High Plains Processing broke ground in the fall of 2023 on a $500 million soybean processing facility near Mitchell, South Dakota. The plant will have the capacity to process 35 million bushels of soybeans annually, or about one million tons of high-oil content product. There are two main products made there: soybean meal, which is used as feed, and soybean oil, which can be turned into renewable biodiesel. The facility will employ approximately 85 full-time employees when completed in 2025.

In February of 2024 High Plains Processing, a division of South Dakota Soybean Processors (SDSBP), partnered with the OSHA Consultation Program at South Dakota State University (South Dakota Consultation) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) area office in Sioux Falls to foster a culture of workplace safety from the start of the soybean processing facility’s building project.

The Strategic Partnership agreement establishes a committee that meets monthly with representatives of all contractors on site. While meetings are mainly proactive in nature, they also include a review of incidents, near miss reports, and the days away, restricted, or transferred (DART) time for the site. The SDSU Consultation representatives offer informal training sessions on a variety of topics, such as mental health in construction and carbon monoxide (CO) awareness in the cold months. The South Dakota Consultation representative also continue to promote their services at the monthly meetings. There has been a total of eight on site visits with contractors to date. On any given day, there are 300-350 workers on site.

“We've got a wonderful safety culture going,” Jason Converse, EHS Manager from South Dakota Soybean Processors said. “It's incredible at the buy-in that we were able to get between all the different contractors. This partnership has brought everyone together, helping make sure there are consistent safety programs, and consistent goals.”

According to Jason, one of the successful outcomes of this partnership is the amount of people proactively identifying hazards in their workspaces. Converse also describes how each weekly engineering meeting now starts with a safety talk. The conversations are robust, with many people participating.

“All these contractors have seen the success and have been a part of it,” Converse said. “The hope is that they'll go forward to the next project and just continue to improve.” “It shows the employer's commitment to running a safe work site,” Greg Derynck, South Dakota OSHA Consultation Program Manager said. “These partnerships show that when employers take advantage of them, they will realize the benefit of having assistance in how they run their safety program. They start taking a proactive view of safety rather than just reacting after an accident occurs.”

The OSHA On-Site Consultation Program offers no-cost and confidential occupational safety and health services to small and medium-sized businesses in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories, with priority given to high hazard worksites. Consultants from state agencies or universities work with employers to identify workplace hazards and how to fix them, provide advice for compliance with OSHA standards, train and educate workers, and assist in establishing and improving safety and health programs. On-Site Consultation services are separate from OSHA enforcement efforts. To locate the OSHA On-Site Consultation program nearest you, call 800-321-OSHA (6742) or visit https://www.osha.gov/consultation.