Nutrein's 2021 AWARD FINALIST CASE STUDY: Best achievement in operational excellence to deliver an outstanding value creation or innovation execution project

Nutrien Deploys Innovative Technology to Help Keep Workers
Safe During the COVID-19 Pandemic

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nutrien has deemed an essential service in its core markets for its role in supporting the agriculture industry. Nutrien has always had a safety-first culture, and technology and innovation support that core value. That’s why the company deployed Proximity Trace™ from Triax Technologies, a tool to help combat the spread of the virus, to keep its essential workers safe, and help ensure that a health crisis doesn’t become a food crisis.

This proximity monitoring and contact tracing technology is currently being used by more than 10,000 employees at 23 Nutrien locations including operational sites and corporate offices. Since its pilot testing and implementation in July 2020, Nutrien has completed three large turnarounds and five outages (scheduled maintenance periods), supporting more than 3,000 employees and contractors at one time at its Nitrogen and Phosphate sites without a COVID outbreak. Some turnarounds require more than eight times the number of people to be on-site as compared to normal operations, making it increasingly difficult to remain six feet apart.

The Proximity Trace tags, wearable sensors attached to workers’ clothing, provide physical distancing alerts that have reduced the number of positive cases at the sites. The technology also automatically logs data using cloud-based software, improving the efficiency and accuracy of contact tracing. Worker interactions are passively collected on the tags and only accessed if there is a contact-tracing requirement to follow all data privacy legislation. Ideally, the proactive element of proximity monitoring – an audio and visual alert when employees’ tags come within six feet of one another – renders contact tracing unnecessary. Since it pinpoints the individuals who may have been exposed to COVID-19, the solution also helps Nutrien minimize operational shutdowns and reduces the risk of associated costs and product delivery delays.

The data collected by the tags are transferred to a cloud-based dashboard accessible to site managers and safety personnel in the event of a positive case. The tags met Nutrien’s technology and cyber requirements for deployment and are scalable and easy to implement, with minimal set-up, configuration and support. The technology can also be expanded into the Connected Worker platform, a digital tool used by the sites to drive safety and productivity by visualizing the workforce in real-time.

With the success of the Proximity Trace tags across Nutrien, we are now piloting Spot-R technology from Triax for additional safety of employees and contractors, including during turnarounds, and improvements in operational efficiencies. As Nutrien explores how to safely return more employees who have been working remotely to the workplace, the Triax technology will support additional prevention and protection across Nutrien’s North American footprint.