Monsanto Regional Risk Management Program

Monsanto is an American Company that has operations in different countries all over the world. Monsanto core business is the production of Herbicides and Seeds. As a multinational company Monsanto has the challenge of complying not only with the Corporative requirements but also with each of the country where it has operations legal ones. The risk management program developed by Monsanto in Latin America took the best and more restrictive practices from the Brazilian, Argentinean and the American Legislation and Monsanto's Corporative requirements in order to develop a risk management system for the agrochemical and seeds manufacturing operations with the Goal of creating and sustaining an injury free workplace and the freedom to operate.

The Risk Management Program (RMP) developed by Monsanto in Latin America is composed by 12 (twelve) important elements aimed to keep the buildings' integrity, the employees, contractors and neighbors' safety, as well as to protect the surrounding environment.

These elements are:

1. Information Management: Aimed to keep technical and operational files, as well as control standards up to date.

2. Process Safety: Its main goal is to define the necessary information and management practices related to projects, equipment and chemical hazard products, including HHM (High hazard materials) and their interaction in the process.

3. Risk Analysis: development of a consistent methodology aimed to identify, assess and register the process risks and its severity, as well as the environmental aspects, impacts and risks associated to operational tasks. The system also persuades the people to look for alternative ways of conducting operations to reduce the risk level.

4. Operational Procedures: Working guidelines with clear, easy to find and consistent instructions with the goal of keeping the installations' integrity, product quality and safely operations under normal situations, or under maintenance or emergency situations.

5. Training: its main objective is to provide guidelines to the technicians and professionals recruiting process as well as their training and operational certification.

6. Contractor and Guest Program: Assure that all contractors and visitors, who come into Monsanto's site, have been evaluated and trained according to their activities' risk level the number of days they will be working in the site and the pre-requirements defined by the corporation, and in accordance with the Brazilian and Argentinean Legislation.

7. Management of Change: It is aimed to manage the changes and identify the new risks generated from the implementation new technologies, modifications to current installations and/or introduction of new raw materials, product, equipment or instruments, in order to assure the building integrity through engineering standards and people and environment preservation as defined in Brazilian, Argentinean Legislation and Corporate requirements. This program also takes into account changes to the organization, understanding by that changes in leadership, functions or responsibilities. This procedure defines clear steps involving people training and operations and it's risks understanding before they assume the new roles.

8. Mechanical Integrity: It's aimed to assure the inspections and maintenance process of the critical and non-critical process equipments in the manufacturing process, keeping the installations building integrity.

9. Incidents Investigation: Identification of the root cause through specific methodologies reducing the possibility of new accidents over and over.

10. Emergency response planning: It provides emergency control systems to promptly and efficiently fight against emergencies, reducing the potential risk to employees, contractors, surrounding community and the environment.

11. Human Factors: It assesses worker / machinery in the working environment which may lead to undesirable events. Is also manages the human interface to avoid these events.

12. Audit: It is aimed to evaluate if all steps involved in each RMP element have been efficiently followed, indentifying improvement opportunities, as well as to provide information to the critical analysis management system.

Each RPM element goal was selected considering the impact on the our operations safety and the guidelines to provide alignments on how to fulfill each program element. Performance appraisal indicators are applied to assure the elements' efficacy. The implementation of the Risk Management Program has demonstrated an improvement in the process safety culture. These Indicators are integrated to the Monsanto Latin America Safety Critical Analysis Program and with the PDCA methodology.