Omnium Plant Implements New Safety Training Program

The Omnium employees went through a new safety training program last week — and two of their youngest employees were the masterminds behind it all.

Maddy Button, 22, and Shannon Rajkowski, 23, coordinated the training sessions for the Land O’ Lakes plant, which manufactures crop protection and plant nutrition products in Hampton.

The Chronicle stopped by for a tour of the facility and to run through the training on Wednesday, June 5. According to Button, there were seven training stations at the plant: a mock spill clean-up, forklift safety, fire safety, personal protective gear and more. Button is part of a rotational program for Land o Lakes where she is stationed at Hampton for 1 year.

“It’s a hands-on experience that the employees are able to get, and it’s other employees teaching as well,” Button said.

According to Omnium process engineer Rajkowski, there are around 70 people who work at the plant, ranging in age from early 20s to near-retirement. 

As the two ladies walked around the plant, they pointed out where employees could walk — along the green paths and behind the guardrails — to avoid getting hit by forklifts. 

“You know the Yellow Brick Road?” Button asked. “It’s the same thing. It’s supposed to bring awareness, even to forklift drivers that there may be pedestrians on it, and also awareness for pedestrians to know that there may be a forklift.”

At the mock-up spill station, Darlene Willis-Gruver showed the group of ten people how to clean up any type of spill. 

“For each station, they have around 15 minutes for an introduction,” Button said. “So at the spill station, they talk about the steps for spill cleanup. And then after talking about the procedure, she will actually have them do a mock spill clean-up.” 

Button said that whenever someone at the plant needs help with a spill, Darlene is there to help, saying “she knows how to properly dispose of any material here.” 

Rajkowski explained that they used water and a slime pack so that the spilled substance would be colorful and “slightly mysterious.” 

At the forklift safety station, employees practiced the three points of getting into the forklift: placing both hands on the handles and then a foot on the step before hoisting themselves up into the seat. 

“For the forklift safety station, they are learning about the proper safety requirements for forklift-pedestrian traffic and then they’re learning how to get on themselves, just so that they can see the blindspots themselves,” Rajkowski said. 

Button added that it’s supposed to “bridge the gap” between forklift drivers and pedestrians. 

“We do this so that people can get perspectives from both sides,” Button said. “That’s why we wear the high-vis hat and the high-vis vest so that it’s easier for the forklift drivers to see us — a big yellow blob moving.” 

When employees weren’t participating in one of the training stations around the plant, there were safety-themed activities they could work on during breaks. 

“There are word searches and a crossword puzzle, all safety related,” Buttons said. “Also, once per day, they are allowed to give a safety shout-out to someone. So if they see someone doing something, they can make note of it. And for a hazard hunt, if they see a hazard around the plant, they can make note of that. And for each one that they complete, they’ll get a raffle ticket and we have a bunch of cool prizes that they’ll have a chance to win at the end of the week.”

On the second floor of the office, there was a room full of prizes (including a juicer that Rajkowski had her eye on), as well as a trivia station in a boardroom. 

“The trivia ranges from safety topics to random things about the company,” Button said. 

Button said she appreciates how much Land O’ Lakes has invested in her professional growth. 

“It’s not just here in Hampton, but across the whole enterprise,” she said. “I was an intern before this, so I’ve been in Wisconsin, I’ve been in Minnesota, and now I’m here, and I’ve done dairy at a cheese facility and now i’m here with crops for the farmers, so I’ve been able to experience a lot of different aspects at Land O’ Lakes and I like how they’re also investing in my professional development. They really care about us employees, not just us working, but also our goals. 

Button, who works in the supply chain department, received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and food science from Iowa State University in 2023.  

Rajkowski said she felt like she had gained valuable management experience in her time at Land O Lakes. 

“I had the opportunity to help out in a department on the management level for a while and that helped my career grow a bit too,” she said. “I had some supervisor experience before, but nothing super professional, like this. So that helped me see [management] from a production standpoint, and now I’m going back into engineering.”

Rajkowski, who works in the engineering department, received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Benedictine College in 2023. 

Both Button and Rajkowski said they were happy with how the training went, and that they couldn’t have done it without the plant’s safety and EHS (environmental health and safety) manager Brett Nelson; plant manager Ray Southerland; operations manager Montana McCabe; Administrative Coordinator Tara Guerrero; and everyone around the plant. 

“It went really well,” Rajkowski said. “We had really positive feedback and we learned ways we can improve it for next year as well. We hope to make this an annual event.”