b'Having a Say in Safety to develop meaningful safety rules and Kathryn Herrold is the global seeds andregulations, he says its critical they first traits environment, health and safetyestablish a safety culture.(EHS) manager for BASF Ag Solutions.For us, it isnt solely about SOPs and Herrold says while there is some com- training. We are invested in building the monality in terms of safety measures thatright safety culture for our employees, should be instituted at seed processingDubois says. This month Ive spent trave-facilities, its important to note that thereling to our production facilities engaging can be important differences dependingevery individual in safety conversations on the type of seed being processed. and explaining why their commitment to Different seeds are processed differ- safety is so important.ently. Each crop you are dealing with isAgReliants core SOPs are divided unique and will have its own health, safetyinto three categories: commitment, which and environmental risks. Its not a one- includes discussions with employees; size-fits-all solution, she cautions. proactive, which includes training and Herrold also points out that safetyleadership; and reactive, which focuses concerns can vary from one process- on how to respond to unplanned events. ing facility to another depending uponDubois says one of the important things the age of the facility. Newer lines tendfor seed companies to remember with to be more automated, and workers areSOPs is that compliance isnt enough. typically less exposed to risk than at olderYou can be 100% compliant with a plants where more hands-on labor maysafety procedure, but still be in danger, be required. Regardless of the amount ofhe explains. I use the analogy of being in automation, however, BASF performs riska snowstorm. The speed limit is 55 mph, assessments to identify and mitigate risksand you are driving 55 mph down the as appropriate. highway with six inches of snow on the One of BASFs more recent capitalground. Technically, you are complying, investments in its cotton seed businessbut are you safe? The answer is no, so you was an automated packaging system thathave to assess your personal commitment greatly reduces ergonomic exposuresWhile designing its seed processing facilityat that moment.that can cause back injuries. The systemin Enchant, Alberta, Stamp Seeds had safetyDubois says the key to getting buy-in automatically moved a bag of treatedtop-of-mind.from long-serving employees is to make cotton seed down a conveyor belt wheresure to keep the training material fresh.the bag is checked to ensure properrespirators if confirmed via IndustrialYou cant let it get stale. Youve got weight, a label is printed on its side,Hygiene monitoring. to always work through things to figure excess air is removed and the bag is thenHerrold says that while its critical forout how to keep it fresh, keep it engaging. picked up by a robotic arm and stacked. seed processing plants to have SOPs thatTheres almost a marketing aspect to it. The company has also installed centraladdress the specific needs of that facility,Youve got to continuously come up with vacuum systems in many of its seedworkers need to have a say in how thosesomething new and fresh to keep people processing facilities to clean up betweenprocedures are developed in order toengaged, he says.variety changes or if something spills onencourage employee buy-in. One of the ways AgReliant encour-the floor. Its also invested in dust collec- We work with our operations staffages that kind of engagement is with tors that are installed at transition pointsto help them understand the risks sowhat the company calls hazard hunts. to improve air quality in those locations. they can work together with us to writeThe companys plant is divided into sec-The combination of a central vaca meaningful SOP that has buy-in. It is ations and employees go through each system and a dust collector with fixedcollaboration. We do this together withsection in search of potential hazards. ducts makes a big difference in termsour partners in the supply chain: theyTheir results are collected by manage-of air quality, Herrold explains. Often,know the job, we know EHS. ment, reviewed and changes to company before we put this kind of equipmentpolicy are formulated.in, people have to put on respiratorBuilding a safety culture Its a great way to engage employees masks when theyre working. After weveWhile Drew Dubois, vice-president ofacross the plant to take ownership when installed the equipment, the air quality isoperations for AgReliant Genetics, agreesit comes to hazard recognition, Dubois clean enough that we dont have to wearthat its important for seed businessessays.SWSEPTEMBER 2021SEEDWORLD.COM /13'