OSHA trumpets Agland Inc. for workplace safety

EATON – Federal officials have bestowed Agland Inc. with a pair of awards that recognize the Eaton company’s safety record.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, better known as OSHA, granted its Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program award to Agland’s feed mill in Eaton, as well as its agronomy operation in Gilcrest.

The award goes to small employers who operate an exemplary safety and health management system.

As a result of the recognition, Agland can be removed from OSHA’s programmed inspection list until January 2006. The exemption recognizes Agland’s safety and health program and that the company’s injuries and illnesses are below the national levels.

Agland, a farmer-owned cooperative, employs approximately 200 people at 17 different locations. The company provides a variety of services, including grain-feed milling, agronomy, tire and truck operations, convenience stores, propane sales and distribution and car care.

Agland’s Gilcrest Agronomy location individually participated in a comprehensive safety and health on-site consultation survey conducted by the Consultation Program at Colorado State University. The survey was unable to identify any hazards.

“I am really proud of the people down there who take safety to heart,´ said Wayne Gustafson, vice president of Agland’s Agronomy division. “They understand our safety culture and they had no trouble coming into full compliance for SHARP.”

The agronomy division works with fertilizers and other potentially dangerous chemicals as well as heavy farm equipment, including crop sprayers.

There are 28 companies in Colorado and approximately 800 in the nation that have received the designation. Other local companies to win OSHA recognition include: Colorado Crystal Corp., Loveland; Dakocytomation, Fort Collins; Dan Ostermiller Sculpture, Loveland; Front Range Steel, Wellington; Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins and Yancey’s Food Service, Loveland.

CSURF honors Optibrand founders

Three Colorado State University professors were awarded the Colorado State University Research Foundation’s 2005 Technology Transfer Award for their development of a process to track livestock through scanning each animal’s unique retinal image.

The technology is the basis for Optibrand Ltd. LLC in Fort Collins.

The award, formerly called the Researcher of the Year Award, is presented annually to a top Colorado State researcher who has developed technology and had it successfully commercialized through patents and license agreements.

The 2005 award was presented to Bruce Golden, former professor of animal genetics and breeding at Colorado State and currently affiliate faculty member; Bernard Rollin, a university distinguished professor of philosophy and university bioethicist, and Ralph Switzer, a professor of finance in the College of Business and an adjunct professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The trio received the CSU Research Foundation award at the organization’s 19th Technology Transfer Awards Banquet in February.

Golden, Rollin and Switzer are the founders of Optibrand, which has patents in four countries, including the United States, and has applications pending in other nations.

“These individuals have truly impressive academic records as well as equally impressive growing records in technology transfer and local economic development,´ said Kathleen Henry, president and CEO of the CSU Research Foundation. “Their technology transfer and economic success is shown through the creation of a start-up company, which is based in Fort Collins and currently employs 17 people, half of whom have graduated from Colorado State University.”

Optibrand’s main product – the OptiReader – is a combination handheld computer and digital video camera. The device tracks animals such as cattle, pigs and sheep by capturing an image of retinal vascular patterns, which are unique to each animal. The camera records the pattern and sends it to the handheld computer, from which data can be transmitted to an Internet-accessible database. The OptiReader provides a method of verifying the source, location and ownership of live animals and identifying those animals at the slaughterhouse

Kim Lock is the agribusiness reporter for the Northern Colorado Business Report. To suggest a column feature contact her at (970) 221-5400 ext. 222 or by e-mail at klock@ncbr.com.

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