Social responsibility Health and safety With regard to health and safety, we take our responsibility to our employees and to all those who carry out work on our behalf at our sites very seriously. That is why all Blum sites have an occupational health and safety management system that complies with relevant local laws and the international standard ISO 45001. Our site in Brazil has been certified to ISO 45001 since 2021. The health and safety management systems at our sites enable the structured and systematic monitoring of occupational health and safety in all areas of work. We conduct regular assessments, particularly in production, in order to identify potential risks or hazards at an early stage. These reviews take place periodically and / or on an ad-hoc basis following workplace accidents and near misses. Measures derived from these reviews generally follow a standardised procedure, whereby we first attempt to eliminate the root cause of the hazard itself before taking technical measures followed by organisational measures. Only as a final step do we introduce personal protective measures. At Blum, health and safety is considered a collective responsibility. Health and safety assessments are therefore conducted by designated safety officers together with employees and, where appropriate, with internal company doctors. All employees are expected to take personal responsibility for maintaining health and standards by reporting any failings and safety risks to their managers. Likewise, all workplace accidents and near-misses must be reported. In the event of an accident or nearmiss, managers must document the sequence of events in as much detail as possible and conduct an accident analysis once the person affected has returned from sick leave. The responsible safety officer can also be called upon to help compile this information. The aim of the accident analysis is to determine the cause of accident, so that the findings can be used to prevent the same or similar accidents from happening in future. In the event of a serious accident – or any incident where the manager or safety manager deems it necessary – the responsible safety manager must also complete an extended accident analysis. Our safety officers are employees with additional responsibilities around health and safety and accident prevention. They play an important role in our health and safety system and network because they work on the ground and are therefore able to identify problems and risks on-site and help devise appropriate solutions. Factors such as the numbers of safety officers required, as well as their duties, rights and responsibilities all depend on the local laws and regulations at the different sites. In Austria, for example, the provisions of the Austrian Health and Safety at Work Act (ASchG) and the Austrian ordinance governing safety officers (SVP-VO) are decisive. At Blum, we require there to be at least one safety officer employed in every department where there are increased health and safety risks, e.g. production, workshops, warehouses and dispatch. Our Austrian sites currently have 92 safety officers who conduct inspections of their departments at regular intervals and also attend an annual meeting of all safety officers held at each plant in order to share experiences and ensure everyone is up to date with the latest information. This applies not only to our Austrian sites but also to our international sites. ➔ GRI 403-1, 403-2, 403-7 S Substitution (elimination of hazard's root cause) T Technical protective measures (safety devices and equipment) O Organisational protective measures (restricted access to hazardous zones, safety instructions) P Personal protective measures 66 © Copyright by Blum
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