AGI Saskatoon celebrates 10 years of safety

Ag Growth International (AGI) recently celebrated a significant safety milestone at its manufacturing facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, marking ten years without a lost time incident. The achievement was recognized with a special event and awards ceremony to honour the facility’s employees.

“I commend the AGI Saskatoon team for achieving an incredible safety milestone of ten years with no lost time incidents. Their achievement demonstrates that safety, as a guiding principle, is deeply ingrained in our work culture,” says Paul Householder, AGI President & CEO. “They embody AGI’s highest global priority that every employee – regardless of where they work or the type of environment they work in – returns home at the end of each day in the exact same working condition in which they arrived."

A lost time incident (LTI) refers to a non-fatal injury that causes an employee to miss work due to injury. The LTI measurement is a key indicator of a company’s safety performance and how injuries impact overall workforce productivity.

“This achievement entirely belongs to the team’s absolute dedication to safety leadership at all levels. Their ‘winning ticket’ includes vigilance, prevention and education. They are continuously on the lookout to identify, report and fix potentially unsafe conditions and processes. That allows them to avoid hazards and near misses before someone gets hurt,” said Kris Wingert, AGI Saskatoon Operations Manager.

The Saskatoon plant, commissioned by Westeel in 1989, produces engineered-to-order smooth wall grain and fertilizer bins for agricultural use. The facility, certified to ISO 9001:2015 standards, also provides custom welding services for other AGI locations.

“The skillset required is not robotic, but hands on. This means that multiple machines moving, lifting and transporting can create opportunities for things to go wrong. That is why having tight processes in place and maintaining a culture of ongoing education, welding certifications, and employees looking out for each other are crucial to safety,” said Wingert.

Harsha Bhojraj, AGI Vice President of Manufacturing, praised the Saskatoon team as a model of safety excellence.

“The AGI Saskatoon team has shown that it is possible to adjust and be safe every single day for ten years straight regardless of changing conditions -- through upturns and downturns, across day and night shifts, from summer to winter, and with new and experienced associates. Their record raises the bar for what safety excellence at AGI means,” said Bhojraj.

AGI’s Saskatoon facility is the second to achieve this milestone, following the Olds, Alberta plant in 2023. For more information on AGI’s commitment to safety, visit www.aggrowth.com.

Photo Credit: AGI