Principles and Guidelines concerning Health, Safety, Environmental Protection and Quality (HSEQ)

The highest responsibility for occupational health, safety and environmental protection rests on the Board of Management. The duties to meet this responsibility have been delegated to the executives and other employees at all levels. Most of these duties are defined in the latest internal documents (instructions and procedures of every description).

The Board of Management creates the organisational prerequisites for implementation of the corporate philosophy and for meeting the requirements for occupational safety and health, process safety and environmental protection. It provides the required means to this end, ensures that the objectives are defined, and supervises their implementation. All executives, i.e. employees in charge of personnel, are responsible for such implementation within their respective area of authority.

Ensuring and promoting health, safety, environmental protection and quality is the responsibility of each and every employee. Each employee assumes responsibility within his/her area of authority. Our principles include our awareness of the fact that we are responsible for the safety of our employees and the community, and act accordingly in our activities. By acting responsibly towards people and the environment, we are also taking the interests into account.

Our goal is the continuous improvement of our activities, processes and work environment. By consistently defining objectives and monitoring their accomplishment, we create the conditions for this continuous improvement process. In addition to the economic objectives, objectives concerning health, safety, environmental protection and quality are also set.

Our goal is "zero faults", in particular for occupational and process safety, and environmental protection issues. Measures to avoid faults are of primary importance. This also includes an uncompromising search for the cause when errors have occurred. Not only faults, but also their causes must be corrected.

All executives are to obtain information about all statutory provisions, accident prevention regulations, official requirements, corporate standards and procedures, and they must ensure that these are known within their area of authority and are strictly complied with.

We take precautions to limit risks by appropriate analyses and by adapting our plants to technological progress. Besides continuous monitoring of our plants and processes and complying with internal and external regulations, we have a crisis management and an emergency organization with detailed emergency information and hazard management plans.

The employees are appropriately involved in the development of operational processes. Every employee contributes to meeting the zero fault goal by early detection and reporting of circumstances which jeopardize the safety, the environment, or affect the quality of our products or services. By acting responsibly, they work towards preventing safety or environmental hazards.

We raise the awareness of our employees for environmental and safety aspects by targeted information and ongoing education programs.

Constant attention to and improvement of occupational safety, maintenance of health, ongoing efforts towards accident prevention, avoidance of occupational diseases and prevention of harm to the environment are a commitment for every employee, with the common goal of making all workplaces safe and avoiding accidents.

We make economical use of resources by utilizing raw materials and energy as efficiently as possible. Processes are continuously checked to minimize waste water, emissions, waste and noise.
We ensure safe and environmentally compatible transportation of all required materials, products and unavoidable wastes.

The continuous improvement of our safety standards contributes to the "zero faults" goal in the field of occupational safety. Everyone must play a proactive role in this regard.
Accidents and environmental incidents can be avoided if each and every activity is given thought in advance, designed safely and executed with care.