Health & Safety
The importance placed by the Board and management of Tomkins on
health and safety matters is driven by the belief and experience
that Tomkins' commercial success is tied to strong health and
safety performance. We aspire to achieve the same high safety
standards throughout the Group, regardless of the type of operation
or its location.
We recognise our responsibilities as a global engineering and
manufacturing group and aim to ensure that in the course of our
business activities we prioritise the health, safety and welfare of
all of our employees. Our aim is to continuously improve our health
and safety performance and improve the awareness and training of
our employees in health and safety best practice. Our policy,
management processes and performance record can be accessed from
the link to the right.
Management processes and systems
Given the nature of Tomkins' operations, health and safety is a top
priority for us. Our health and safety policy and processes are
predicated on the belief that many accidents are preventable. Our
key initiatives focus on reducing accidental risk and improving the
awareness and training of employees in health and safety
matters.
Board accountability
Overall accountability for health and safety lies with the Board.
The Board established an HSE Committee in January 2003 with
responsibility for setting and proposing amendments to policy and
objectives in areas of HSE. Reflecting our commitment to social
responsibility, the remit of the HSE Committee was broadened at the
end of 2007 to include other CSR matters and renamed the Corporate
Social Responsibility Committee. The Committee, which includes the
Chief Executive and a non-executive Director as Chairman, meets at
least three times a year and the meetings include site visits. This
enables the Committee to gain a first hand understanding of the
business units' HSE activities and issues and, vitally, to ensure
that the Group's policy remains comprehensive.
Specialist HSE team
The Committee is supported in its duties by a dedicated group of
specialist HSE professionals operating throughout Tomkins. The role
of this group is to lead and provide advice on the Group's health,
safety and environmental best practice, standards and processes, to
implement measures to protect all associates' occupational health
and safety, and to help safeguard the environment in the
communities where we operate. The team is instrumental in guiding
the operating businesses to achieve the highest levels of HSE
standards as well as monitoring and auditing their HSE activities
and results to ensure compliance.
Local responsibility
Each operational site has its own HSE professional who is
responsible for setting the site's HSE action plan, targets and
objectives and ensuring that the company's health and safety policy
is fully adhered to. When accidents do occur, they are thoroughly
investigated and corrective action is taken to prevent recurrence.
Compliance and results are monitored and audited by the HSE team
with any inadequacies being rectified by site management. Any
material findings are reviewed quarterly with the CSR
Committee.
Information sharing
Additional support is provided through Tomkins HSE intranet
website. The site has been accessible to all of Tomkins' HSE
community since 2000 and offers a wide range of information and
assistance in areas such as policies, procedures, regulatory
checklists and training. We have also run an annual HSE conference
since 2000. We believe that information sharing across the Group is
highly beneficial and provides quicker access to best management
practices for implementation at other sites.
Performance record
Tomkins strives to achieve superior levels of health and safety
performance and has been working towards international recognition
of its initiatives. Many facilities are implementing the
Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 for
certification or an equivalent safety management system. The OHSAS
standard has been created to allow companies to develop systematic
controls relating to their health and safety risks and to seek
external accreditation of the health and safety process.
Safety Indices
Trends on accidents within Tomkins' manufacturing plants and
distribution facilities are measured using the United States
Occupation Safety and Health Administration standards since the
majority of the Group's operations are based in North
America.
Group-wide performance data on the incident rate and any resulting
lost days, as well as the severity rate, are tracked in all
individual facilities.
There has been a reduction of 26.4 per cent in the incident rate
since 2004. The target severity rate (average number of lost
workdays per 100 employees) has been set at zero and for the
five-year period a reduction of 22.2 per cent was recorded. Tomkins
recognises that a zero severity rate may be difficult to achieve in
countries that do not allow return-to-work programmes with light
duty restrictions but we continue to devote time and resources to
achieve our targets. Providing a safe work environment continues to
be our primary objective.
|
