The well-being of CHS employees, owners, customers and communities is why safety is one of our core values. CHS and our employees are committed to continually advancing our approach to safety.
To engage and recognize employees across the cooperative who make significant contributions to safety, CHS created the Safety Excellence Award. Recipients and their actions make a lasting impact on the company by meaningfully reducing exposure to potential health or safety risks. The inaugural awards were presented on Jan. 14, 2025.
“I am so impressed by the actions taken by our inaugural Safety Excellence Award recipients and the impact they are having on safety at CHS,” says Jay Debertin, president and CEO. “These kinds of actions demonstrate tremendous commitment to our safety value.”
More than 60 Safety Excellence Award nominations were submitted in fiscal year 2024 across three areas of focus: culture and leadership, integrity and commitment, and innovation and creativity.
The following employees and locations received the Safety Excellence Award for fiscal year 2024:
Individual and small team award recipients
- Tim Gaustad created a safety learning platform for employees of the CHS refinery at Laurel, Mont. He researches and documents industry and local safety events and presents details on how Laurel employees can work to avoid similar events.
- Charles Adkisson and Trevor Kahl identified communication barriers that could have led to safety issues at the CHS biorefinery at Rochelle, Ill. By speaking up, they increased awareness about the impact of clear and concise communication and provided feedback to help leaders and others avoid this issue in the future.
- Ben Vigil assembled a team at the CHS refinery at Laurel, Mont., to improve the mechanical skimming capacity of a clarifier that had shut down unexpectedly. The improvements resulted in the clarifier better handling upset conditions. This in turn reduced the amount of necessary maintenance and potential hydrogen sulfide exposure risks that exist with such maintenance.
Location award recipients
- The Annawan (Ill.) biorefinery team used near-miss investigations and teamwork to identify situations that posed safety risks. The team worked to educate and take corrective actions to improve safety.
- The CHS refinery at McPherson, Kan., and the CHS pipelines and terminals team hosted their sixth Safety Fair at the refinery in 2024. The fair created a fun atmosphere for teaching employees, as well as their family and friends, about safety at work and at home. The fair also provided opportunities to engage with local emergency services and other community members.
- Employees at the Willmar (Minn.) distribution warehouse designed and implemented a pressure-washing system that reduces exposure risk and enables employees to clean the inside surface of a reusable tote in just 45 seconds. This new system significantly reduced onsite manual pressure washing needs by an estimated 1,500 interactions.
Congratulations to all 2024 Safety Excellence Award recipients! CHS employees and teams are encouraged to consider applying for the award in fiscal year 2025. Winners will be announced in early 2026.
Celebrating the first CHS Safety Excellence Award announcements were corporate sponsors and award winners, from left, Tom Brower, vice president, environment , health and safety; Enden Nelson, pipelines and terminals team; Maury Hoefer and Curt Stufflebean, McPherson, Kan., refinery Corey Gronli, Willmar, Minn., distribution warehouse; Trevor Kahl, Rochelle, Ill. biorefinery; John Griffith, executive vice president, ag business and CHS Hedging; Eric Sasse, Willmar, Minn., distribution warehouse;; Tim Gaustad, Laurel, Mont., refinery; Adam Childs and Travis Desplinter, Annawan , Ill., biorefinery; Jay Debertin, president and CEO; John Traeger, senior vice president, refining, pipelines and terminals; and Brandon Smith, executive vice president and general counsel. Not pictured are award winners Charles Adkisson, Rochelle, Ill., biorefinery, and Ben Vigil, Laurel, Mont., refinery.
