Managing Health and Safety

The health and safety of our employees and all people that work with us is of the highest priority. We put safety first in everything we do.

Every day, we strive to make our workplace as safe as it can be. Our goal for 2030 and beyond is to achieve zero accidents. We focus on preventative safety through behavior models, operational excellence programs and the promotion of mental health. We provide tools for employees to improve their health, offer training opportunities to employees, contractors and customers and train our managers to be safety role models who inspire and inform. 

Global and local initiatives include training, hazard identification and accident reduction exercises. Our commitment is captured in our EHS Policy, our Loss Prevention Standard, our Incident and Accident Investigation and our Root Cause Procedures. All activities are aimed at making work conditions and behaviors safe.

Health, Safety, Environment & Security management foundation

Our EHS Policy’s requirements are implemented through a comprehensive, company-wide Health and Safety (HS) Management System that includes global directives, standards, guidance documents, best practice sharing, operational management systems at our sites and continuous learning. The management system operates in accordance with global standards such as ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001 and globally recognized risk management systems. From 2022 onwards a company-wide safety management software will further ensure global management and connect the sites. 70 percent (16 out of 23) of our production sites have an ISO 14001 certification. 30 percent of our locations have an ISO 45001 certification. All local systems operate in accordance with local legislation, advancements in science and technology, and industrial best practices. Through regular self-assessments, constant monitoring, and audits we ensure compliance with the standards. HS is globally regulated and managed through the Health and Safety Director. On each site, the Managing Director (MD), the EHS Manager and EHS Management Committees are responsible for dealing with all health and safety related matters. The MD is responsible for coordinating with the site’s EHS Manager, who has overall control of and responsibility for the risk observation reporting and for the local database. All workers working or operating on any of the Beckers sites are covered by the health and safety management system.

Hazard identification, risk assessment and incident investigation

We operate in a fast-changing regulatory environment. Therefore, it is extremely important to ensure business continuity. We take a proactive approach to implementing any necessary changes, from both a risk mitigation and advocacy perspective. Beckers has formalized a process to assess and document employee health and safety risks. We have Standard Operating procedures for Hazard Identification, Safety Reporting as well as Incident Investigation & Analysis that are globally in place. All our sites have strict Emergency Response Procedures and evacuation plans. Our roadmap for improving health and safety at Beckers is focused on training, hazard identification and accident reduction. It is captured in our EHS Policy, our Loss Prevention Standard, our Incident and Accident Investigation and our Root Cause Procedure. For 100 percent of our sites, health and safety risk assessments have been conducted. Global regulations on Personal Protection Equipment, the transport and handling of hazardous materials and our risk management policy complete our system here. As a global company, there are differences according to local law. All sites are audited every two to three years by insurance companies depending on risk, set-up complexity and the size of the site.

All companies within Beckers are required to ensure that all accidents, incidents, and unsafe conditions are reported in a timely manner, investigated to a required level and actions taken to prevent further accidents or incidents of a similar nature occurring at the site. The reporting of accidents is regulated in the Beckers Incident & Accident Investigation and Root Cause Procedure.

To ensure that risk reporting and follow-up is done as effectively as possible, all sites use the global Safety Observations and Near Miss Reports Database. Each site is required to record, track and complete actions in a timely manner for any issues arising from risk observation reporting. To effectively learn from and address risk observations, all sites must implement a process for identifying, reporting, investigating, documenting, communicating, and analyzing them. All near misses (which are events which under slightly different circumstances could have been an accident) need to be reported under the reporting mechanism described below in all sites and involving operations staff, contractors, visitors, or any other persons on the site.

The Site EHS Manager reports to the Managing Director on the functioning of the safety observations and near miss reports database, and on any problems with the system, including reports not being completed in a timely manner. The Site Manager and the EHS team are in charge of setting up an appropriate reporting system to ensure that the site management team is kept aware of the safety observation reporting performance. Department Managers will have the direct responsibility to ensure all actions have been recorded, investigated and solutions fed back in a timely manner to the EHS manager as database owner.

Senior Management is obliged to encourage all staff to report their observations using the risk observation reporting forms and selecting the ‘Near Miss/Safety Observations’ box. Copies of the Safety Observation Reporting Cards are required to be printed and available at the sites, though if there are current and equivalent alternative forms on site, this is acceptable. Where appropriate an “EHS Alert” or “Learning Lessons” report is prepared to allow all other sites to benefit from the findings and recommendations. All outcomes must be communicated to the staff via communication sessions (e.g., toolbox, talks, EHS briefing sessions, etc.).

Work-related incidents are reported monthly following the GRI standards and displayed in a dashboard, presented to the management team. The same hierarchy of controls applies as above.

We take a holistic approach to safety, work to prevent accidents, and focus on people and the consequences of accidents. While reporting the figures accurately is one part, we also analyze, visualize, learn from, and improve the safety performance. By focusing on the lower part of the accident prevention pyramid (behaviors, safety observations and all kinds of accidents such as injuries) we aim to reduce risks for severe accidents. While LTI (Lost Time Injury) is still an indicator among the other indicators in our reporting, we focus on the Total Recordable Injuries (TRI) as a KPI and thus lower the bar to increase the prevention of accidents.eastSee also Health projects and initiatives

Provision of health services

Health services are provided on all sites and range from regular training (e.g., on safety, PPE etc.), trained first aiders and a health and safety committee on every site to in-house nurses and complete medical check-ups on the bigger sites. Regular health care programs and safety talks are organized on all sites. A mental health program has been initiated with a pilot in 2021 and will be further rolled out from 2022 onwards. Health and safety days with different focus areas are organized either group-wide or on a specific site, depending on necessity.

Worker participation, consultation, and communication on health and safety

All people on the sites including employees, contract workers and visitors have access to health and safety measures, and can raise concerns and highlight potential hazards via safety observations (digital or on paper). Furthermore, feedback can be given directly to the manager, members of the health and safety committee, in the employee survey or in quarterly Check-In Conversations. Health and safety is part of the global townhalls on a regular basis. At these sessions, employees have the chance to raise questions and topics to top management. They are also communicated in our 2030 Sustainability Strategy goals and part of the yearly targets as well as the variable compensation.

All sites have a health and safety committee with regular meetings. It is responsible for monitoring safety on site, communicating safety measures, organizing training, taking actions and reporting to the Global Health and Safety Director. Depending on the size of the site, this is organized differently, sometimes also with the support of external consultants.

Health and safety training

Regular training is a fundamental principle of our EHS policy. Beckers provides initial training for all new employees, specific topic training, licensing training (e.g., for forklift drivers) as well as periodical and mandatory sessions, especially in high-risk areas. In 2021, we rolled out a company-wide program on behavior-based safety. Different training courses are provided to employees depending on the local needs via different routes. There is an EHS training schedule as well as material that is always available via a toolbox (including SOPs, safety handbooks, video, and other training material). Up until 2021, we had an annual Global Safety Day. It was suspended in 2020/2021 because of the pandemic and instead replaced with local formats and trainings according to local hygiene regulations as well as online trainings. Health and safety training are part of the global annual targets. The health and safety training includes subcontractors working on site. With the implementation of the software in 2022, global tracking and organization of training will be improved.eastSee also Behavior-based safety

Promotion of worker health

The different health care services are provided depending on the legal framework and the general health standard in the countries. They include e.g., mental health programs, insurance policies, medical check-ups and vaccinations.

Prevention and mitigation of health and safety impacts linked to business relationships

We are committed to producing coatings that are materially sustainable and use components that are inherently safe and responsibly derived. Therefore, we have set clear global goals for sustainable products. We inform our customers with safety labels on our packaging (pictograms indicating the classification of our products). The operators at our customers are trained to read and understand them. We also have Material safety data sheets that are automatically updated and sent to our customers. Furthermore, shipping documents include safety information. The processes in place include Chemical Regulatory Management, documentation of rotating equipment, installation of new equipment according to EHS regulations, hazardous area classification and management documentation for contractors. New and/or expanded processes need to go through the EHS checklist.