“We believe that all safety incidents are preventable. We aim to improve our health and safety management systems continuously with the ultimate aim of causing zero harm.”
We aim to conduct our operations in a manner which safeguards the health and safety of our employees, contractors, suppliers, customers, the visitors to our business premises and the communities in which we operate. Protecting our workforce is fundamental to our businesses achieving long-term success and sustainability.
We focus on five areas:
Each operating company has an Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) policy, which is monitored by our Internal Audit Department.
Achievement of zero harm depends on a strong safety culture where employees are responsible for the safety of others and themselves. We aim to identify and manage potential hazards by conducting regular safety audits and reporting all (including minor) incidents. We encourage reporting of near misses.
The Swire Pacific Health and Safety Committee reports to the GRMC. The GRMC reports to the Board via the Audit Committee. Members of the Health and Safety Committee are senior representatives from our five divisions. The committee is responsible for developing group-wide health and safety policies and guidelines, monitoring divisional performance, promoting education and training, sharing best practices and developing internal health and safety capabilities.
We evaluate performance by recording lost time injury rates (LTIR) and lost day rates (LDR) and by setting targets for improvement. LTIR is the number of injuries per 100 full-time equivalent employees. LDR is the number of work days lost to injuries per 100 full-time equivalent employees. The divisions report every quarter on health and safety to the GRMC, and the Board receives regular safety updates. A separate Mainland China Health and Safety Working Group deals with health and safety in Mainland China, where regulations frequently change and vary among provinces.
The theme for the 2018 annual Swire Pacific health and safety conference was “Embedding Safety Culture”. 80 health and safety representatives shared best practices in workplace safety. There were presentations and discussion topics about health and wellbeing, big data analysis of health and safety incidents, risk perception and safe behaviour.
At Swire Pacific, we track our safety performance by measuring our LTIR and LDR.
In 2018, our LTIR increased to 1.79 from 1.73 in 2017, a 3.5% increase. This reflected increased LTIR at Cathay Pacific and Swire Coca-Cola, the former largely due to injuries to cabin crew, the latter largely due to traffic accidents and manual handling errors by new employees. Over last five years, our LTIR has decreased by 12%. Common injuries are trips and falls, strains from pulling and pushing equipment, being struck by falling objects and burning or scalding.
In 2018, our LDR decreased by 12.2%. Over the last five years, total LDR has decreased by 7.6%. The LDR at Cathay Pacific has decreased by 14% since 2017 and by 12.5% since 2014. Injuries have been less severe, and recovery has been quicker due to rehabilitation management. The LDR at HAECO has decreased by 34% since 2017 but has increased by 8.5% since 2014. There were fewer lost time injuries.
The Health and Safety Committee is identifying leading indicators of safety, which in turn can identify preventative measures.
During 2018:
Regrettably there were two fatalities among our employees in 2018. These occurred in Hong Kong when a contracted commuter bus collided with a stationary vehicle.
In 2018, Swire Coca-Cola implemented Pristine Condition in the USA to reduce ergonomic injuries caused by manual handling. Pristine Condition uses the principles of weightlifting to prevent injuries and is delivered by video, coaching and follow-up observations.
In 2017, improper manual handling was responsible for 43% of LTIRs. These injuries principally affect warehouse loaders, driver merchandisers, merchandisers and field service technicians and cooler movers. Lost time incidents from manual handling decreased by 36% between the second halves of 2017 and 2018.
We care about the mental and physical health and wellbeing of our people. Under our Employee Assistance Programme, we offer a 24-hour Professional Personal Counselling and Consultation (PPCC) hotline to help employees deal with stress management, relationships, parenting, coping with trauma or grief, and preparing for retirement. Employees approaching retirement are invited to pre-retirement workshops. Seminar topics have included: “Chinese Herbal Cuisine and Physical Health”, “Diet Wise – Spring and Summer Series”, “Have a Good Night Sleep”, “Say Goodbye to Sub-health”, “Low Pressure Relaxation through Drama”, “The Power of Positive Thinking” and “Back and Neck Care”.
A sustainable work-life balance is important for wellbeing. Swire Pacific encourages an approach to work which fits with this aim. We provide a coaching service, where we advise employees on how to cope with the challenges they may encounter within and outside Swire. We have a flexible working policy.
The PPCC and coaching service are led by experienced counsellors, social workers and clinical psychologists. All information is kept confidential. We encourage employees to lead active lifestyles by participating in physical wellbeing programmes arranged by our staff association. There are family outings to Ocean Park and Disneyland in Hong Kong and inter-company sporting competitions. We sponsor Hong Kong’s King of the Hills Mountain Marathon Series.
Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon encourage their staff to develop habits and behaviours that lead to better health and an improved quality of life.
Cathay Pacific organises social events for employees and their families at which they take part in team activities. It offers counselling, a management helpline, self-assessment and access to online education. There is an in-house psychologist. There are religious fellowship meetings, educational courses and medical, physiotherapy and fitness facilities. Pilots and cabin crew receive fatigue training. Pilots are offered help with sleeping and advice on giving up smoking. Consultation on financial matters and tax loans are offered. Training in manual handling aims to manage the risk of fatigue.
We will monitor leading indicators of health and safety incidents by hazard reporting and workplace inspections.
We are exploring ways to improve the integration of wellness within our health and safety programmes.
