Health & Safety programme Keeping safety standards high

Linde benchmarks several indicators of SHEQ performance. Lagging ones including incident rates for employees and driving activities,  emissions , noise levels, waste disposal, lost time injury rates (LTIR) as well as leading ones, e.g. management involvement, audits, corrective actions and feedback from incidents

• LTI (Lost time Incident Rates)

• RWI (Recordable Work Injuries)

• Illness Cases (work related)

• Audit performance vs. plan

• Environmental data

• LFI (Lessons from Incidents)

To prevent and eliminate hazards, we constantly have to widen our knowledge base and keep up to speed on the risks inherent in our business. We deploy a range of methods to identify and prevent potential dangers, including:

• Ongoing hazard assessments studies, EVRP, risk analyses (HAZOP),
  MHRP

• External and internal audits, including evacuation exercises for sites
  subject to SEVESO industrial safety regulations

• Feedback following incidents

We are committed to raising awareness and promoting responsible behaviour among all of our people. We have developed dedicated training modules for this purpose within the framework of our SHEQ policy. Our training opportunities for employees cover a wide range of issues including LeadSafe & ActSafe assessments, working at height, electricity accreditations, prevention plans, work permits, safety driving and stress management. We also hold safety training sessions for customers.

In addition to offering standard courses, our training programme also includes modules aimed specifically at raising safety awareness in the workplace and getting employees to think before they act.
We are developing an additional module that focuses on distributors
and depots.

Coordinating contractors
Our high safety standards also apply to contractors working on behalf of Linde. We apply a series of internal standards across the Group to closely coordinate contractors and ensure compliance with our SHEQ Policy.

Transport contractors
Transport is a particularly safety-critical area. We have our own internal standards governing key safety measures which we implement rigorously across the Group to reduce the frequency of transport incidents.
Contractors are selected by measuring their performance against  a set of key performance indicators. The results of these assessments + audits are submitted to the steering committee in an annual SHEQ Review.

Audits
Regular audits verify and document our SHEQ performance. They relate to all elements of our business activities such as management systems, process safety, driver and vehicle operation, etc. In addition to audits carried out within the framework of ISO certification, we also assess our consumption of natural resources. We developed software, for instance, to optimise transport routes and reduce the number of kilometres our vehicles travel each year. Every site in The Linde Group reports its environmental performance. This information is consolidated and published in the Linde Annual Report.

We also perform HSE audits and HACCP surveys as well as transport and contractor audits every year at all of our sites. We use the results of these checks to create action plans.