Governance Code of Conduct training We offer mandatory training aimed at specific target groups that gives employees the necessary understanding of compliance topics and increases awareness of compliance in their day-to-day work. In offering this training, it is important to us that we cater for our employees' different needs and work set-ups. We are therefore offering in-person training sessions and training videos in addition to an online e-learning course, which we hope will help prevent breaches of our Code of Conduct and strengthen the compliance culture across our business. The various training programmes were employed at all our international production sites during this reporting period and employees were trained on this basis: ➔ GRI 205-2 We are presently developing further training courses that focus in detail on our policies. Our whistleblower system Our whistleblower system has multiple levels. At the most basic level, we expect any potential breaches of our internal policies and applicable laws to be raised directly with those concerned as part of a personal conversation. This means that any accidental or unintentional misconduct can be quickly stopped and prevented from happening in future. In cases where a personal conversation is not appropriate, our employees and external parties have several other channels available to them for reporting potential misconduct. At all our sites, employees can approach local managers or the local Executive Board, but also competent bodies established for that purpose. For employees facing difficulty in their lives or with their work situation, our HR team is on hand to assist. If an employee wishes to report breaches to a higher authority, all employees and external third parties can also contact the Executive Board or the compliance department in Austria. Those who do not wish to report a situation in person can also make use of our online reporting system – the Blum Integrity Line. The Blum Integrity Line is our digital whistleblower system, which is publicly accessible via our European and Austrian websites. During this reporting period, we also rolled out the Integrity Line for our locations in Poland and the USA and it can now also be accessed via the local websites. The Integrity Line provides a simple, anonymous and confidential mechanism for reporting actual or suspected misconduct and is intended to help increase awareness of the importance of upholding legal standards and acting with integrity in our day-to-day work. As a socially responsible business, we believe it is important to open up this reporting channel and investigate any reports received so that we can instigate the necessary internal processes and implement improvements. The whistleblower system gives us confidence that we are acting in line with the law and the opportunity to continually audit, question and improve our operations, policies and processes. ➔ GRI 2-25, GRI 2-26 Site Learning opportunities taken up in the reporting year Austria E-learning course and learning video USA E-learning course Brazil Local presentations Poland E-learning course and learning video China E-learning course and learning video 78 © Copyright by Blum
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