Environmental protection, the conservation of natural resources, the promotion of our employees' health and potential, and the provision of safe working conditions are central aspects of Siemens' social and entrepreneurial engagement. They form an integral part of our corporate strategy, of One Siemens and of our Business Conduct Guidelines, which represent the basis of activity for all Siemens employees.
From this, we derived the Principles for Environmental Protection, Health Management and Safety, or EHS Principles for short. The EHS Principles are the foundation for managing EHS matters around the world and define the basic structure of our EHS organization. They also document the Siemens guidelines for environmental protection, health management, and safety.
All locations and projects within Siemens are part of the EHS management system of the respective Division or Regional Company. The management systems must be certifiable in accordance with ISO 14001 (international standard for implementing environmental management systems) and OHSAS 18001 (certification basis for safety). The EHS organization as well as certification companies and Siemens' Corporate Internal Audit conduct regular audits of the management systems and EHS performance.
In product-related environmental protection, we ensure that relevant environmental issues are already considered during the product design phase. With our internal standard we define requirements with regard to environmentally compatible product and system design and specify minimum standards for the environmentally compatible development of our products and solutions. It forms a binding part of the processes we use to control the product lifecycle as well as our other product management processes. The standard is continually adapted in line with international requirements, with corresponding work instructions providing more detailed guidance.
The responsibility for environmental protection, health management and safety (EHS) lies with the Managing Board and management. The Managing Board has conferred special powers relating to EHS tasks to Brigitte Ederer, head of Corporate Human Resources, who delegates them to the CEOs in the Divisions. In addition, the country CEOs are responsible for compliance with the EHS regulations. The corporate governance for EHS lies with Corporate Human Resources Environmental Protection, Health Management and Safety (CHR EHS).
We provide managers throughout the organization with uniform EHS guidelines that enable them to fulfill their responsibility. What's more, we offer a variety of tailored EHS programs, projects and measures that are being continuously refined. Our objectives are to enable management and employees to perform their tasks efficiently and increase the competitiveness of our Company.
2011-Mar-22 | Author