"We were formed in March of 1908...many of our facilities were over 50 years old, and many of our work habits and attitudes toward safety were just as outdated," says Harlan Schafer, maintenance and safety supervisor for Aurora Cooperative Elevator Company in Aurora, Neb.

Those attitudes had to change in order for safety to improve at Aurora's central Nebraska facilities. "Because of our heritage, it wasn't something that could happen overnight," Schafer says.