Company: Monsanto Company
Company Description: Monsanto Company is a leading provider of agricultural products and integrated solutions for farmers. We produce leading seed brands with biotechnology traits, improving productivity, the environment and reducing the costs of farming. We manage our business in two segments, Agricultural Productivity and Seeds and Genomics, employing 13,000 employees around the world.
Nomination Category: Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Human Resources Organization

Nomination Title: World Class Vehicle Safety Team: Taking Safety to the Streets

1. Tell the story about what this nominated organization achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

In 2001, automobile crashes took the lives of six Monsanto employees. As the
victims’ families and coworkers dealt with these tragic accidents, Monsanto
employees turned to management to create an innovative program to improve their
colleagues’ skills and safety behind the wheel, protecting them while they’re “on”
and “off” the job.

The World Class Vehicle Safety Team was created in 2002. Within six months,
the first World Class Safety program was implemented across the globe.

A program that clearly defined safe driving policies, practical behind-the-wheel
training for high-frequency drivers and general training for all employees was
established.
-- “Vehicle Safety 101 Orientation” and an “In the Driver’s Seat” CD-ROM were
created. For company drivers, orientation is followed by a comprehension exam,
commentary and peer driving, and a documented review process.

-- Forty local vehicle safety teams were established around the world to address
regional safety needs on an ongoing basis. A team Web site and Vehicle Safety
NOW! bulletins keep leaders up-to-date.

The nature of the program is innovative, completely changing corporate philosophy
so that management dedicates time and resources to promote employee safety.
Further, the Vehicle Safety Program is the first of its kind to be implemented
globally. Best practices include:
-- To extend the benefits of the program beyond Monsanto, a Teen Driver Training
course for 15- to 20-year-old children of employees was implemented. For a full
day, instructors provide classroom and hands-on, in-car training.
-- -Monsanto sites frequently partner with local organizations, such as the Parent
Teacher Association in Georgia, to share the benefits of the program with the
community at large.

Additionally, Monsanto employees have tailored the initiative to meet the needs of
Monsanto’s international employees, families, communities and clients. One
example includes an employee in Mexico who tailored the program to train his
client’s staff of more than 20,000, many of whom had no formal driving education.
The company’s number of vehicular accidents has been reduced significantly
since implementation.

Since the program was implemented, more than 2,500 employees in North
America and 1,500 employees abroad have been certified as behind-the-wheel
trainers and more than $4 million has been devoted to the Vehicle Safety Program.
Most importantly, Monsanto employees commemorated the company’s safest
year on record in 2004.

To gauge program results, performance measures including APMM (accidents per
million miles) and IPMM (incidents per million miles) were established. Working
with its information technology department to implement a data collection system,
the team is able to track its results based on these key measurements, work
sites, regions and/or job functions. Highlights include:
-- APMM have improved more than 60 percent globally, from 9 to 3.53.
-- 2001 benchmarking studies placed Monsanto at the bottom of the scale for
APMM. In 2003 and 2004, Monsanto is leading the industry in the lowest number
of accidents.

These efforts and the efforts of hundreds of others involved in this program
illustrates Monsanto’s respect for its employees, communities, customers and
other stakeholders by taking steps to help protect their safety and well-being
while at work and away.

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://www.pbs.org/wsw/news/fortunearticle_20040112_03.html

http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/layout/our_pledge/workplace_safety/streets.asp

http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/layout/careers/awards.asp
 
http://www.occupationalhazards.com/articles/12640
 
http://www.napsnet.com/safety/61834.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2004/05/17/focus11.html

http://www.monsantoindia.com/monsantoin/top25companies.pdf

3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of this nominated organization:

Hugh Grant is president and chief executive officer of Monsanto. He has served as
executive vice president and chief operating officer; managing director of all
business units in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand; and led the
marketing, sales and technology organizations in Europe and North America.

He has a B.S. degree in Molecular Biology and Agricultural Zoology, Glasgow
University, an M.S. degree, Edinburgh University, and an MBA degree,
International Management Center, U.K.

Mr. Grant is a member of the International Policy Council on Agriculture, Food and
Trade; Executive Committee of the Microcredit Summit Campaign; and
International Advisory Board of Scottish Enterprise.