Jan. 4, 2008

Monsanto Company recognized for MNSTAR achievement Jan. 10

Workplace safety and health representatives from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) will recognize Monsanto Company's Redwood Falls, Minn., research site for its achievement as a MNSTAR (Minnesota Star) worksite, during a ceremony at 11 a.m., Jan. 10, at the Redwood Area Community Center, 901 Cook Street, Redwood Falls, Minn.

MNSTAR is a Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MNOSHA) program that recognizes worksites where managers and employees work together to develop safety and health management systems that go beyond basic compliance with all applicable OSHA standards and result in immediate and long-term prevention of job-related injuries and illnesses.

"We are pleased to reward Monsanto for being a model of excellence in safety and health," said Steve Sviggum, Department of Labor and Industry commissioner. "Its efforts to get all employees home in the same condition they arrived to work in each day should be recognized and applauded.

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Its Redwood Falls site conducts soybean research.

"Monsanto Redwood Falls is proud to accept this health and safety award," said Roger Lussenden, soybean breeder and Redwood Falls site manager. "Achieving MNSTAR status was a group effort, with the support and work of all of the employees at the site."

Sviggum and other DLI representatives will commemorate the company's employee-employer relationship by presenting a MNSTAR flag and a certificate that exempts the facility for three years from MNOSHA Compliance scheduled inspections.

MNSTAR began in Minnesota in January 1999, and is modeled after the federal OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), which began in 1982. Monsanto Company's Redwood Falls site is the 24th MNSTAR worksite in Minnesota.

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News media contact:
James Honerman
(651) 284-5313