Framework

Our overall management approach to sustainability incorporates guidance, governance and management. It also depends on management systems, regular audits, and corrective action tracking.

DMAs

Disclosures on Management Approach (DMA) provide an overview of how we address issues in a particular subject area to ensure continual improvement. They describe such fundamental management components as policies, responsibilities, strategies, and monitoring, and sets the context for associated performance information.

We present each DMA in a diagram that mirrors the classic “Plan > Do > Check > Adjust” cycle popularized in quality management circles. The diagrams reflect the fact that a management system must start with a plan, and that it must be implemented, reviewed and improved upon.

Plan – To define what we want to achieve we set out commitments in the form of policies and goals, and identify the staff positions that are responsible for implementation.
Do – We strive to achieve our commitments by implementing strategies and procedures, and by communicating with, and training our employees.
Check – Audits are often used to monitor how well we are implementing our programs. Tracking our performance on specific indicators helps to identify areas for improvement.
Adjust – Each year we make changes to systems or structures, or adopt new programs to ensure continual improvement.

We have prepared DMAs for the following subject areas:

• Community Engagement
• Employee Practices
• Product Stewardship
• Society
• Environmental Protection

Other Management Approaches:

Human Rights: We have not included a Human Rights DMA because risk analyses conducted to date have not indicated the need for a comprehensive human rights policy, training and monitoring system, or to screen suppliers for human rights. However, as we expand globally we continually test this assertion, and should our analysis suggest further action on a human rights management system is required we will take immediate action.

Agrium's policies and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics outline our employees' rights and obligations for building a respectful and discrimination-free workplace.

Should a human rights issue arise, the senior vice president of human resources would address it in accordance with applicable legislative standards and the principles of the Fundamental Human Rights Conventions of the International Labour Organization.

Economic: We have not included a separate Economic DMA on this portion of the website because we believe that our Annual Report describes our economic risks and opportunities, systems, and strategies in appropriate detail.

Risk Management

Our company-wide risk management system provides a process through which identified risks can be collected, classified, prioritized, and responsibly assigned. We employ more than 90 control systems throughout Agrium to achieve reliable and enhanced business management.