fr: Health + Safety Guidelines at Work

 Guidelines for Occupational Health and Safety

The Health and Safety of everyone who works for or with Thum + Mahr is a guiding principle for all our operations worldwide. Fostering Health and Safety is part of our business culture and reflects our balanced responsibilities towards the individual and business results. We strive to achieve and maintain a leading position in the field by continuous learning and improvement,  benchmarking, and exchange of experience both internally and externally.

Cooperation and Leadership

Active and visible top management commitment and leadership is crucial to successful management of Health and Safety. This includes establishing policy and objectives, providing resources, reviewing performance and communicating regularly.

• All levels of management are responsible for implementation of legal requirements and standards for health, safety and emergency plans. Ensuring safe facilities, accident prevention, safety awareness and continuous improvement are integral parts of leadership responsibility.
• Employees should be trained, equipped and competent to carry out their responsibilities, avoid hazards and risks and take necessary  recautions related to Health and Safety. Legal requirements will be translated into practical instructions and safe work procedures so that affected personnel can comply with the laws and standards. Instruction will be documented and repeated at appropriate intervals.
• Employees must be supplied with the required safety equipment appropriate for their occupation and be obligated to use it.
• All employees are expected to contribute actively to Health and Safety and either eliminate hazards themselves or report them. Managers are required to immediately initiate corrective action.
• Communication between all levels and functions on issues and performance will promote Health and Safety awareness. Appropriate employee involvement will widen perspectives and experience.

General Principles

• The best accident-prevention strategy is to avoid hazards and risks by design. Facilities, processes and modifications should be designed, procured, constructed and implemented to enable safe and ergonomic performance throughout their
  operational life. Wherever possible hazardous materials should be eliminated or substituted.
• New facilities (buildings, machines, installations) and modifications to existing facilities will be inspected by qualified safety personnel prior to initial operation.
• Particular attention will be paid to the workplace environment and to applicable regulations concerning noise control, obstacle-free escape routes, condition of machines and tools and handling of hazardous materials.
• If accidents occur despite precautions they must be thoroughly investigated to prevent repetition.
• Precautions for medical emergencies must be taken through adequate first aid. Safety instruction of employees will include emergency response and conduct.

Documentation and Continuous Improvement

• Consistent documentation is crucial for top management to review the overall adequacy and performance of the Health and Safety system as well as to identify strategies for improvement.
• National regulations on reporting of accidents must be observed. In absence of  such regulations, we will define our own appropriate reporting system. 

External Services, Suppliers and Business Partners

• The above principles equally apply if specific tasks are outsourced to external experts or services.
• We also expect our suppliers, contractors and other business partners to equally place high priority on Health and Safety in their operations. Procurement procedures will be applied accordingly.