed at the thought of turning my devices off and leaving them on the nightstand for a few days. However, at the encouragement of my husband and the management team, I did. On the first day, I felt like I was missing something. My mind was still focused on unanswered emails, missed calls and social media posts that needed to be kept up. On the second day, I was more in the moment, but my mind would still wonder to the list of things piling up for me to tackle when I returned to the office. It wasn’t until the third day that I was able to mentally free my mind and really be in the moment, celebrating the holiday with my husband, family and friends. While my mind came back around to work while doing chores, I wasn’t stressed by the little things cluttering up my to-do list. Instead, my mind was free to think about new projects that we might want What It Really Means to Disconnect DEVON INGO, OLIVER MANUFACTURING MARKETING MANAGER devon.ingo@olivermanufacturing.com • olivermanufacturing.com to try, goal setting and connecting dots between issues that aren’t readily apparent. The break was much needed. But what I learned is what it really means to disconnect. Now I realize we can’t just take 7-day breaks whenever we want or feel the need, so I’m working to incorporate dedicated times into my week where I give myself mental freedom. I might still be working, but I’m not connected to the constant dinging reminding me some- thing needs my attention. I didn’t set out to make peace of mind my New Year’s resolution, but strategi- cally disconnecting is working for me and it’s completely worth pursuing. What are you doing? Message me at devon.ingo@ olivermanufacturing.com. I’d love to hear how you disconnect and allow yourself to focus on the big picture.