nufarm limited 2006 health, safety and environment report · the health, safety and environment...

NUFARM L IMITED 2006 HEALTH, SAFE T Y AND ENVIRONMENT REPOR T

About this report

The Health, Safety andEnvironment Report 2006 continues the story of Nufarm’s progress towards minimising injuries, safeguarding the general health and well being ofemployees, and doing business in a way that has no undue impact on the environment.

The report covers the 2005 calendar year. It includes scientific data and examples of how Nufarm and its employees are working to continuously improve their performanceand how they contribute tothe communities where theylive and work.

The health and safety data, presented as graphs, comes from Nufarm’s 34 plants and offices around the globe and includes permanent, casual, part-time workers and contractors, except for those in South America where Nufarm does not havea majority interest. The dataincludes the annual 15 percent improvement targets – based on the actuals achieved in calendar year 2002 – for lost time injuries (LTI), medical treatment injuries (MTI) and severity.

The environmentaldata, again presentedas graphs, is supplied bythe manufacturing plants,most of which producelocal health, safety andenvironment reports.

If these are not includedin the back of this report,they may be downloadedfrom Nufarm’s websitehttp://www.nufarm.comor sent by mail if youcontact Nufarm.

In the data-gatheringprocess, some historicalinconsistencies appeared. These have been investigated and restated, as have some performance measures.

contents

Overview

About this report

About Nufarm

Production, CO₂ released and water use

Policy, importance and awards

A message from the Chief Executive

LTIFR 1999 – 2005

MTIFR 1999 – 2005

Severity 1999 – 2005

Targets 2006

Unusual incident reporting

Lost time injury frequency rate

Emergency response procedures pass test in

Laverton fire

Emergency response exercises

Medical treatment injury frequency rate

STAR approach to manual handling

Take Five to engage brain before hands

Bottom up, top down approach to Cairo

Severity

Tailor made assistance is good medicine

Ingenious catch of the day

Health, safety and environment expenditure

Manurewa manufacturing intrinsically safe

Voluntary conservation days in New Zealand

Environmental complaints and compliance

Sowing for the future

Reducing spray drift while improving efficiency

Croplands new air induction spray tip provides

excellent drift resistance

Spraywise tips

Compliance

Emissions to air

Energy use

First environmental improvement plan for

Laverton

Making a difference

Managing waste

Salt

Linz production up, recycling up and waste

down

Changing attitudes to salt

Building homes, building hope

Commitment to community award

Waste destinations

Work experience with an international flavour

inside front cover

inside front cover

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NUFARM L IMITED HEALTH, SAFE T Y AND ENVIRONMENT REPOR T 2006

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overview

About Nufarm

Nufarm Limited is adevelopment, manufacturing and marketing company with a proven capability to manage brands and grow business in global crop protection markets.

The company has strongsynthesis capabilities andadds value throughproduct innovation andthe successful managementof its branded products.

Nufarm prides itself onmarket-driven differentiationand development, customerrelationships, access to market and excellent service.

Based in Australia, Nufarm is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (symbol NUF).Its head office is located atLaverton in Melbourne.

As one of the world’s leading crop protection companies,our products help farmersprotect their crops againstdamage caused by weeds,pests and disease.

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Nufarm employs morethan 2,200 people and hasmanufacturing and marketing operations in Australia, NewZealand, Asia, Europe, Africaand the Americas.

Nufarm people make a vital contribution to our reputation for quality products, innovation and first class marketing and technical support.

Our mission is to meet theinterests of all stakeholders in a manner that shows we care about:• the growth and success of the business;• the wellbeing of our employees;• the environment and the communities in which we operate;• our customers and suppliers; and• the reputation and performance of our products and service.

Agricultural chemicals

Industrial chemicals

Offices

Regional offices/stores


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Production volume tonnesor kilolitres 1999 – 2005

CO2 released 1999 – 2005 Water use 1999 – 2005

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Laverton (Australia); Manurewa (New Zealand); Malaysiaproduction (Port Klang);South Australia; and Welshpool(Western Australia).

Also in 2005, 24 sites were free of lost time injury (LTI). The South Australian operation has achieved 12 years without an LTI; Welshpool (Western Australia) seven years; Croplands (New Zealand) six years.

Indonesia and Kemertonchloralkali both achievedfive years without an LTI. Calgary, Chicago office, Malaysia and Nufarm New South Wales(Australia) each achieved four years without LTI.

Chicago Heights, Germany, Manurewa and Malaysiaproduction (Port Klang) achieved three years. Belvedere, Kwinanaagchem, Lara (Australia) and Nugrain (Australia) achievedtwo years.

Agseed (Australia), Botlek, Brendale (Australia), Cropcare (Australia), Cairo, Nufarm New Zealand and Lytton (Australia),all achieved one year.

The importance of health, safety and environment

The company operates inaccordance with its health, safety and environment management system. Each location has anactive occupational health andsafety committee that worksto continuously improveperformance. Progress ismonitored and a formal reportto the board of directors ishigh on the agenda at each board meeting.

Safety awards

Each year Nufarm presentssafety awards to those sitesthat reach 200,000 hours or fiveyears without lost time injury.

In 2005, safety awards were presented to 16 sites: Belvedere (UK); Botlek (The Netherlands); Cairo (Egypt); Calgary (Canada); Chicago Heights (USA); Chicago office (USA); Croplands (NewZealand); Gennevilliers (France);Indonesia; Kemerton chloralkali (Western Australia); Kwinana agchem (Western Australia);

A personal commitment from all employees is essential in promoting and achievingthis objective.

The company will ensure ithas safe working conditions,define safe work practices,train its employees andprovide information forthe control of hazards inthe workplace and for theprotection of the environment.

Supervisors and managers will be held accountable for the safety and occupational health of their people and for theenvironment protectionmeasures in activities overwhich they have control.

The company’s objective is to carry out its business withno adverse effect on itspeople, the community andthe environment, and to strive for sustainable developmentand continual improvement.

Resource management

As Nufarm continues to grow, establishing its presence inadditional countries andregions and consolidating itsposition as one of the leading crop protection companiesin one of the world’s mostcompetitive businesses, oneof its strategies is to capture business efficiencies. Some ofits success is reflected in the way it improves its management of its resources. The above graphs show that, in recent years,as Nufarm production hasincreased, its use of energyand water use has decreased, due – in part – to concertedconservation efforts.

Nufarm health, safety andenvironment policy

Nufarm is committed to ensure that its activities present a high level of protection for the health and safety of its employees, customers, the public andthe environment.

policy, importance and awards

Nufarm group

Target

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LTIFR 1999 – 2005 MTIFR 1999 – 2005 Severity 1999 – 2005

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Nufarm 2006 targets

LTIFR or lost time injuryfrequency rate is the number of lost time injuries per million hours worked that results in one or more day’s absence from work.

MTIFR or medical treatmentinjury frequency rate is thenumber of lost time andmedical treatment injuriesper million hours worked.

SEVERITY is the number of days lost per thousand hours worked.

LTIFR 3.07

MTIFR 7.14

SEVERITY 0.043

a message from the chief executive

Generating sustainable value from a business means more than just profit on sales. Justas Nufarm sets ambitioustargets in terms of annualfinancial performance andshareholder returns, so toodo we strive to achievecontinuous improvementacross a wide range of health, safety and environmental(HSE) parameters.

All Nufarm employees wellunderstand the vital link between operating a business at the best possible standards relating to HSE and thelong-term financial successof the organisation.

The publication of an annual report detailing our performance in these areas reflects aserious commitment to drivingongoing improvement and holds us publicly accountablefor that performance.

Each year we review the wayin which we collect relevant data from our various operations and the way in which it is reported. More recently, we have been able to include more meaningful trend data that demonstrates performance across a longer period of time.

The graphs of our performance on lost time injuries (LTI),medical treatment injuries(MTI) and severity clearly show that both as a group and as operating regions we are making progress against the ambitious targets we set each year.

For the first time since theboard began setting targets(for 2001), across the company’s operations we have met orbettered the annual LTIFR, MTIFR and Severity targets.

This is pleasing, particularlyin those areas where the environment outside ourplants is not always supportive of the culture of safety.

One powerful tool that is driving HSE improvement where itis used is unusual incidentreporting (UIR).

This system of identifying and addressing potential causes of injury before injuries occur hasproduced substantial reductions in LTIs, MTIs and severity.

By encouraging employeesat all levels of the companyto recognise and report theseincidents – so the issue is fixed early and no blame is attached to those who report the incident – we are reinforcing the factthat all Nufarm people have animportant role to play in helping us meet and exceed ourperformance targets.

Those health and safety targets for 2006 are LTIFR: 3.07, MTIFR: 7.14 and Severity: 0.043.

The collection and sharingof HSE data across our various global operations is proving to be a very effective learning and correcting mechanism.

The UIR system in particularenables every person on every site to review individual site activities regularly and, even though a UIR may not have come from that particular site, the potential could be there and it can be fixed – and the UIR will show how another site has handled the situation.

Both the Nufarm boardand senior executives payconsiderable attention toHSE issues – they are vital toour on-going success – and it is a responsibility we share with every employee if we are to continue to be one of thefastest growing crop protectioncompanies in the world.

Doug RathboneManaging Director and Chief Executive Officer

30 June 2006

unusual incident reporting

Unusual incident reporting

The culture of safety thathas developed within Nufarmis constantly being fostered, promoted and extended, not just within the older parts of the business but also in the company’s newer acquisitions and joint ventures.

Just one of the ways of doing this is the ever-expandinguse of unusual incidentreports (UIRs), which dealwith inappropriate conditions and unacceptable behaviour.

The UIR system, a ‘no blamesystem’, is a powerful tool thatremoves not only the causes of incidents before an injury happens but also the potential causes before an incident iscreated. It is an instrumentto get rid of lost time injuries(LTIs) and medical treatment injuries (MTIs).

Belvedere UIR/IR vs LTIFR 1998 – 2005

Gaillon UIR/IR vs LTIFR2001 – 2005

Kwinana agchem UIR/IR vs LTIFR 1996 – 2005

Encouraging people to report incidents has never been easy due to fear of being blamed. However, once people learn to trust and accept that no blame is attached to reporting – in fact praise is the result – the standard of reporting improves and the benefits become noticeable.

The other great benefit ofthe system is that it makespeople aware of what isunacceptable by empowering everyone to challenge thestatus quo, own solutions to problems and improve their personal standards.

The UIR system has beenoperating for some years inAustralia where it has alreadyled to major improvementson those sites where peoplechampion it.

In recent years, Nufarm’sEuropean operations havemade a concerted effort to use the UIR improvement tool – with a steady drop in the number of minor injuries and a steady rise in the reporting of minor injuries that previously slipped throughthe net or went unreported.

The person responsible forinvestigating the UIR enters the results and suggested remedial actions, as well as who will do them and by when – and all those involved in the UIR receive email copies.

If action has been delayed, the persistence of the system comes into play, repeatedly sending reminder emails to everyoneinvolved. Throughout, theUIR and its progress may beaccessed by any employeevia computer.

A typical UIR includes a uniqueincident report number, to whom it occurred (or who noted the unsafe condition or action), type of incident, UIR initiator, site, to whom it was reported, date, time, immediate actions taken, coordination, investigation and actions, as well as investigation review and approval.


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The guiding principle behindUIRs is to have the people who know what is happening, those on the shop floor, to report as many unusual incidents aspossible without blame beingattributed to people and with the system – or problembeing fixed.

Originally a paper-based system, Nufarm’s UIR system wentelectronic in 2000, becoming totally transparent, available to everyone within the company and persistent until any reported unusual incident is rectified and the potential cause removed.Going electronic removed the fact that paper could be lost, mislaid or ignored.

The person who sees theunusual incident (or theirsupervisor) logs the facts ofthe UIR into the system. Theallocated site UIR coordinator determines its seriousness,who will be responsible for investigating it and by whenthis will be done. Copies of all UIRs (and subsequent actions or failures to act) also go to the Nufarm group’s head of health, safety and environment.

Kwinana agchemKwinana agchem (WesternAustralia) focuses its safetyefforts on not just the injuries that have occurred but incidents that could have caused injury (unusual incidents) so that risks are dealt with before they havea chance to hurt someone.

Everyone on site, no matter what their job, is encouraged to notice situations that could result in an unusual incident, even if such an incident has not yet occurred.

The Kwinana agchem graph shows the effect of theseefforts – as it reports anddeals with the causes ofunusual incidents, thenumber of injuries thatoccur reduce significantly.

Over three years at Kwinana agchem, the number ofinjuries has reduced by a factor of four and there has been asubstantial decrease in serious injuries resulting in medical treatment or loss of time.

Lytton UIR/IR vs LTIFR 1993 – 2005

Laverton

Laverton is the largest Nufarm site and is adjacent to the group head office. Here the UIR system is a major driver that has seen a seven fold reduction in lost time injuries over the past six years.

LyttonThe Lytton (Queensland)example shows that asingle LTI on a small sitemakes a large differencein the UIR/IR ratio.

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Each UIR raised is investigated and corrective action takento help prevent a recurrence. Belvedere’s ratio of UIRs to IRs(injury reports) continues to rise each year with 2005 setting yet another record.

The plant’s continuedimprovement over the pastfive years shows the numberof UIRs per IR (excluding quality issues) rose. Last year Belvedere set an ambitious target of 6.5 (total UIRs/IR). The 2005 actual was 12.5 and a new targetof 14 was set for 2006.

For Belvedere, the justification is that the number of minor injuries dropped from 32 in2004 to 19 in 2005, despiteimproved reporting of minorinjuries that would previously have gone unreported. There were no major injuries.

Gaillon

Risk assessments carried outin each of the Gaillon site’splants raised the UIRs withoutstanding results.

Laverton UIR/IR vs LTIFR1999 – 2005

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Nufarm group UIR/IR vs LTIFR 2000 – 2005

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At the end of every month,all incident reports aredistributed worldwide – bothelectronically and as paper reports for noticeboards. This monthly UIR summary includes most of the above, as well as the cause of the problem and the remedial actions taken so theknowledge gained is shared.

This has the added advantage of alerting people in all Nufarm operations of potential incidents in their own operations that can be immediately remedied.

Nufarm groupOverall, Nufarm’s performance clearly shows the progress being made in safety: each year more people are going home from work at the end of the day in the same condition as they were at the start of the day.

BelvedereUsing the Belvedere plant in the UK as an example, the UIRs recorded include near misses, damage to plant or property, observed risk, transgressionsof consent or discharge limits and quality issues, as well asa number of other categories.

LTIFR (left axis)

UIR/IR Ratio (right axis)

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lost time injury frequency rate

Emergency responseprocedures pass test inLaverton fire

Laverton’s emergencyresponse procedures weretested thoroughly on thenight of 4 May 2005 whenan electrical fault started afire in one of the buildingsat Nufarm’s headquarters.

Emergency services were onthe scene quickly to bring the fire under control. Within anhour the fire was extinguished,no-one was injured and the damage contained to oneoffice building that alsohoused laboratories and theIT department.

The computer room containingNufarm’s global communicationequipment had been fittedwith a fire suppressant and theresulting damage was due to smoke, not fire.

LTIFR Americas1999 – 2005

LTIFR Australia1999 – 2005

Nufarm’s can do attitudetakes overBy 10.00 am the next morning after the building was declared structurally safe, Nufarm’scomputer team had rescuedall the computer equipment andthe smoke damage was being cleaned away by a specialist contractor in an onsite van.

Unfortunately. all the critical cabling for telephonesand computer connectionswere destroyed.

Replacing such a large amount of equipment was not goingto be easy and the team’scommitment to immediately rescue, clean and re-usewhat was there meant theminimum possible disruptionto the company’s globalcommunication system – the telephones may have been out but the online computer help system was back in action within four days and was able to run for several weeks as replacements were sourced.


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There was more quick thinking and speedy action by Nufarm’s electricians who rewired the critical computers and had the Laverton plant’s 2,4-D process up and running safely within 24 hours of the fire.

The response by Nufarm’s employees was a credit to themselves and their training – everyone knew what had tobe done, took responsibility for their part in the response and got on with the job.

Since the fire, several reviews have examined in detail the company’s response, including liaison with emergency services, recovery operations and generalcommunication with employees, customers and suppliers. The information gathered has been used to fine tune the site’semergency response anddisaster recovery plans.

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LTIFR 1999 – 2005

LTIFR

Over the last four years, globally Nufarm has achieved its targets, including an annual 15 per cent reduction in injuries. Most regions are below the set targets. In Europe, which is trailing yet catching up, a senior manager has been appointed to drive the safety effort. Also working towards improving performance is the newly-formed European safety group of site managers.

Emergency response exercises

Part and parcel of any effective health, safety and environmental training is running emergency response exercises to testoperational preparedness,procedures and planning – and to show up deficiencies whereimprovement is needed.

Most Nufarm sites regularlyhold such exercises, eitherrunning their own simulationsor doing them together with other local industries.

In July 2005 the Belvedere plant held a simulated emergency exercise that involved bulkMIPA which was observedby the COMAH HSE andEnvironment Agency.

There were many learning points, as well as praise fromthe agency for the way theexercise was managedusing outside facilitatorsand for the incident responseteam’s feedback.

Also during 2005, the Brendale plant in Queensland had a joint training exercise with the State’s Fire and Rescue, Hazmat and Scientific units, while Nufarm Calgary both sponsors and trains with the Calgary Fire Department at one of the most recognised emergency training colleges in North America.

Nufarm Coogee at Kwinanain Western Australia producesand supplies liquid chlorine toits neighbour, Tiwest, for themanufacture of titanium oxide.

Both work closely togetherto ensure safe and efficientoperation and annually holda series of joint exercises.

While each site has its own emergency response plans and is prepared to deal with any situations that arise, the joint exercises have a mutual benefit, showing how each site’s emergency response capabilities can be combined and improved, while also testing emergencycommunication and alertsystems, first aid skills, firefighting, breathing apparatus and rescue from heights and confined spaces.

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LTIFR New Zealand1999 – 2005

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LTIFR South East Asia1999 – 2005

One of the latter during 2005 was in Indonesia where the Merak plant is a memberof the local TKTD self helpemergency organisation.

The scenario was a collision between a vehicle carrying chemicals and a taxi – theresult was casualties and anenvironmental spill.

Observed by the Departmentof Labour and Environment,the simulation focused onthe communication neededbetween the manufacturing plants in the Mangunreja area to help the victims, fight the fire and clean up the environment.

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LTIFR Europe1999 – 2005

Nufarm group

Target

Nufarm region

STAR approach to manual handling

The main cause of work related lost time incidents is injury from manual handling tasks – any activity requiring the use of force by a person to lift, lower, push, pull, carry, hold or restrain any person, animal or thing.

The Kwinana agchem site has embraced the need to think about manual handling issues as part of everyday work habits and has developed the ‘site team assesses risk’ or STAR programto take positive action – with good results.

In 2005 there was a substantialreduction in manual handling related injuries and anassociated higher awarenessof all site personnel to manualhandling issues.

Kwinana’s approach involvedthe development of a systemof working where the physicalenvironment, the tasksperformed and the skills of each person interact in such a way as to allow work to be done as safely as possible.

The team operates under a setof clear objectives:• participate in hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control;• achieve their responsibilities under duty of care;• demonstrate the principles of safe manual handling;• perform detailed risk assessments; and• evaluate and recommend appropriate risk control strategies.

The STAR approach, together with a ‘Take 5’ program, focuson hazardous materials andthe enhancement of theoccupational health andsafety training plan has paidoff for Kwinana.

For the first time in the site’shistory, Kwinana celebrated 300,000 hours worked without lost time injury. The site also has an impressive ratio of UIRs to total IRs of around 20.7.


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MTIFR Americas1999 – 2005

MTIFR Australia1999 – 2005

medical treatment injury frequency rate

MTIFR 1999 – 2005

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MTIFR

MTI includes injuries withloss of time, plus those thatrequire qualified medicalpractitioners for treatment. With the exception of New Zealand, all regions achieved the targets set. The New Zealand operation is small, and two or three injuries have a major impact on the frequency rate.

To achieve this milestone,Framchem adopted atwo-pronged ‘bottomup, top down’ approach,making people moreaware of their own safety,constantly emphasisinggood housekeeping andconcentrating ondeveloping trust throughfirst line supervisors.

While admitting they havea way to go, Framchem isalready finding that with20 or 30 people looking atsafety instead of just four orfive managers, the internalenvironment is changing. People are now more willling to raise issues in the workplace to get things changed or fixed.

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MTIFR New Zealand1999 – 2005

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MTIFR South East Asia1999 – 2005

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MTIFR Europe1999 – 2005

Bottom up, top downapproach to Cairo

The Framchem plant inCairo formulates and refillsagrochemicals into small packs for multinationals, supplies Nufarm products into the local market and has begun exporting Nufarm product to other Middle Eastern countries.

Unfortunately the externalenvironment does not value safety so when Framchemwas presented with a Nufarmsafety award in 2005, the achievement was all themore memorable.

For the first time Framchem reported no serious injuriesin 2005 and the plant, whichemploys a large number of casual staff, reported its last lost time injury in February 2004.

Nufarm group

Target

Nufarm region

The questions everyone needsto ask themselves before tackling any task, no matter how routine or unusual, includes:• what am I going to do?• how am I going to do it?• what could go wrong?• could I, or someone else, get hurt?• could the environment be affected?• what do I need to do to complete the job safely?

In June 2005, the Botlek plant (located on the site of AkzoNobel) launched a similarinitiative, together with other companies in the complex.

Here it is called the last minuterisk assessment (LMRA), whichencourages people to stopand systematically rethink the whole action plan and possible failure scenarios before doing the job.

Mostly, ‘taking five’ only takes seconds and, if we all practiseit at work and at home, taskswill be done safely, properlyand with no harm to peopleor the environment.

Take Five to engage brainbefore hands

Most people carry around some sort of notebook. Nufarm’s newest addition to the range has a smart green cover on a notebook that slips easily into a shirt pocket and is found on sites around the world.

It is boldly emblazoned with a red octagonal sign, a white hand with all five fingers held up and the words ‘TAKE FIVE’.

This is an ever-present reminder to those participating in this safety initiative to engage the brain before the hands and, before any task: stop; mentally walk through the task; identify the hazards; control the hazards; and then complete the task.


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Tailor made assistanceis good medicine

In October 2005, Nufarm’s Botlek plant in The Netherlands launched the exclusive GM club for employees who want to lose weight and/or quit smoking.

The club offers tailor-madeassistance and privileges that may be a combination ofannual medical check andadvice, personal coach, health food products at reducedprices (or free in the canteen),personal coaching from diet specialists and individualtraining and coaching programs at fitness clubs.

There is also a ‘home-fit-home’ plan available where fitness equipment such as a hometrainer, rowing machine,cross trainer or otherappliance is installed inthe participant’s home.

Progress is analysed andthe training plan constantlyadjusted with agreed personal improvement targets monitored by a personal coach, togetherwith the company doctor and personnel manager.

To increase awareness of the the benefits of healthy food, the Akzo Nobel complex also launched the ‘good food,happy people’ project toimprove the canteen facilities and food available.

severity

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Severity Americas1999 – 2005

Severity Australia1999 – 2005

Severity 1999 – 2005

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Severity

This measures the seriousnessof the injuries that haveresulted in lost time and,across all regions, there aremajor gains – not only arethere fewer serious injuries but also the seriousness of thoseinjuries is decreasing.New Zealand in 2005 is a reversalin trend, due principally to one serious injury that required extensive time away from work. Europe is moving its trend steadily down and plans tomeet the 2006 target.

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Severity New Zealand 1999 – 2005

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Severity South East Asia1999 – 2005

Ingenious catch of the day

Normally a broken awayagitator blade in V160 inBelvedere’s esters plant anda large piece of metal blockingthe bottom run-off valve ofthe vessel would meandecommissioning the vesselfor at least two days, cleaning and isolating it for entry before the offending detritus couldbe removed.

Ingenious UK fitters, MickGaffney and Craig Franklin,had other ideas.

Within 30 minutes they hadbuilt their own fishing rodand removed the offendingitem safely without enteringthe vessel and avoidingproduction delays.

Although far from edible, it was certainly the biggest catch of the day.

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Severity Europe1999 – 2005

Nufarm group

Target

Nufarm region


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health, safety and environment expenditure

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Nufarm group safetyexpenditure 1999 – 2005

Breakdown of safety related expenditure 1999 – 2005

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A sprinkler system, suppliedby an on-site 140 cubic metrestorage tank and two diesel driven pumps, is installedin the warehouse andmanufacturing area.

The dedicated Captec Ivermectin manufacturing area, assembly area and Endectocidemanufacturing plant havea separate waste treatmentfacility for aqueous endectocide waste, while non-aqueouswaste and cleaning solutionsare incinerated.

All the equipment in the main manufacturing area of thenew flammable facility is‘intrinsically safe’ and, in other areas, where this is not thecase, the plant was designed with gas and vapour detectors that are interlocked with the power supply.

If any gas or vapour is detected in any part of the plant or if manual call points for a spill or fire are activated, power is cut to prevent an ignition source.

Manurewa manufacturing intrinsically safe

In 2005, Nufarm Health &Sciences at Manurewa in New Zealand began design andconstruction of a dedicatedfacility to produce a range of liquid anthelmintic productsfor global supply to one ofits major customers.

Commissioning is on schedule and first production is due in June 2006. The new facilityis necessary as one of theproducts that act againstparasitic worms is flammable and, as the products are based on endectocides (some ofwhich have a high level ofeco-toxicity), all waste associated with the process must bemanaged and destroyed.

The plant is possible because,for the past five years, the site has established and maintainedhigh good manufacturingpractice (GMP) standardsand best health, safety, andenvironmental practice.

GMP standards are very tight, well-documented standards required for the manufactureof animal and human medicine.

Manurewa has been audited and approved by the European Union regulatory authorities and, in 2006, the FDA will audit the plant for US approval.

The Manurewa site wasdesigned specifically to bea flexible, multi-purposemanufacturing plant for awide range of research-based animal health products.

The entire site is equipped with fire hoses and extinguishers, smoke detectors and fire alarms.

HSE Expenditure

Nufarm has expanded itsoperation, often by acquiring other companies. In some caseswe needed to improve thestandards of these operations through increased capitalexpenditure. At present,that need is declining buttraining continues to rise asour focus is increasingly on people and training to improve our safety performance.

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Nufarm group environmental expenditure 1999 – 2005

Breakdown of environment related expenditure 1999 – 2005

The plant was also designedto incorporate positivenitrogen pressure on allproduction vessels, includingthe mixing tank. The pressurein the nitrogen header ismonitored constantly and,if it drops below a certain set point, the system alarms and shuts down.

The oxygen content of themixing tank is also constantly monitored and shuts down operations if oxygen levelsrise above 4.7 percent. Thefire detection system, linkedto the fire water system,detects smoke and heat.If activated, the fire serviceis alerted automatically.

Plant surveillance is acombination of a monitoredinternal alarm system, combined with closed circuit televisionof the plant’s external areas.

As part of New Zealand’snew hazardous substancesand organisms legislation,Manurewa has been auditedand certified to store,manufacture and distribute hazardous substances.

Voluntary conservation daysin New Zealand

The island of Motuihe is in New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf, between Central Auckland and Waiheke Island but much of its ecology has been damaged by thewidespread introduction of exotic species, rabbit and other pest infestations.

In the middle of last winter,a team from Nufarm Health & Science in Otahuhu went tree planting on the island to help return the island to purelynative vegetation, eradicate pests and reintroducenative birds.

The planting project is a joint initiative of the MotuiheIsland Trust and the Department of Conservation (DoC), whichis charged with conservingthe natural and historicheritage of New Zealandfor future generations.

Now in its third year, Nufarm’s contribution of people and Roundup and Pulse products to assist the planting program was very welcome.

The DoC has individualmanagement plans for each island for the next 50 years.The ongoing work is to stockthe islands with endangeredbird species and replantnative vegetation with geneticmaterial collected on the island and propagated in hot houses.

All this work will only becompleted by an army ofvolunteers who will replantvegetation and exterminate weeds and pests such as cats, rats, possums and stoats.

On the day, Nufarm people put in 1500 native plants, which had been established in a plant nursery on the island. Species included pohutukawa, flax, puriri, manuka, mahoe and rewarewa, as well as kauri, cabbage tree and kowhai.

Nufarm willingly participatesin the work of the sanctuaries and trusts that govern the many islands in Auckland’s Waitematu Harbour.

Some islands are privately owned; others are managed by the New Zealand DoC. Each island is different, with a different geological history – some are volcanic cones.

Access to the islands, oftenrestricted, is by boat. All have one thing in common –threatened species of floraand fauna. 1999

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The company now hassubstantial germplasm baseand a highly skilled domestic and international plant breeding and field operations team, based in Horsham, Finley and Yarck in Australia, as well as overseas.

Many of the high yielding, high quality new plant varieties have not been available to Australian growers before and are already in public trials, showingexcellent results.

Nufarm’s involvement in seedsis a logical extension of itsleadership position in theAustralian crop protectionmarket where growers recognise the value associated withseed varieties that offerimprovements in yield andquality or provide distinctbenefits to food processors,producers and to consumers.

Using its existing distribution channels, Nufarm is achieving linkages with the company’s chemistry business via seed treatment solutions and theherbicide tolerant ‘Clearfield’ system (previously acquiredfrom BASF).

The differences betweenvapour drift and physicaldroplet drift were explained and how volatility affects differentphenoxy products.

One of the highlights of the workshops was the hands-on demonstration by a sprayapplication consultant who showed how nozzlesproducing a coarser dropletwere less affected by drift.

Reducing spray drift while improving efficiency

In 2005 Nufarm introduced its Spraywise program in Australia to reduce the incidence andrisk of spray drift damage toa diversity of crops withoutcompromising the benefitsof spraying.

In just four months, more than 700 farmers and agronomic advisers benefited through19 spray application workshops.

The workshops, run by Nufarm research and development staff with a team of industryspecialists, looked at the drift problem from all angles – the role of chemicals used, theinfluence of nozzle choiceand set-up of machinery andthe impact of weather andgoverning legislation.

The farmers and advisers gained informative insights into the complexity of local weather predictions, microclimates at ground level and how inversion layers form, as well as how they can affect spraying operations.

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environmental complaints and compliance

Environmental complaints 1999 – 2005

Environmental complaints

The majority of the complaints originate in one plant situated in a village with housing up to the boundary. The site has encouraged the neighbours to register complaints so that it can quickly investigate the source(s) and make efforts to reduce or eliminate the problems. Encouragingly, the total number of complaints is showing a small continuing decrease with time.

Sowing for the future

In its quest for ways to dothings better, Nufarm has strengthened and consolidated its interests in plant breeding and development. Nufarm and its partners are involved in the breeding and developmentof new canola, wheat,oats and field pea varieties,which are best suited to theAustralian environment.

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Number of environmental tests 1998 – 2005

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Environmental testscompliance 1998 – 2005

Environmental tests fully compliant sites 1998 – 2005

Spraywise tips

• Nozzles producing a FINE spray markedly increase drift potential compared to a COARSE spray quality.

• Most spray operations in the fi eld allow a change to nozzles that provide a coarser spray quality without the risk of losing effi cacy.

• Volatile phenoxy formulations should be used mainly in colder winter months and not close to sensitive crops.

• Only non-volatile phenoxy products should be used during warmer spring and summer months or close to sensitive crops.

• New Australian legislation requires all phenoxy herbicides to be applied with nozzles producing a COARSE to VERY COARSE spray.

It uses a unique pre-orifi ce design to eliminate the smaller droplets in the spectrumand produce large, air-fi lled,drift-resistant droplets.

Ideal for use when a groweris spraying pre-emergentherbicides, post-emergentsystemic herbicides and systemic fungicides near sensitive areas such as open water, residential areas or susceptible plants, the TTI tip produces very few smalldrift-prone droplets.

Based on the patented designof the original Turbo TeeJetspray nozzle, the TTI tip has many of the same benefi ts:a wide angle fl at spraypattern; excellent spray patterndistribution; an economicalpolymer construction; easy installation, cleaning andinspection; a choice ofsix capacities; and colourcoding in compliance withthe ISO standard for easycapacity identifi cation.

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Compliance

The decline in the number of tests being carried out is dueto some of our sites, whichtraditionally have carried out many tests, demonstrating to the authorities that reduced numbers of tests does notaff ect their performance.Some other sites are fi ndingthat compliance with limits isbecoming more diffi cult asthe authorities place evertighter limits on emissions. In most cases of non-compliance, the failures are wherevery low limits have beenmarginally exceeded.

Croplands new air induction spray tip provides excellent drift resistance

When off -target drift is aconcern and excellent overlapdistribution is needed, theanswer is Croplands’ new TurboTeeJet Induction (TTI) spray tip.

Emissions to air 2001 – 2005

Emissions to air

Some of the emissions such as CO, SOX, NOX and particulates are calculated emissions from energy use, based on published factors. In most of the othercategories, reductions continue as a result of concerted eff ortsto minimise releases. As we focus on these releases, new sources are discovered, which tend to increase the published numbers so the actual reductions arebetter than the numberswould indicate.

* In the past, the SEACplant (France) was the maincontributor to VOC emissions. The plant was sold at the endof 2004.

Kilogrammes 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

CO 4,809 4,333 4,635 2,793 2,533

Freon 130 345 150 151 273

Herbicides 390 289 333 296 397

Inorganics 554 69 126 74 53

NOX 6,094 5,392 14,021 11,162 9,521

Particulates 4,423 1,449 1,211 3,311 1,420

Phenoliccompounds

43 66 23 48 7

SOX 33,862 1,018 1,414 1,416 2,991

VOC 346,510 356,513 355,209 307,357 50,625

VOC (excluding SEAC)*

26,856 61,011 81,209 84,857 50,625

Total 406,814 369,473 377,122 326,609 67,819

Total (exlcuding SEAC)*

172,814 119,473 103,122 104,109 67,819

energy use


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Reducing the amount of waste going to landfill has also been in the spotlight with staff working with the solid waste serviceprovider to improve efficiencies in segregating and recycling waste and identifying options for waste treatment and reduction.

Staff are also becoming more aware of how much their own actions can contribute to the reduction by participating in recycling programs, as well as identifying new opportunitiesto recycle and reduce waste.

One of the major sources ofcontaminated packaging waste at Laverton is bulk bags and a feasibility trial is underway to shred, clean and recycle plastic from bulk bags.

Energy use

While Nufarm productionhas increased, overall energyuse has reduced due toenergy conservation programs.Laverton and Linz are two sites with energy intensive processes and both continue to increase production substantially with only minimal increase inenergy consumption.

Energy reduction projects inthe two chlor alkali plants aresucceeding, and the productrationalisation between our Botlek and Belvedere plantsis showing major benefits.

Making a difference

On 26 December 2004the Indian Ocean orSumatra-Andaman underseaearthquake triggered a seriesof lethal tsunami that spreadthroughout the Indian Ocean.

Large numbers of people were killed and coastal communities were devastated across South and South East Asia. More than 230,000 people were affected.

Known as the Asian or Boxing Day tsunami, the earthquake– at 9.16 on the Richter scale – originated in the Indian Ocean just north of Simeulue Island,off the western coast ofnorthern Sumatra.

The tsunami devastated the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South India, Thailand andother countries with wavesup to 30 metres or 100 feet.

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Estimated CO2 released from energy use and processes 1999 – 2005

First environmentalimprovement plan for Laverton

In 2005, the Nufarm plantat Laverton developed andimplemented its firstenvironment improvementplan (EIP), which was approved by the Environment ProtectionAuthority in August.

Incorporating several keyobjectives to further improvethe site’s environmentalperformance, the EIP includes actions for work on abating odour, managing water, energy and raw material resources,as well as reducing waste.

Data obtained from acomprehensive on-site odour study in 2005 was modelled and used to highlight key odour contributors to benchmark plant areas and to set priorities for odour reduction projects.

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Major energy users 2002 – 2005CO2 released

Nufarm is also assisting ninenew graduate agrochemicalstudents with one year of paid job training at Nufarm Indonesia after graduation. Agriculturalstudents were trained onpesticide application techniques and product knowledge.

They spent time with Nufarm field representatives andcollected data on agricultural land destroyed by the tsunami and the needs of farmers in those areas.

In January 2006, the trainees distributed free Nufarm product to a large number of farmers – mostly small scale rice andoil palm growers – in the West Aceh and Nagan Raya areas.

They are now working with those growers to ensure the product is used to best effectas the farms are re-established.

The training enables the students with the ability and potential to establish their own local workshops to provide a source of income and a more secure future.

At the completion of theircourse in late July, thestudents participated insix weeks practical workin garment factories.

Upon graduation, these students will have the opportunity to work in the garment industryor start their own workshopsin Aceh, and offer their waresfor sale at local markets.

In a separate project, Nufarmwill help with the living costsof three final year students at Bogor Agricultural Institute.

The assistance will cover travel costs to allow students to return to their homes.

energy use

It caused serious damage and deaths as far as the east coastof Africa, with the furthestrecorded death due to thetsunami at Port Elizabeth in South Africa, 8000 kilometres away from the epicentre.

The plight of the manycountries affected by theearthquake prompted awidespread humanitarianresponse, including fromNufarm employees.

Nufarm supplementedemployee donations anda total fund of $A100,000 was established to fund programsin the Aceh/West Java areaof Indonesia.

Managed by Nufarm’sIndonesian team, the programs included support, food,accommodation, learningmaterials and fees for a classof 15 students from Aceh while training at the non-profit International German Garment Centre in Bogor, West Java.

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managing waste


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Linz production up, recycling up and waste down

The plant in Linz, Austriamakes agricultural chemicalsand has recently increasedits production, dueto rationalisation andreadjustment of Nufarm’sEuropean manufacturing.

In spite of this, the plantcontinues to reduce its waste quantities per unit of production.

Most of its waste goes to thesite biotreatment plant whereorganic materials are destroyed.Hazardous organic materialsare sent for incineration.

In line with Linz’s increasedproduction is the increasein recycling with about halfbeing the recovery of dilutedsulphuric acid and the balancepredominantly packaging.

Changing attitudes to salt

Due to Nufarm’s basicchemical synthesis, saltis its biggest waste.

At its Laverton plant in Australia, traditionally the salt has been discharged, together with some organic waste, directly to the Werribee treatment plant.

With Australia the driest continent on earth, increasing attention is being paid to ways of recycling waste water and the state government intends to recycle water from the treatment plant for agriculture use and by home gardeners.

Currently the Werribee wateris too salty to use this wayand Nufarm, together withthe government and othercompanies that discharge to Werribee, are looking at howto reduce the inflow of salt.

Since late 2005, Laverton has been working with consultants to provide a detailed salt balance across all of its operations and identify opportunities to reduce the discharge of salt.

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Total waste excluding salt 2001 – 2005

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Total waste 1999 – 2005

Building homes, building hope

Nufarm employees in Calgary dug out their hammers and nails recently and joined teams from business competitors who volunteered together to help a low-income family by building them a house.

In a statement about theircommunity roots and in the spirit of providing a hand-upnot a hand-out, Nufarm joined Bayer Crop Science, Syngenta, Dow Agrosciences, GrowthStage and AgCall on ‘The House That Agriculture Built’, partof the Habitat for HumanityCanada program.

Habitat for Humanity builds simple, decent and affordable homes in partnership withthe community and with thefamilies who will own them.

Salt

Almost all of the basic synthesis carried out by Nufarm involves chlorine chemistry, which produces salt with the amounts depending on the chemistry. In most cases, we are unable to recover the salt from our effluent streams for re-use or for sale. However, by paying particular attention to salt management, especially in our chlorine plants where salt is a raw material,we have been able to increaseproduction while keeping the total salt discharge across our plants steady.

Our long-term focus on waste minimisation means the total quantities of waste in recent years have changed little butwe continually challenge ourmanagers to continue on the waste minimisation path.While the gains are no longerspectacular from year to year, there are successes such asthe continuing reduction inchlorinated organics waste.

Other examples of Nufarm’sactive presence in thecommunity in WesternAustralia include in-kindprofessional support, sharing of knowledge, source of work experience, traineeships andapprenticeships, graduate awards, scholarships, science peer mentoring support, anannual science lecture andthe highly successful annualyouth arts project andrecreational activities.

Further recognition for Nufarm came when the ten year oldlocal industry/community arts partnership, initiated by Nufarm, won Western Australia’s most prestigious arts prize in the State Arts Sponsorship Scheme awards. The prestigious‘Community Investment’ award for an outstanding businessarts partnership was presentedto the ‘KIC Design for Industry and The Nufarm YouthEncouragement AwardsPartnership’ by the Hon. Sheila McHale, Western Australia’sMinister for Culture and the Arts.

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Total waste and waste to industrial treatment plant

2001 – 2005

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Salt discharge 1999 – 2005

Commitment tocommunity award

Against a competitive fieldof 23 entries including RioTinto, Nufarm carried off theCommitment to Community Award for the second time in Western Australia’s SouthCoast Regional Chambers ofCommerce Small Business Awards last September.

The win confirms that Nufarm’s confident, strategic approachto meaningful communityengagement is paying dividends.

Nufarm’s community presence includes a range of activities across environment, education and training and communityrecreation, including the arts.

Highlights of communityengagement have been its industry tours that particularly target senior high schoolstudents to help address the critical decline of young people who are choosing science as a career option.

Total waste

Industrial treatment plant

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The four members of thepartnership are Nufarm, the Kwinana Industries Council,the Kwinana IndustriesEducation Partnership andRockingham Council for theArts and Crafts (RCAC).

From small beginnings, their activity has grown to nowinvolve some 1000 students from 10 high schools, their teachers, industry sponsors, the RCAC andcommunity members.

The program has raisedconfidence, attractedcooperation and engendereda sense of pride that has hada strengthening effect on local communities, whilst developing the skills of young people.

Research shows thedevelopment of artistic talents has a positive effect on student motivation and plays a role in increasing school retention rates – after all, imagination, creativity and design underpin alltechnology and innovation.

The homes are built almost completely by volunteers using building materials, land and money donated by individuals,businesses, service clubs,foundations and faithcommunities, making itpossible for low income or homeless families to becomehomeowners. Selected families pay for their homes withno-interest, long-termmortgages. The mortgage payments go into a ‘Fund for Humanity’, which is used tobuild future Habitat homes.

Working in partnership withlow-income families and people of good will from all walksof life, Habitat for HumanityInternational has built over 200,000 houses in more than100 countries to provide one million plus people with safe, affordable housing.

managing waste


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Work experience withan international flavour

It is not often that students have the opportunity to undertake work experience half theworld away from home but ithappened to Damien De Laporte in his final year of study to qualify as a mechanical engineer.

A student at the University of ENIM, Damien travelled fromthe city of Metz in France’s northeast to Nufarm’s internationalheadquarters at Laverton in Australia’s south east for four month’s work experience.

While he enjoyed his time in Australia – particularly a twoday trip to the Horsham regional centre in Victoria’s west, an area renown for its broad acre farming – he was put to work to improve the Laverton plant’s Envirodrum™ washing machine.

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Waste destination excluding industrial treatment plant 2001 – 2005

Damien is the third international student to work at Laverton andexperience different people from different backgrounds, as well how corporate entities function.

He and his predecessors,both electrical engineering students (one from Franceand one from India), have all commented on the enrichingexperience as being goodpreparation for their futureprofessional careers.

He found a solution andimplemented it but willingly acknowledged he had a lotof help and support from theplant operators.

Two things that impressedDamien about his work atNufarm were the attentionpaid to maintenance and the safe working environment.

“Nufarm attaches a lotof importance to both,”says Damien.

“Maintenance is very important for mechanical engineers and I was very fortunate to be working in such a great atmosphere.

“Australians are very happyand enjoy life – everythingis no worries and no stress.”

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Waste destinations

Before 2004, the Linz plant did not report on its salt discharge (approximately 4,500 tonnes) through the sewerage system – the sudden increase in 2004 reflects the change in reporting. More pleasing is the increase in recycling and the reduction in material going to landfill.

Nufarm Limited ABN 37 091 323 312103–105 Pipe RoadLaverton NorthVictoria 3026 Australia

Telephone +61 3 9282 1000Facsimile + 61 3 9282 1007Website http://www.nufarm.com

The Nufarm 2006 Health Safety and Environment Report, produced by Gillian Sweetland and designed by Tiffany Titshall, is printed on paper that carries the recycled symbol. It is made of 50 per centrecycled paper and 50 per cent oxygen bleached pulp.

The site inserts are printed on fibre sourced from managed renewable plantation forests and produced in a paper mill that has internationally recognised environmental standards and an ongoingcommitment to the conservation of natural resources.

nufarm limited 2006 health, safety and environment report · the health, safety and environment...

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