A Practical Guide For Internationally Operating Employees
As the field of global Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) and workplace wellness is evolving, so is our understanding of its impact on business and its place in sustainability reporting. Lost working time and treatment and rehabilitation fees are estimated to cost global business $2.8 trillion a year[1], and the business sector has recognised the increasing value created in taking a more holistic approach to health.
In response to this, the International SOS Foundation and Sancroft have joined forces to launch a new practical guide; ‘Maximising the value of Occupational Health & Safety and workplace wellness reporting: A practical guide for internationally operating employers’. The guide aims to provide OH&S, sustainability and corporate reporting professionals with practical guidance on how to improve OH&S reporting and practice. It was informed by interviews with leading multinational organisations, alongside engagement with leaders in the field and analysis of publicly available information. The International SOS Foundation and Sancroft wish to acknowledge the support and further contributions of the International Organisation of Employers and Global Solutions, Inc. to the guide.
Judy Kuszewski, Chief Executive, Sancroft, commented “Business sustainability reporting provides an overview of a company’s strategy, and the economic, social and environmental factors that influence it— both in terms of risk and opportunity. Ensuring employees are not only physically fit to work, but empowered, motivated and supported to do their jobs, can often be the difference between success and failure. Today, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease and mental health present a rapidly growing challenge layered into existing, traditional OH&S risks. It’s critically important for professionals in OH&S, sustainability and corporate reporting to have appropriate best practice materials and informed guidelines to measure the impact of this wider understanding of employee health on an organisation.”
Dr Rodrigo Rodriguez, commenting on behalf of the International SOS Foundation said, “Occupational Health and Safety is no longer limited to individuals, who work in physically demanding jobs, neither is it exclusively focused on industrial related diseases and exposures. In recent years, the business sector has come to understand and value a far broader notion of well-being—physical, social, mental and financial—at the heart of people’s relationship with work. In today’s knowledge driven economy, people are the most important asset for an organisation to thrive. By partnering with Sancroft, we are pleased to enable organisations to better understand their business sustainability risks and opportunities in OH&S and workplace wellbeing.”
The guide investigates:
- The value of reporting strategically, operationally and organisationally, and its evolution to become common practice among multinational corporations
- The changing face of OH&S, considering emerging trends and their implications for reporting
- Practical guidance on how to report well, including a comparative analysis of existing global reporting frameworks
- Insight into good practice from experts and practitioners including from Newmont, Heineken, Anglo American, Vitality and Lafarge Holcim
[1] ‘Proactive companies benefit in workplace health’, Gill Plimmer, Financial Times, 14 September 2016
