‘Each employee owns safety’

A “people-centric” approach to worker safety helps Corteva Agriscience provide seed and crop protection to farmers worldwide, CEO Chuck Magro says.

“Each employee owns safety. Everyone is encouraged to model safe behaviors, stop the work, ask questions, intervene and stop to reassess hazards when conditions change.”

That mindset was key to the Indianapolis-based company being named the 2024 recipient of the Robert W. Campbell Award. The National Safety Council presents the award to organizations that successfully integrate environmental, health and safety management with business operations.

Corteva began operation as a standalone company in June 2019 after a merger between Dow and DuPont. It’s the youngest organization to receive the Campbell award, which was presented to company representatives in September during the 2024 NSC Safety Congress & Expo.

“We’re extremely grateful that our efforts to create a safe workplace are being acknowledged,” Magro said. “I’m so proud of our team, at every level of our organization, who are focused on making safety our top priority every day.”

A mantra and mindset

Corteva, which employs more than 22,500 workers and 14,000 contractors in 140 countries, said it observed a 31% reduction in its OSHA recordable incident rate from 2022 to 2023. Magro insists that although “the reduction is certainly the result of a collection of efforts from across our organization,” the progress begins with a motivated and committed workforce.

“It truly takes everyone, every day, coming in with a safety-first mindset,” he said.

One of Corteva’s six organizational values is “live safely,” described as, “We embrace safety and the environment in all we do.”

Members of the Campbell team who conducted onsite visits during the award evaluation process routinely saw this embodied during the workday. “All employees interviewed could quickly communicate the importance of safety in their daily job and give an example of utilization of their empowerment through safety,” an award assessor said. This included examples of stop-work authority – whether workers engaged it themselves or witnessed others stopping work when the safety of any operation was in doubt.

Discussions with Corteva’s management impressed the Campbell team, too. “All levels of leadership demonstrated a real passion for EHS performance,” the assessor said. “More importantly, they were focused on opportunities for improvement.”

‘Commitment at every level’

Safety+Health traditionally asks leaders of Campbell award-winning organizations about how small to medium-sized establishment employers can apply the safety lessons and principles that have set their operations apart.

To begin, Magro wants employers to remember that “establishing an effective safety culture doesn’t happen overnight.” Many actions and gestures help organizations build one, and repetition can be key.

One example: Magro opens and closes each of Corteva’s global town hall meetings with a safety message that clearly defines expectations to leaders, workers and contractors, and explains how each group’s safety is intertwined. And Corteva’s EHS communications team works to share safety messages, including both urgent matters and relatable worker safety stories, as part of employee newsletters.

Magro also recommends that employers “constantly evaluate” how site leaders and safety teams can “most effectively run a safer organization.” He said Corteva conducts regular audits and assessments, and uses the results to make continuous improvements to organizational safety.

“Leadership support is critical, but it’s most powerful when you have commitment at every level,” Magro said. “We have to live our culture every day to ensure we’re taking care of ourselves and those around us.”

As before, putting workers above all – empowering them and encouragining their input – is at the root of Corteva’s focus on safety.

“A people-first approach is scalable,” Magro said, “because it’s not about how many people you have, but building a culture where safe work is the only work.”

Who was Robert W. Campbell?

Robert W. Campbell was a pioneer in the safety movement in the United States. As the first chair of Illinois Steel’s corporatewide safety committee, he organized the company’s first formal incident prevention programs, established safe work practices for many jobs, and developed safety training programs for workers and supervisors.

Campbell was selected by his peers to serve as president of the newly formed National Safety Council in 1913. His leadership in the council’s formative days was powerful in the development of organized incident prevention efforts on a national scale.