Policies and Management Systems — Environment, Health and Safety

The Chief Executive has board responsibility for Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) and the Group Director of Environment, Health and Safety reports to the Chief Executive. The board reviews EHS performance annually, but it is the Chief Executive’s Committee (CEC) and the CSR Compliance Committee (a sub-committee of the CEC) which identify and manage EHS risks. Through these reviews and committee meetings, EHS priorities and strategies are generated. Performance is monitored using monthly information on significant events, health and safety statistics and detailed site audit reports.

A written policy statement, formulated and agreed by the Chief Executive’s Committee forms the basis of the group EHS management system. The board approves this policy statement which is signed by the Chief Executive and is available at each site throughout the group and is published externally.

Read our Environment, Health and Safety Policy

The CSR Compliance Committee considers all risks associated with EHS. The committee is responsible for:

• EHS compliance and strategy.
• Application of risk control measures and review of accidents and other incidents.
• Ensuring EHS issues are resolved efficiently and corrective actions are completed.

Performance is also monitored through the group control self assessment process administered by Group Internal Audit which reviews controls at each site. EHS performance is dependent on leadership from the top, accountability at divisional level and the commitment of strong local line management. Individuals also have to take a responsible attitude to their own health and safety performance at work. Assessing and controlling the risks through professional management minimise the financial implications for the company, helping to protect shareholder interests. Certain risks are insured, but this is no substitute for sound management of the function.

Environmental, Health and Safety Management

Our EHS policies provide the guiding principles that ensure high standards are achieved at all sites around the world and afford a means of promoting continuous improvement based on careful risk assessment and a comprehensive EHS management system.

Group EHS Management System

The group EHS management system is reviewed regularly to ensure that it reflects international best practice and our growing understanding of the practical application of sustainable development. The corporate objectives, policies and group EHS management system define accountability and set the standards against which conformance audits are assessed. This system is available to all employees via the company intranet. All facilities have developed local policies to meet the requirements of these corporate policies.

Since 2003/04, 14 of our major manufacturing facilities’ local EHS management systems have been audited against the OHSAS 18001 Health & Safety Management System standard. All comply with its requirements and have achieved registration to the standard.

EHS Compliance Audits

EHS compliance audits are an integral part of the corporate EHS management system and are vital for the achievement of continuous improvement in all aspects of EHS. All Johnson Matthey operated manufacturing and research and development facilities are included in the audit programme. The audit frequency for each facility is determined by the scale, inherent risk and past performance of the operation.

Audits review conformance with the group EHS management system and compliance with national legislation, as well as providing an opportunity to share best environmental, health and safety practices. Audit reports are rated as excellent, satisfactory, important or very important. The CSR Compliance Committee reviews all audit reports, including health management reviews, and appropriate follow up action is taken on any outstanding issues. A total of 28 detailed compliance audits and seven one day audit action reviews were completed during 2008/09.

Health Management

The Group Occupational Physician undertakes business health management reviews to provide consulting advice to guide the prioritisation and planning of programmes to optimise workplace health protection and promote workforce sustainability. Initial reviews since the implementation of a revised health management strategy in 2005 were completed at all operational sites in 2008 and the programme of repeat reviews has commenced.

Annual Health Management Review and Planning

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Driving Continuous EHS Improvement

Training is vital to ensure continuous improvement in EHS performance. A number of seminars on high priority health and safety topics were completed during the year across the group. A project management training course at our plant in Shanghai gave facility managers and engineers from across Asia the opportunity to enhance their understanding and share best practice on improving the EHS aspects and impacts of significant development projects. Following this, the course content was reviewed and expanded to provide attendees with a greater level of guidance on how to deploy robust project management techniques. It will be relaunched across the group during 2009/10.

Regular meetings are held in both Europe and North America to provide an opportunity for our EHS professionals to network, share current best practices and discuss the impact of future EHS based legislation. Similar meetings will be held in Asia over the next year to provide further networking opportunities within our Asian EHS teams.

Accidents and incidents are investigated to gain shared learning and drive continuous improvement. We also monitor relevant events in our industry sectors to derive additional learning and assurance that we are working to the highest standards and best practices.

Our review last year of the investigation reports on the incidents at BP’s Texas City refinery and the Buncefield, UK oil storage facility generated a number of actions to integrate relevant learning into our existing EHS management systems. During 2008/09, Group EHS has worked with Aker Solutions EHS & Risk Consultancy Services to develop a process risk management vertical audit tool for use alongside our EHS audits. The project aimed to prioritise our major manufacturing sites on a risk basis and enable pragmatic process safety measures to be developed through gap analysis of the difference between the scale of hazards and the suitability of existing controls. The first pilot process risk management audit was carried out at our facility in Germiston, South Africa, in December 2008. The audit concentrated on high consequence / low probability events and revealed some valuable new opportunities to further understand and minimise risk. Further process risk management audits are planned during 2009/10.

Following steady improvement in our accident statistics in previous years, our performance in 2008/09 has highlighted the need to revitalise Johnson Matthey’s accident prevention processes. The company has recently launched an initiative to introduce ‘EHS Learning Events’ to all facilities to help drive a reduction in the rate of injuries resulting in lost time. An EHS Learning Event would typically occur when opportunities to improve the safety of the workplace are identified or when situations are observed which may necessitate ‘at risk’ behaviour in achieving the required tasks or activities. Employees and long term contractors will be invited to make a brief note of events from which lessons can be learnt. This will provide site managers with a valuable new source of information about elements of the working environment that might lead to injury and employees will gain a sharpened sense of the risks around them. As the system becomes embedded we are confident this should result in reduced incidence of lost time injuries across the group.

Read more about Johnson Matthey’s environmental activities and performance

Read more about Johnson Matthey’s health and safety activities and performance

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