Connect - Schneider Electric

Highlights of 2011
• indexation of the performance incentives for Executive Committee
members to sustainable development targets, chosen according
to their fi eld of work, particularly the implementation of social
policies by Human Resources;
• continued reduction in the frequency of accidents at work, mainly
due to more training and protection measures;
4.2 Employee health and safety
Approach
Schneider Electric values the health and safety of all employees.
The company-wide policy on health and safety states “All our
employees and contractors must benefi t from the highest possible
standards of Health & Safety in our work activities” and sets the
same standards in all its locations. Schneider Electric goals in this
area include the following:
• promote good physical and mental health throughout the
professional career of each employee;
• improve the quality of life in the workplace;
• anticipate events that could have an impact on the health and
safety of the employees;
• and apply controls to minimize the potential for harm from
hazards.
This policy takes into account the Health & Safety risks identifi ed
in the Group: slips and falls, material handling, machine hazards,
electrical hazards, ergonomics, chemical hazards, driving (for
trucks and automobiles), as well as psychosocial risks. Fire and
explosions prevention is operated by the Emergency Plan and
Business Continuity Plan of the Group, in which it has been
included also a Health section in order to ensure the highest degree
of responsiveness (for example during the H1N1 crisis).
One way that Schneider Electric ensures the best physical and
mental health of its employees is through the prevention of illnesses
that could hamper their effi ciency, creativity and well being.
Increasingly ergonomic work stations within its production system,
for example, are an ongoing measure to prevent muscular and
bone problems.
Action plans
Schneider Electric promotes health and safety to its employees
through the implementation of a comprehensive set of actions.
These actions include:
• the implementation of Schneider Production System guidelines (1) ,
continuously evaluated and improved.
• the implementation of occupational health and safety
management systems and certifi cations (see below).
• the sharing and standardisation of best practices for hazard
identifi cation and risk assessment, management and employee
involvement within the program, and program assessment.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTED TO AND ON BEHALF OF EMPLOYEES
• a strong improvement in the recommendation rate for Schneider
Electric as an employer, due to the continual dialogue between
managers and their teams and to the action plan from the One
Voice quarterly surveys;
• a sharp increase in number of employees trained in energy
management solutions due to training duration (from 12 to 18
months) resulting in the pass rate of many certifi ed employees at
the end of the year.
New organisation
In 2010, Schneider Electric set up three regional organisations
which report to the Global Supply Chain central function. Each
regional organisation supports the Group’s plans across of the
BU’s in three areas: Safety, Environment and Real Estate (SERE).
One SERE leader is appointed for each region: North America,
Asia-Pacifi c and EMEAS. In 2010, the Group focused on building
the new organisation. In 2011, the scope has increased to include
global standardisation of best practices.
Objectives
With this view to share best practices worlwide, the fi rst action
of the new SERE organisation has been to implement a new
key performance indicator focused on measuring work-related
incidents requiring medical treatment. This new KPI, the MIR
(Medical Incident Rate) sets the foundation for deeper incident
investigation into workplace hazards and the prevention of injury.
It measures the number of medical cases per million of hours
worked, in order to have a clear and comprehensive vision of the
impact of the employees’ work activity on their health, taking into
account the events or exposures in the work environment which
had consequences on the health, or signifi cantly deteriorated
a pre- existing condition. The MIR started to be tracked in North
America before 2000 and worldwide in 2010 with the target to
reduce it by 10% every year.
Schneider Electric also commits to reduce the Severity Rate of
accidents (SR). The MIR and SR reductions are taken into account
in all plant managers’ performance incentives (combined goal of
-10% annually, up to -20% for specifi c BUs).
As part of the Planet & Society Barometer, Schneider Electric set a
goal for 2009-2011 to reduce the annual rate of lost-time accidents,
calculated as the Frequency Rate (FR), in the workplace by 10%
each year (consequently 27% over 3 years). In 2011, this KPI
was part of the performance incentives of Executive Committee
members in charge of the Businesses. As of the end of 2011, the
FR fell by 18% as compared to the end of 2010 and by 54% as
compared to the end of 2008 (see page 103 ).
This performance is due to efforts made to reduce workplace
hazards, improve training, enforce the use of personal protective
equipment, increase employee awareness on safety and, in
particular, implement health and safety management systems
(1) The Schneider Production System (SPS) is the company’s primary strategy for improving quality and productivity in manufacturing and in the
extended value stream. SPS is based on 40 principles organised into three domains that assure quality and customer service. These three
domains are People commitment, Product-process engineering, and Management of industrial and logistic processes. Within these 40 principles,
is a strong commitment to adhere to ergonomic, safety and environmental rules and standards. The SPS process is managed through
an extensive audit process used to assess conformance with best practices in many areas, including ergonomics, safety and environmental.
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