The safety, health and wellbeing of our people and the community continues to be one of Nufarm’s most material topics and is an essential facet of our commitment to our people, customers, and growers which we demonstrate by practising responsible consumption and production, and by providing and maintaining a safe working environment.
Our people
At Nufarm, our organisational culture sets us apart. Our values are responsibility, agility, respect, and empowerment, all of which drive our actions and decisions towards our colleagues, customers, stakeholders, and the environment, ultimately shaping us as a resourceful and entrepreneurial organisation.
Our employee value proposition encompasses the value we offer our people and highlights the distinct characteristics of the Nufarm culture. This proposition is built on three fundamental principles that drive our efforts in attracting, retaining, and developing our exceptional workforce:
- Come as you are: we trust and respect one another and celebrate our differences. Feel empowered to be who you are and unlock your potential.
- Own your growth: we encourage employees to take advantage of opportunities where together we can all make a difference.
- Stay curious: we want our people to explore new ideas, get creative and be heard.
We work to foster a workplace where diversity is celebrated and our employees feel included. We understand that diverse thinking helps contribute to our innovative culture.
We are proud to have employees from over 80 different nationalities working across 44 countries and we remain dedicated to our FY30 target of having a gender balance that is 40:40:20 for our senior leadership team, meaning 40 per cent who identify as women, 40 per cent who identify as men and 20 per cent who identify as men, women or other.
Case studies
Examples from within our business.
At our manufacturing site at Wyke, the team has been working on an Asset Integrity Management (AIM) program to make the site safer, more efficient, and more reliable. As part of this program, the site has had a major pipework overhaul. Wyke’s pipe network spans over 115 kilometres (km), and is an integral part of the manufacturing process, therefore it is one of our priorities to ensure its safety and reliability.
Since 2018, the team has replaced 8.7 km of pipework. By systematically replacing older sections, it has significantly boosted the safety and reliability of the infrastructure. The team have also introduced a new pipe support system, which aims to improve safety and engineering efficiency for current and future installations.
The team has removed 4.2 km of redundant pipework. This not only reduces unnecessary weight on pipe bridges but also removes the risk of degradation, which could lead to possible failures or dropped objects.
AIM is an important element of Process Safety Management (PSM). The intent of the program is to ensure that PSM assets continue to perform their required function and maintain their design intent to prevent, control, and mitigate unexpected losses of containment that could lead to a Major Incident event.
Since the end of 2024, Nufarm has seen an increase in employees participating in mental health first aid (MHFA) training across Australia and New Zealand.
Facilitated by TELUS Health, the program equips people with the skills to recognise, approach and support people who may be experiencing a mental health condition and direct them to the best resources and professional support. The goal is early intervention, meaning individuals can get the right support they need at the right time, with a large emphasis on normalising mental health and taking away stigma through education and awareness. Nufarm’s team of MHFA participants are invited to join a regular Healthy Minds Network, to come together to learn, share and support. These sessions have previously had both internal and external guest speakers and provide further education on the topic of mental health, and the MHFA program has elicited overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Shoaib Karamat, Safety Specialist at Pipe Rd, Laverton shared, “I chose to participate in the MHFA training because I wanted to deepen my understanding of mental health and be able to offer meaningful support to colleagues when they need it. The training has equipped me with practical tools, and I feel more prepared to make a positive impact.”
Safety
At Nufarm, we value the safety of our team, our products, our customers, our community and our environment above all else. We believe that every incident should be avoidable, and we all play a vital role in ensuring a safe environment for everyone who works with us or visits our sites.
Our safety management system (SMS) encompasses important health and safety elements such as incident and injury reporting and investigation, management of change, training and competency, and emergency planning and response, and extends to all Nufarm workers. We are committed to prioritising health, safety and well-being, and the environment in all our business activities. Our full Health, Safety and Environment Policy can be found.
Employee health and wellbeing
Our FY24 Materiality Study showed that employee and community safety, health, and wellness was the most important material topic for Nufarm employees. Mental health is a universal human right. We are dedicated to promoting wellness and positive mental health practices in all aspects of our operations, offering health and wellbeing services to all employees.
Nufarm’s people are the foundation of our success, and we are committed to providing benefits and programs that make it as easy as possible to keep our people happy, healthy, and engaged. Recognising that one size does not fit all, we offer flexible work arrangements to our employees.
- At some sites, we have dedicated on-site medical centres staffed with company occupational health nurses and other healthcare professionals.
- In other cases, we collaborate with local providers to deliver health services, which employees have access to during their working hours on site.
- Since FY21, we have held mental health activities during the month of October.
- We provide access to TELUS Health, which delivers global health and wellbeing services across physical, mental and financial health. We offer this service to employees and their immediate families 24 hours a day, in 48 languages. In FY24 we saw a 40 per cent uptake in utilisation of the services, a 4 per cent increase from FY23.
This year over 1,200 employees and 40 family members participated in online wellness programs, such as those to help people manage stress, grief, working from home, work-life balance and more.
Human rights
Nufarm takes its human rights obligations and responsibilities seriously and strives to protect human rights in its business, supply chain and the communities in which it operates, consistent with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Nufarm believes that respecting human rights is integral to the sustainability and success of its business.
Nufarm has a board approved human rights policy in place, which can be found here.
Slavery, trafficking in persons and child labour are very serious issues. We take steps to identify and reduce the risk of modern slavery in our operations and supply chain. We publish an annual modern slavery statement. Our most recent one, the 2023 Modern Slavery Statement, published in March 2024, can be found here. Our FY24 modern slavery statement will be published in early 2025.
We recognise and respect employee’s rights and freedom to join or not to join organisations of their own choosing, to associate freely and bargain collectively, and we are committed to facilitating open communication and engagement between workers and management. No employee shall be subject to dismissal, discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or retaliation due to their membership in a lawful workers’ association or union.
Nufarm will take reasonable measures to ensure equal opportunities for all employees. Employment related decisions are based solely on merit and business considerations. Decisions based on attributes unrelated to job performance, including but not limited to race, gender, sexuality or family responsibilities will not be tolerated. Nufarm acts in accordance with local legislation and cultural considerations that may impact workplace decisions and actions.
