Global governance of Health & Safety Management

Safety is everyone’s responsibility – every employee from the office to shopfloor assumes the same responsibility for safe work. To enable this, Beckers created a framework to prevent work-related injury and ill health to provide safe and healthy workplaces.

The global Health and Safety Director drives the topic via a set of procedures, standards and guidelines. These governing practices go beyond legal compliance in several areas such as incident investigation, loss prevention, personal protection equipment, and the transport and handling of hazardous materials. The global Health and Safety team then sets the framework and supports the realization of the “SHIELD” (Safety and Health Initiative for Establishing Loss Decrease) program. The global team also monitors the progress of the local data collected at the group level.

The global management system is complemented by local ISO certified management systems that cover all employees. This supports the Managing Directors (MD) of our sites to take accountability for health and safety-related matters and to mitigate the risks to an acceptable level. The MDs are supported by local Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Managers, and (where applicable) the EHS Management Committees. The global Health and Safety Director also meets with the local MDs every other month to review changes or topics needing discussion. It is the local responsibility to report risk observations, loss of containments and accidents into a local database. Every time we update our risk assessments, we integrate findings from the reported incidents. All our sites have strict emergency response procedures and evacuation plans that are trained regularly to ensure the robustness.

Due to the large number of (internal and external) requirements, it is necessary to check the compliance on a regular basis. This is being checked through internal and external health and safety audits, self-assessments, and regular monitoring. All sites are audited every two to three years by insurance companies depending on risk, complexity, and the size of the site.

Hazard identification, risk assessment and incident investigation

We operate in a fast-changing regulatory environment. We take a proactive approach to implementing any necessary changes, from both a risk mitigation and advocacy perspective.

Rigorous risk reporting and follow-up through a global safety database, including safety observations and near-miss reports, are essential preventive measures. Sites must promptly log and resolve any risk-related issues identified.

The site manager and EHS team are tasked with maintaining an efficient reporting system, keeping local management well-informed. All Beckers employees are accountable for recording actions, probing incidents, and timely communication of findings to the EHS manager.

Senior Management must promote active participation in reporting observations using available forms in the global database or in paper format for those without computer access. Where necessary, EHS Alerts or Learning Lessons reports are produced to disseminate findings and advice across sites. Communication of all results to employees is carried out through various sessions, ensuring widespread awareness and learning.

Continuing since its 2022 rollout, our BBS program has been crucial in refining our approach to identifying safety improvements at the employee level, monitoring safety trends, and developing actionable plans. BBS has supported our safety culture by promoting a caring mindset and reducing unsafe behaviors, aligning us with our 2030 goal of zero accidents. This ongoing effort underscores our dedication to a proactive safety environment and the well-being of our workforce.

This year, as part of EHS month, we ran a competition that aimed to capture the personal motivations behind Beckers EHS culture. More than 100 colleagues from across the organization entered, responding to the question “Why do you care about EHS?”

Responses demonstrated how caring for each other and caring for the planet are increasingly seen as part of the same thread at Beckers, underlining the decision to expand the scope of what used to be known as ‘Safety Days’ to include wider sustainability issues.

“I think that our most important duty in the education of our children is to give them the example of how to behave to preserve our planet, and the moral and physical integrity of those around us. A form of kindness, a conviction, which begins at work, every day, every hour.”

Philipe Grataloup, Production Worker in Beckers France

“Because working is safe, you can ensure your health in particular and your family and children in general. Caring about the environment because the environment is important for both current and future generations. EHS is the responsibility of everyone, not just one individual.”

Nguyễn Thị Mi Mi, Customer Service Executive in Beckers Vietnam

“What if I told You that You and Your beloved ones can live longer in this beautiful world?

What if I told You that the solution is hiding behind only three letters?

Do I have Your interest?

It doesn’t matter why EHS it is important to You or me as long as We can make it important to all of us.”

Rafał Czmyr, Junior Color Matcher in Beckers Poland