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SOCIAL SUSTA INABILITY
Involvement
The success of Heineken's efforts to increase em
ployee involvement with the business at several levels
is difficult to measure because only 47 per cent of the
operating companies have systems in place to moni
tor the progress achieved. In most cases, this issue is
addressed on an ad hoc basis. To establish a valid
basis on which to build an effective policy for increas
ing employee involvement, Heineken is running a
number of programmes to gather information and
develop specific policy proposals. The aim is to de
vise a procedure which will enable the operating
companies to work systematically to foster employee
involvement.
4.6 Safety
Our aim is to eliminate from the working environment
as far as possible any factors which may present a
danger to employees' health and safety. It is the
company's responsibility, in pursuit of that aim, to
provide all employees with personal protective equip
ment wherever necessary. Because the human factor
is the main cause of work-related accidents and
incidents, we give high priority to raising awareness,
providing training and changing behaviour. The
briefings and instruction given to employees to
encourage the adoption of safe practices have made
a major contribution to reducing the number of
accidents in recent years. Heineken is working con-
'Getting the Stars Protected'
New safety requirements in Africa
Half of the accidents at Heineken's
African breweries are due to the lack
of personal protective equipment
or its incorrect use. A matrix has
been constructed, based on European
requirements, to show what equip
ment needs to be used in any given
situation. It is equally important to
instil the right attitudes in both
management and personnel. All the
information from this project has been
placed on a CD-ROM entitled 'Getting
the Stars Protected'.
.1
1 Jafeffo
MAARTEN LAUWERI ISEN
stantly, through monitoring and analysis, to achieve
even better safety performance and reduce the
number of work-related accidents still further.
97 per cent of our employees are familiar with the
company's safety and health policy and are briefed
on potential hazards and risks at the workplace.
A similar percentage have been trained to manage
safety and health risks as far as possible.
Organisation
Meetings of local European safety and environmental
coordinators are held each year to brief them on new
policy and define new procedures. The first meeting
of African safety coordinators and medical advisers
was held in 2003 in Ghana. One of the early results of
this meeting was a guide to personal protective
equipment used when working. The guide, which
covers selecting and ordering protective equipment,
instructing employees in its use and writing proce
dures and instructions, has been tested at the pro
duction units in the Democratic Republic of Congo
and at Brazzaville (Congo). After modification on the
basis of experience gained at these plants, the guide
will be made available to all Heineken sites around
the world from 2004 onwards.
57 per cent of Heineken employees work under a
health and safety system which has been formally
adopted by trade unions. 84 per cent of employees
are covered by health and safety risk management
procedures.
Monitoring
Work-related accidents are recorded in a central data
base and analysed. A uniform system is employed for
reporting accident figures. Reporting is optional for
distribution departments. The figures for personal
injuries relate to Heineken personnel, temporary
workers, agency staff and people working on a con
tract basis. Safety performance is also expressed in
terms of accident frequency and severity. Three
aspects are monitored in our safety reporting: indus
trial safety, personal safety and time lost.
The frequency of accidents involving personal
injury fell from 5.1 accidents per 100 FTEs in 2002 to
3.5 in 2003, mainly reflecting improved performance
by Heineken companies in Africa, Europe and the
HEINEKEN N.V. SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 200 2-2003
44
