AGI Saskatoon celebrates 10 years of safety excellence with No Lost Time Incidents

CANADA – Ag Growth International (AGI), a global leader in agricultural equipment manufacturing, has celebrated a significant safety milestone at its Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada manufacturing facility for marking ten years without a lost time incident (LTI).

The Saskatoon facility, commissioned in 1989 by Westeel and acquired by AGI in 2015, manufactures custom smooth-wall grain and fertilizer bins for agricultural and commercial use.

It also offers custom welding services to other AGI locations. The plant, certified to the ISO 9001:2015 standard, has focused extensively on safety education and preventative measures.

The achievement was commemorated with a special event and awards ceremony, honoring the commitment of the AGI Saskatoon team to workplace safety.

Paul Householder, AGI’s president and CEO, praised the Saskatoon team’s dedication, noting that safety has become a core element of the company’s culture.

“Their achievement demonstrates that safety, as a guiding principle, is deeply ingrained in our work culture. They embody AGI’s highest global priority that every employee returns home at the end of each day in the exact same condition in which they arrived,” said Householder.

A lost time incident (LTI) refers to a non-fatal workplace injury that results in an employee missing work.

The absence of LTIs is a key indicator of a company’s safety performance and a reflection of the organization’s commitment to worker health and productivity.

Operations Manager Kris Wingert emphasized the team’s role in surpassing 2 million hours incident-free earlier this year.

 “This achievement belongs to the team’s absolute dedication to safety leadership at all levels. Their vigilance, prevention, and education keep them aware of potential hazards and prevent near misses before anyone gets hurt,” he explained.

Wingert further highlighted the importance of hands-on skillsets, which require tight safety protocols in a manufacturing environment with moving machinery.

AGI’s Saskatoon facility is the second in the company’s global network to achieve this safety milestone.

In 2023, AGI’s Olds, Alberta facility became the first to reach the ten-year mark. Harsha Bhojraj, AGI’s vice president of manufacturing, lauded the Saskatoon team as a “perfect example” of the company’s safety vision in action.

He praised the facility’s ability to maintain safety standards consistently across varying shifts and changing conditions.

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