Occupational health and safety

Health and safety have always been of great importance to Boehringer Ingelheim. We are well aware of our responsibility for our employees and our distinctive safety culture is therefore reviewed constantly. We strive to keep our employees in good health for the long term by preventing accidents and occupational diseases.

All accidents are recorded, investigated and documented on site using local accident reporting systems. Accidents resulting in lost working days are consolidated monthly at company level. Near-misses are investigated at our sites in order to prevent accidents by eliminating any circumstances which could lead to injuries to our employees.

The majority of accidents are caused by incorrect behaviour. In order to permanently reduce the number of accidents, all employees are guided and trained in safety-conscious behaviour. Managers are responsible for ensuring that employees in their organisational unit are properly trained in occupational safety and accident prevention measures.

BE SAFE

2010 marked the start of the international roll-out of the new Boehringer Ingelheim safety culture "BE SAFE - Zero by Choice". In this programme our employees at all levels are encouraged to take on responsibility for their own well-being and also to look after their colleagues. BE SAFE makes reduction of work-related accidents one of our most important goals. Our target is to reduce the accident frequency rate (number of accidents per million working hours) from more than 3 in 2009 to less than 1.6 in 2016. Since 2010, we have made important steps in the right direction, reaching an accident frequency rate of 1.8 in 2014. Details on metrics are provided in the chapter Performance indicators.

All employees are asked to proactively engage in workplace safety. In addition to a measureable improvement in the accident rate, we want to further strengthen safety in our organisation.

Responsible Care Award for "BE SAFE – Zero by Choice"

Boehringer Ingelheim Germany received the national Responsible Care Award from the German Chemical Association for the implementation of our "BE SAFE- Zero by Choice" initiative. The reward pays tribute to Boehringer Ingelheim's "good ideas for worker safety", in particular to the elements of our safety culture, such as management commitment and the encouragement of our employees to behave proactively concerning safety issues.

Activity-based risk assessments

An instrument of the safety programme BE SAFE is the "activity-based risk assessments". Each working step is analysed with regard to potential safety risks. All activities are assessed separately by managers, employees and safety officers. This is followed by the establishment of protective measures and a binding agreement to jointly developed regulations and rules. After evaluation, a protocol with the results serves as the basis for the instruction and training of all employees involved.

Health protection

Boehringer Ingelheim has established occupational health programmes at all company sites, helping to avoid health risks in order to ensure a high level of health protection for our employees. Regular workplace inspections and audits are conducted, as well as workplace assessments of chemical, biological and physical risks. Exposure to chemical substances is systematically measured and controlled.

We ensure regular medical monitoring of our employees and improvement of their health conditions. This is demonstrated by the numerous measures and activities which we offered to our employees in 2015. Examples include preventive examinations, vaccination for travelers both for business and for private purposes, nutritional courses, promotion of preventive health measures, contribution to company sports groups, the "five a day" health campaign, dental health, hearing tests, skin checks, colon cancer screening and much more.

Boehringer Ingelheim´s strong record in preventive measures addressing employee health have not only been recognised by our staff. Boehringer Ingelheim Germany also received the Corporate Health Award 2011, an initiative of the business newspaper Handelsblatt, TÜV SÜD Life Science and EuPD Research.