The administrator of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), John Henshaw, was on hand today as the Iowa OSHA organization presented the agency's top safety classification -- the VPP Star (Voluntary Protection Program) certification - to
Monsanto Company's Boone, Iowa seed-production facility.
The certification was given to the people at the site by Iowa Labor Commissioner Byron Orton, during a special ceremony that included Henshaw, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge, representatives of Iowa OSHA, employees of the Boone facility and Monsanto management from the company's headquarters in St. Louis.
The OSHA VPP Star program has traditionally rewarded manufacturing and construction sites for establishing and maintaining outstanding safety and health worker-protection programs. Now the program is working to improve safety at agricultural sites. To earn the Star designation, a plant must undergo a rigorous OSHA audit showing that its safety programs and practices reach high levels of excellence. The plant must also have an accident rate that is below the rest of the industry. Monsanto worked closely with staff of the Iowa OSHA Consultation Bureau to achieve this recognition. "We are very proud of our partnership with Monsanto and their achievement of VPP Star certification," stated Orton.
Administrator Henshaw commented, "OSHA and Monsanto share the belief that every occupational injury and illness is preventable. We are committed to assuring that workplaces are safe and healthy. Agricultural safety is a critical area in workplace safety and Monsanto has demonstrated great leadership in addressing this issue, " he said.
Nate Cottington, manager of the Boone facility, noted that while the farming industry has traditionally not had a very good safety record, the people at the Boone site have been working very hard to change that. "Achieving VPP Star certification here has been possible only because of the total commitment from all employees. Everyone at this site has contributed greatly by making equipment safer, adopting new work processes and working to make safety a core value for the operation."
"Seven Monsanto seed sites have now achieved recognition as VPP Star, and we are particularly proud of that accomplishment," explains Kevin Lawrence, who leads Monsanto's seed-production operations company-wide. "This partnership with OSHA is important since it provides added emphasis to our safety programs and has helped make our seed locations safer for our workers. We intend to continue to work with OSHA to one day achieve VPP status for all of our sites.
"I'd also like to congratulate John Henshaw and the people at OSHA on this 20th anniversary year for the VPP Star Program. Over the past 20 years, the program has prevented countless accidents, injuries and deaths in U.S. industrial workplaces. Now it's doing the same for U.S. agriculture."
Kent Martin, North American manufacturing/seed production team lead says, "Monsanto is committed to improving the safety and health of our employees, contractors, seed growers, and the farmers with which we partner through innovative programs such as VPP Star. Nothing is more important or fundamental to our success than assuring the safety of our greatest asset -- our people. Becoming the safety leader in seed operations is the goal of our Monsanto seed-production team," explains Martin. "The OSHA VPP Star program has helped us set the appropriate benchmarks for agricultural operations at our seeds sites." Many of Monsanto's chemical plants have been Star certified for a number of years and now that program is being extended to the company's seed-processing plants, Martin explains.
The Monsanto Boone facility northwest of Des Moines, employs 36 full time and up to 1,500 seasonal workers. The site was established in 1975 and currently processes in excess of 700,000 bushels of seed corn annually.
The Iowa OSHA VPP Star audit team completed its final report of the Monsanto site at Boone in April 2002. One-on-one interviews of employees by the OSHA team showed that all employees were positively involved with aspects of safety and with team involvement in safety performance.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity.
