Risk Management
Sound risk management is the very essence of a successful business and our procedures are clearly defined and enforced.
Measures to ensure responsible business conduct and the identification and assessment of risks associated with social, ethical and environmental matters are managed in conjunction with all other business risks and reviewed at regular meetings of the board and the Chief Executive’s Committee (CEC).
The board is ultimately responsible for social, environmental and ethical matters. It meets seven times during the year and delegates specific responsibilities to board committees. The minutes of sub-committee meetings are presented at each board meeting.
The CEC meets monthly and is the sub-committee of the board responsible for the day-to-day management of the company. It is chaired by the Chief Executive and comprises the executive directors and five senior managers of the company. The CEC has approved policies on Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), Business Integrity and Ethics and Employment, which set out key objectives for assessment and control of risks, and these have been distributed to site management.
These policies form the cornerstone of our commitment to continuous improvement in all aspects of social, ethical and environmental matters at all our operations around the world. They reflect our values and enable us to integrate our principles into practice in our business processes.
The CEC receives reports and minutes of the meetings of its sub-committees, which address specific risk and control areas and reviews the effectiveness of risk management processes. Members of the CEC are free to raise points on the minutes presented. Risk and control issues are also addressed during the discussions on business performance, which are a feature of each CEC meeting.
The CSR Compliance Committee, a sub committee of the CEC, is responsible for setting and overseeing compliance with the standards for group CSR performance through the development, dissemination, adoption and implementation of group policies and other operational measures. It is also responsible for the identification, assessment and management of EHS and other CSR risks. The committee meets four times per year and comprises division directors, the Director of Environment, Health and Safety, Group Systems and Human Resources, the Company Secretary and senior representatives of Group Legal, Internal Audit and Group EHS.
Key issues are also reviewed by the CEC on a monthly basis with the Audit Committee reviewing the business risks associated with CSR at least once a year. A summary of the CSR Compliance Committee’s activities is presented to the board once a year by the Chairman of the Committee.
A separate committee in the US manages compliance issues within North America. It comprises senior management from the US businesses and meets quarterly. The role of the US committee is to ensure that legal and regulatory compliance is fully achieved. It is responsible for reviewing Johnson Matthey’s policies in these areas and for ensuring all relevant employees are aware of these policies and their roles and responsibilities.
A series of one-day seminars entitled ‘Johnson Matthey Policy Awareness – Putting Compliance into Practice’ continued to run monthly throughout 2007/08. Over 200 senior and middle managers have attended the seminars since their introduction. The seminars summarise the key issues and policies for which managers are responsible to ensure management awareness and accountability and to defend Johnson Matthey’s reputation against unnecessary risk. The principal policy and compliance areas covered in the seminars are the management of employees, commercial contracts and company assets.
The seminars were extended to include a US version in 2007 and an online version will be available shortly via the company intranet.
