Our Journey Sustainability Report 2013 ”As the founder of SwedSafe, I have had the intention from the beginning to create the most sustainable company in the world in our industry” Göran Berg, Owner and CEO
Table of Contents Message from the CEO ................................................................................................................................... 2 About SwedSafe AB......................................................................................................................................... 3 About this report ............................................................................................................................................. 5 Dialog with our stakeholders ...................................................................................................................... 6 How we operate our business .................................................................................................................... 6 Products that create benefits to society ................................................................................................. 7 Our associates are our resource ................................................................................................................ 8 The environment is important to us ........................................................................................................ 8 Resource consumption .................................................................................................................................. 8 Our responsibility to the community.................................................................................................... 10 GRI index ....................................................................................................................................................... 112
This report was drawn up in cooperation with WSP Sweden AB. WSP audited the reports GRI index for its accuracy and can attest that the information shown in the GRI index, also presented in the report, complies with all the requirements of GRI G3.1 on a level of application C. However, WSP does not attest that the information provided to them in the report is true or to the quality of SwedSafe’s sustainability performance.
Iris Rehnström WSP Sweden AB
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Message from the CEO As the founder of SwedSafe, I have from the beginning had the intention to create the most sustainable company in the world in our industry, the production of earplugs. We have chosen to focus the manufacturing in house to get maximum control of the process. This also applies to product development, quality and cost control, production environment, the working environment and general environmental and social issues. In order to know how we perform, we have set up a number of objectives which we regularly measure, such as reduced energy consumption, reduced carbon dioxide emissions, reduced resource consumption, increased use of health benefits to staff, increased cooperation with local non-profit organizations etc. These objectives can be found in the table on page 4. We are constantly striving, so far as it is possible, to reach our objective of limiting emissions to air and water. Not only to reduce a few percent, but to remove the emissions completely where possible. We have invested in technology that requires electricity to operate and today we use electricity only from environmentally friendly sources. Our aim is to have our suppliers within 1 hours journey from the production site which contributes both to reduced transport and increased delivery security and frees up our time for more important things than just travel. We still have work to do with, among other things, goods transportation and here we must weigh decreased transport time against increased inventory and thus the risk of tied-up capital and in the worst case, waste. Our goal is to travel as 'green' as possible. We travel often by train, particularly within Sweden, but unfortunately, we cannot rely on the fact that they will arrive on time, so here we require improvements to further increase this form of transportation. A risk that we see with our activities linked to sustainable development is that we are using oil-based materials in the manufacture of our earplugs. One of our raw materials is derived from fossil oil, which is a finite and over used resource. The oil will, sooner or later, run out which will affect the price of the raw material. The use of fossil fuels also causes negative impact on the environment in and with that it adds to the greenhouse effect. That is why we are constantly looking for more sustainable options such as bio based materials. In the large context, SwedSafe is a very small player which means that we do not have the power that we would like to have in order to influence our suppliers to actively work with its sustainability performance and, for example, to develop or offer more sustainable raw materials. Thus, we can only strive to use resources better than our competitors. 2
We see a trend that more and more of our most important stakeholders – our owners, our customers but also our employees – now expect that we are actively working towards and are structured to improving our sustainability performance. For us, it's about increasing our positive impact and reducing our negative impact on society and the environment. We have come a long way, but the more we look, the more we see that we can improve. We challenge all to be better than us, and by this challenge we are spreading the good work to the others. However, we must find new solutions ourselves as well. Our work and our efforts should make our stakeholders proud and we shall all be able to say that we have done what we could to allow future generations to have as good conditions as possible to use natural resources to meet their needs.
............................................... Göran Berg
About SwedSafe AB We are a company within the hearing protection industry with focus on earplugs in general and earplugs of polyurethane in particular, where we are one of few manufacturing companies in the world. With production beginning in 2005, we are a relatively young company, but together with co-workers and a large network of specialists, we possess many years of experience and a great competence that makes for solid expertise within our area. The company ownership structure looks like the following: Uvex gmbh: 80 %, Göran Berg 12 %, Jörgen Håkansson 8 %. We are specialized in the development & manufacture of all products on a proprietary basis with an ISO 9001 certified production unit in Höör, Sweden, where our head office also is located. Most of our earplugs are designed for ear protection used in industry under the brand UVEX, but a number of our earplugs are well suited for, and in some cases directly developed for, the consumer market. Those intended for the consumer market come in custom consumer packaging and can be purchased at pharmacy chains such as Kronans, Apotek Hjärtat, Apoteksgruppen, Lloyds Apotek, ICA Cura, etc. Our earplugs for consumer use are available for purchase in Sweden, Norway, Spain, the United States and Japan among others. We also develop and sell specialty products which few others can produce. 3
SwedSafe has 15 permanent full-time workers at the plant in Hoor. In 2012-13 we sold 10 % of our earplugs to the consumer market and 90% to the industry market. Our net sales for 2012-13 were approximately 45 million Swedish Crowns (SEK). To view our finances see our annual report on page 7. In 2013, there were no changes in SwedSafe's structure or ownership structure. In addition to the CEO Göran Berg, 57 years, the company's board of directors also includes CEO Uvex Arbeitsschutz, Stefan Brück 50 years, CFO Uvex Arbeitsschutz, Stefan Wehner 50 years, and chairman Christer Lundqvist 70 years. CSR-work is anchored in the parent company, but all the work and all development is done locally. The following persons are included in our management team for CSR:
Göran Berg CEO
Jörgen Håkansson Technical Manager
Martin Berg Operations Manager
The CEO has the ultimate responsibility for the company's sustainability performance, but all operational work is delegated to the operation manager. Since we are a small company, it is not a problem for our employees to reach management with information and questions. Since Göran Berg is a part of the board, it is easy to present proposals to and communicate with the board. Both communication paths and decision paths are short in our business and we are constantly striving to create a corporate culture that is characterized by responsibility and respect for each other. Our sustainability goals: To control our sustainability performance and to be able to achieve our vision to become the most sustainable company in our industry in the world, we have set up the following sustainability objectives:
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CSR-area
Current performance indicators
Objectives
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Electric Water CO2
12/13 3036 KWH/produced Mpar * 12/13 2023 liters/produced Mpar * 12/13 730 Kg/produced Mpar * 12/13
Decrease 10% over 3 years Decrease 10% over 3 years Decrease 10% over 3 years
Waste Combustible Corrugated Cardboard Landfill
78 KG/produced Mpar * 12/13 25 KG/produced Mpar * 12/13 10.12 Kg/produced Mpar * 12/13
Decrease 10% over 3 years Decrease 10% over 3 years Decrease 10% over 3 years
SOCIAL (org. role in society) Economy Pay for extra staff (young people up to 26)
12% Of production personnel costs assigned to young people up to 26 years old
Over 10% of production personnel costs to young people up to 26 years old
Invest in society: Association jobs (changing molds, 2.7% for 12/13 of the total labor cost for etc.) manufacturing and assembly to go to work by sports clubs
Maintain this level, 2 % of the total labor cost for manufacturing and assembly to go to work by sports clubs
WORKING RELATIONSHIP Gender distribution extra staff
Tot. 50, 27 men 23 women, 54 % / 46%
Distribution 50/50 on extra staff
Use of health benefits
36.67% for 12/13
Increase to 100% of permanent employees
* Megapar: production from the sprayer in pairs + production from Packlines
About this report This is SwedSafe’s first sustainability report. It covers the accounting period of August 1, 2012-July 31, 2013 for all of SwedSafe’s activities and follows our fiscal year. The report follows GRI Guidelines G3.1 on the C-level. The information found in this report will give the reader a balanced picture of our sustainability performance. With this report we want to create transparency and a continuous dialog with our stakeholders. In a so-called stakeholder analysis we chose our most important stakeholders, our employees, our shareholders, our customers and our suppliers. In this report we present our work in the fields of finance and product development, the environment and working conditions, as well as involvement in local communities. These are areas we believe are the most essential for SwedSafe to communicate and for our most important stakeholders to receive information about. In 5
the selection of these sustainability areas we took into account our stakeholder expectations and need for information to the extent that it was possible. If you want to know more about our work, this report, or if you have any questions please contact Martin Berg, Operations Manager, or Göran Berg, CEO.
Dialog with our stakeholders At the moment we have a continuous dialog on our sustainability performance with all of our key stakeholders and we strive to continuously extend and deepen this dialog. It is important for us to be able to take into account our stakeholder expectations on us and our sustainability performance. This information will guide us in our strategy and our business decisions. It is SwedSafe’s ambition to integrate sustainability issues as a natural part of our business and in all our stakeholder relations in the entire value chain. Our key stakeholders: Employees
Suppliers
SwedSafe
Owners
Customers
How we operate our business We are trying to run our business as responsibly as possible in regards to society and the environment. We are aware that we have, through our activities, both positive and negative effects and we are trying to continually increase our positive and reduce our negative impact in our entire value chain. Where it is possible we shall also try to influence our stakeholders to work actively with its sustainability performance. SwedSafe is ISO 9001 certified and since 2010 has revised our corporate sustainability performance against ISO 26000:s (standard for social responsibility) based on the recommendations of the consultancy company, Goodpoint. The audit covered areas of human rights, working conditions, the environment, best practices, responsibility to 6
local communities and business performance. Within the framework of this review, we have also been examined for corruption risks. The audit showed that SwedSafe, due to its small size and its local activities in Sweden is less likely to be exposed to corruption. One of our owners is UVEX group and its corporate rules regarding anti-corruption also steers our activities. We have at present no known cases of corruption and we have not received any fines for violations of applicable laws and regulations. SwedSafe gives no gifts to political parties or similar institutions. During 2013, we were invited to speak at a large national seminar in Stockholm on sustainable enterprise. In addition, we have started collaborating with Ekocentrum in Gothenburg regarding how we can interact with and affect young people's attitudes towards production with a sustainable approach.
Products that create benefits to society The use of hearing protection protects human health. The majority of our earplugs are manufactured of polyurethane foam. All of our earplugs are manufactured in our production plant in Höör in Sweden. We have one of the most modern and efficient plants in the world and we are constantly striving to become even better. We try to use eco-friendly materials in so far as it is possible, and continuously explore if there exists some new, more environmentally-friendly alternative. The products are packed in paper packaging and corrugated boxes. These can be recycled. Products can be suitably disposed of as combustible waste. We rely on external environmental auditors and have not identified any infringements of the laws and regulations in relation to the provision and use of products and services. We are a young company with good growth and create both financial and non-financial value for the owners, the employees and society at large. Directly created economic value (a) Income Distributed economic value (b) Operating Expenses (c) Wages to employees (d) Payments to financers (e) Payments to the public sector (f) Investment in society (g) Investments in the company Retained economic value (calculated as created economic value minus distributed economic value)
45 050 694 27 043 739 6 136 148 4 000 000 2 689 961 238 500 389 695
4 552 651 The table above describes SwedSafe’s created and delivered direct economic value
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Our associates are our resource We always try to encourage our staff to get involved in our production development. We have set targets to improve the working environment and we encourage all staff to take advantage of the opportunity to be with and affect their own working environment. All members of the staff are covered by collective bargaining agreements and may take advantage of health and wellness benefits of up to 1000SEK per year. All managers and also parts of the production staff get regular evaluations and follow-ups on their jobs and their performance. Goodpoint’s 2010 review also included an analysis of how SwedSafe handles human rights in its activities and in the supply chain. We have not identified any cases of discrimination in 2013 or in previous years. The table below shows SwedSafe’s staffing structure Number of employees Men Women Management Production Permanent full-time Permanent part-time Hourly employees Summer employees
15 11 4 5 (1 woman, 4 men) 10 (3 women, 7 men) 12 (3 women, 9 men) 1 (1 woman) 2 (2 men) 62 (26 women, 36 men)
Proportion of staff, broken down by gender, that get evaluation and followup of their performance
8 People= 53% 7 Men, 1 Woman
The environment is important to us SwedSafe conducts operations that could cause some environmental impact. Our activities consume resources and energy, generates waste and transport, handles chemicals and gives rise to emissions in air and water. All of these activities also affect the climate. In order to reduce our impact on the environment we are engaged in targeted and continuous efforts toward permanent improvement.
Resource Consumption In the manufacture of our earplugs we consume resources in the form of polyurethane, acrylic dispersion, coloring agents and packaging among others. 8
The table below shows our total material usage: Material Polyurethane raw materials Acrylic dispersion Coloring pastes Talc Organic solvents Grease and hydraulic oil Semi-fabricated materials Packing Materials 2012 figures
Consumed quantity 42.5 tons 34.2 tons 1.24 tons 1.54 tons 200 Kg 100 Kg 60.9 tons 66.0 tons
Of this material, approximately 20% is recycled in the form of corrugated cardboard. To run our plant, 187 m3 of water was used during 2012-13 from the municipal water treatment plant. Our water consumption is relatively small and does not affect the water source significantly. Calculations showed that our activities consume 0.02 % of the water source’s production. Electricity consumption, in particular the operation of machines, lighting, heating and office equipment in 2012-2013 was 300.2 MWh. Of this, 33% came from renewable sources, 31% from fossil fuel and 36% from nuclear power. Through our electricity consumption, emissions are generated and released, which adds to the greenhouse effect which leads to a warming of our atmosphere and the negative environmental effects of this heating. Therefore, it is our ambition to reduce our CO2 emissions/unit produced through different measures. Since October 2013, 100 % of our electric has come from certified environmentally friendly sources. In order to further reduce our need for purchased electricity we are looking to install solar cells in order to cover a part of our energy needs. During 2012-13 our electricity consumption (according to our supplier information) generated emissions of 72.7 tons of CO2. In addition to green-house gasses our activities generate emissions of isocyanides, measured in TDI. The latest measurement of isocyanides emissions was carried out by an external accredited measuring company in 2011. The emissions from the air from the spray room measured 12 μg/Nm3 TDI. Changes to the entire ventilation system occurred channeling emissions in to one channel compared previously to separate channels for spray room and drying rooms/general ventilation. The following summary reports all measurements carried out since business started: Parameter Spray room Drying Room Emissions total.
Unit μg/Nm3 μg/Nm3
2006 6.4 5.0
2007 14.5 6.7
2008 9.5 4.2
2010 13.7 < 0.3
2011 16 -
mg/h
16.6
31.9
21.8
< 11.7
61.4
Table 4: Control Measurement isocyanates
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The limit in the permit states that the discharge may not exceed 100 mg per operating hour. The effective operating time in the production line amounted to approximately 4,700 hours in 2012. The calculated annual emissions of isocyanides thus amount to less than 290 grams, if the 2011 measured value is used in the calculation. Like any business, our business also generates waste. A part is hazardous waste, in our case fluorescent lighting just like the ones used in ordinary households, and we dispose of this according to current regulatory framework. A part of the waste goes to recycling and becomes new raw materials or products. Waste which that cannot be recycled or incinerated goes to landfill. The table below shows SwedSafe’s quantities of waste and handling procedure: The information comes partially from Merab, our waste removal supplier and partly from our own measurements. Types Amount 12/13 Hazardous waste = fluorescent 50 pieces Combustible
7,750kg
Recycling (corrugated board)
2,480kg
Landfill (talc)
800kg
Our hazardous waste, i.e. our fluorescent lights, is transported only within Höör’s municipality. We have permission from the county administrative board to transport this in private cars, and drive to the recycling center in Höör. During the accounting period, we have not identified any infringements of the legislation in force or received any fines for infringements of the law.
Our responsibility in the Community SwedSafe has, as a small business, clear local roots. All of our production and workforce is local and we are trying to make use of local suppliers as much as possible. Local community well-being is very important to us and we want to actively help to develop the local community. We have no written plans or programs for our involvement in the community but we have an explicit objective from our CEO to get involved in local community activities as much as possible. We do this through various initiatives. We think it is important to promote sport and sporting associations through various collaborations. Among other things, we give different sports club members an opportunity to perform simple tasks, such as packing of goods, to earn extra money for the clubs. Our goal is that 2% of the total labor cost for manufacturing and assembly should go to work by sports clubs. Another project to promote local community is "Collaboration without frontiers" which has been running since April 30th, 2013. Collaboration without frontiers is an EU-project where SwedSafe together with Hässleholm’s municipality, Kristianstad municipality and 10
a few other participants working in order to make it easier for persons outside the labor market to enter the labor market. Within the framework of the project we offer job experience and supported work experience. The target group for the project is long-term unemployed, who for various reasons have difficulty getting into the regular labor market, and long-term unemployed immigrants. All of these people today have some form of tie to the employment services bureau and are included in their program with support measures. Our contribution is to provide suitable work duties and locations. We have also employed persons included in the employment services bureau program on fixed-term contracts to help them enter or return to the labor market. Our intention is to help these employees get a fresh start so that they will get the chance to go further or educate themselves during the time they are with us. In order to accommodate this, we have chosen to move parts of our packaging from abroad back to Sweden. In addition, we offer job experience for students from different universities on a yearly basis.
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GRI index 3.12 1.1 CEO introduction 1.2 Description of the impacts, risks and opportunities 2. ORGANIZATION 2.1 Name of Organization 2.2 Main brands, products, and services 2.3 Organizational Structure 2.4. The head office location 2.5 Countries in which the organization operates 2.6 Ownership structure and corporate structure 2.7 Markets 2.8 The company's size, including the number of employees, net sales, total funding distributed on liabilities and equity, quantity/volume of products and services. 2.9 Major changes during the accounting period 2.10 Awards received during the financial year 3. ACCOUNTING PARAMETERS Report Profile 3.1 Accounting Period 3.2 Latest accounts 3.3 Accounting cycle 3.4 Contact person for the report Report Scope and Boundaries 3.5 Process for defining report content 3.6 Reports boundaries 3.7 Limitations on the scope or the boundaries 3.8 Accounting principles for joint venture companies, subsidiaries, etc. 3.10 Explanation of corrections from previous reports 3.11 Significant changes in scope, definition or measurement methods as compared with the previous year's accounts Review 3.12 GRI table 4. Steering, Commitments and Engagement Control 4.1 Steering Structure 4.2 Chairmans role 4.3 Number of independent or nonexecutive directors 4.4 Opportunities to submit proposals to the board of directors etc. Involvement in external projects 4.12 External charters, principles and initiatives relating to sustainability Stakeholder Engagement 4.14 Stakeholder groups 4.15 Identification and selection of stakeholders 5. Economic Indicators Market Presence EC1 6. Environmental Indicators Materials EN1. Materials in weight or volume EN2. Recycled materials in percent of materials Energy EN4. Indirect energy consumption by primary energy source
Page.
Compliance status completely/partially
2-3, 5 2-3, 5
Completely Completely
5 3 3 3 3
Completely Completely Completely Completely Completely
3
Completely
3 3
Completely Completely
3
Completely
No awards
Completely
5 5 5 6
Completely Completely Completely Completely
5-6 5 5
Completely Completely Completely
5
Completely
5
Completely
5
Completely
12-13
Completely
4 4 4
Completely Completely Completely
4
Completely
7
Completely
5-6 5-6
Completely Completely
7
Completely
9 9
Completely Completely
9
Completely
12
Water EN8. Total water use per source Emissions to air and water, as well as waste EN16. Total direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gases EN20. Other significant air pollution EN22. Total waste weight, per type and management methodology EN24. Weight of transported, imported, exported or treated waste classified as hazardous and percentage of transported waste transported international Compliance EN28. Significant fines and penalties due to breach of environmental law 7. Social Indicators Employment and working conditions LA1. Total staff, divided into employment and region LA4. Percent of the workforce covered by collective agreements LA12. Percent employees who receive regular follow-up and evaluation of its performance and career development Human rights HR4. Number of cases of discrimination and measures taken HR10. Revision of the operations for compliance with human rights Society SO2. Percentage and total number of business units analyzed for risk of corruption SO6. Contributions and gifts to political parties and similar organizations SO7. Total number of legal actions taken against organization for anti-competitive activities, infringement of competition law SO8. Amount of significant fines and total number of non-monetary sanctions against organization for violation of applicable laws and regulations Product Liability PR9. Significant fines for offenses against the laws, regulations and rules in force provision and use of products and services The organization's role in society SO1. SwedSafe’s impact on local communities SO2. Analysis of corruption risks SO8. Amount of significant fines and total number of non-monetary sanctions for violations of laws and applicable determinations
9
Completely
9
Completely
9-10 10
Completely Completely
10
Partially
10
Completely
8
Completely
8
Completely
8
Completely
8
Completely
8
Completely
7
Completely
7
Partially
7
Completely
7
Completely
7
Completely
11
Completely
7 7
Completely Completely
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