Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010 The safety, health and wellbeing of our employees is core to our building and sustaining a healthy business. Elaine Arden, Group Human Resources Director
rbs.com/sustainability
Contents
Introduction
Managing risk: •• We introduced 42 global standards that set out the requirements to ensure legal compliance and to improve the way we manage our safety and health risks in the business; •• We improved how we report and investigate serious incidents globally to enable us to respond as quickly and effectively as possible and to ensure any corrective action required is implemented; Clear governance: •• We launched our Safety and Health Roles and Responsibilities document that helps ensure that those with responsibilities for safety and health play their part in managing our business safely.
What’s inside Introduction
Developing capability
01 Introduction
07 Global safety and health training 07 Working in partnership with external agencies
Reporting our performance 02 Total incidents
Managing risk
03 Comparison against industry benchmark
08 Implementing our safety and health policy standard
03 Dangerous occurrences
09 Understanding our legal requirements internationally
03 Diseases
09 Progress in managing significant risks
03 Fires
10 Delivering Occupational Health services globally
03 Fatalities
10 Reporting serious incidents and accidents
03 Prosecutions and enforcement notices 03 Reportable incidents
Clear governance
04 2010 Key successes
11 Responsibility and accountability for safety and health 11 Global safety and health at a glance
Supporting our people 05 Global employee assistance programme
2011 Focus
06 Improving the delivery of employee assistance services in the US
12 Our core themes and deliverables for 2011
06 Supporting the business in managing absence
Our 2010 Group Sustainability Report outlines our safety, health and wellbeing priorities and performance for the year. This complementary report describes in more detail the steps we’ve taken to manage the risks facing our employees, the progress we have made and the areas in which we need to improve further.
Whilst we made progress in these areas and the number of incidents overall decreased, our performance against the UK industry benchmark deteriorated as a result of increased ‘over three day’ absences. We also regret that an employee was involved in a fatal road traffic accident whilst on company business.
Our people are helping RBS to become safer, stronger and more efficient. We continue to work to make sure that their working environment is both safe and healthy and that they are provided with tools and techniques that help them to manage life’s challenges.
We recognise that we need to further raise awareness of the support available to our employees to enable them to access it when they need it, deliver our global standards, and reduce the number of incidents affecting our employees and our business. These priorities form the core of our plans for 2011.
In 2010 we made progress in the following areas: Supporting employees: •• We extended our employee assistance programme, Lifematters, to employees in 33 countries so that our people have access to resources and support, consulting and counselling across major life events when they need it; Developing capability: •• We developed a suite of global safety and health training modules, which aim to create a culture that promotes safe behaviours in the workplace;
RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
Elaine Arden Group Human Resources Director Member, Group Sustainability Committee
RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
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Reporting our performance
Major incidents have reduced; injuries resulting in over three days of absence have increased.
Comparison against industry benchmark The table opposite compares the RBS Group rate of reportable injuries against the industry benchmark. In 2010 the number of RIDDOR reportable injuries involving employees was 215. This compares with 164 in 2009. For noting, the span of activities within our UK operations is broader than those traditionally associated with the financial intermediation category. These include activities in our vehicle accident repair centres and our cash and coin centres. Injury rate =
Number of injuries x 100,000 Number of employees
215 x 100,000 Injury rate = 92,019
The purpose of Safety and Health controls is to minimise incidents and associated impact to our people and our business. In 2010, regrettably there was one fatality while on bank business. The number of incidents overall and the number of major incidents decreased, however the number of injuries resulting in over three days absence increased. As a result, our performance against the industry benchmark in 2010 deteriorated. The main causes of the ‘over three day’ incidents are slips, trips and falls and manual handling. Plans have been put in place to improve our performance in these areas.
We report all health and safety incidents in RBS UK and Ireland via Reportline, the Group’s accident and incident reporting mechanism. During 2010 we had a total of 2,333 incidents, of which 254 were reportable to the Enforcing Authorities. Slips, trips and falls and manual handling continue to be the main causes of reportable injuries under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). In the US the number of injuries to our employees decreased by 6.7% to 365 in 2010 compared with 391 injuries in 2009. Six serious injuries to employees were reported in Asia and five serious injuries were reported in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) in 2010.
Industry benchmark injury rate
RBS Injury rate
2005
212.7
180.4
2006
195.5
181.2
2007
189.0
236.5
2008
172.7
176.4
2009
175.8
163.9
2010
144.0*
233.7
*In previous years the Business and Finance benchmark has been used. The Health and Safety Executive removed this benchmark in 2010. We therefore aligned our reporting with the most relevant alternative, which is the Financial Intermediation benchmark.
= 233.7
Dangerous occurrences
Fatalities
There were two dangerous occurrences in 2010, reportable under RIDDOR, compared with three in 2009. These involved an electrical short circuit and battery charging unit both causing ignition.
Sadly one of our employees in the US was involved in a fatal road accident while driving on Group business.
Prosecutions and enforcement notices Diseases There were 33 diseases reported during 2010. 28 of these were considered to be occupational diseases and reportable under RIDDOR, compared with three in 2009. 25 out of 28 of the reportable occupational diseases were hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
Fires There were seven fires within RBS Group premises during 2010, unchanged from 2009. None of these incidents were reportable under RIDDOR.
Two enforcement notices were served on the Group in 2010, compared with five in 2009. The first enforcement notice required a noise survey to be reviewed due to a change in work procedure and isocyanate sample testing carried out for painters, both of which were underway at the time the notice was issued. All actions identified were successfully completed within the allotted timescales. The second related to a requirement for some employees to be trained in recognising work-related skin conditions in between the annual health surveillance programme. All First-Aiders were trained to carry out this additional responsibility and the notice was closed.
Reportable incidents 254 incidents were reported to the Enforcing Authority for the period of January to December 2010. There were 224 reportable accidents and 215 of these reportable accidents involved our employees.
Total Incidents (UK & Ireland) January to December 2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2,350
2,285
2,292
2092
1,995
1,930
7
14
14
10
10
2
Diseases
N/A
18
16
13
24
33
Fires
10
18
11
10
7
7*
Environmental incident
1
1
1
–
–
–
Accidents Dangerous Occurrences
Near Misses
N/A
16
63
98
134
166
Natural Cause incidents
N/A
168
180
178
212
195
2,368
2,520
2,577
2,401
2,382
2,333
Total
*Four fires were reported post production of the 2010 Group Sustainability Report.
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RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
Incident Type
All incidents
Accidents
1,930
Dangerous Occurrences Diseases Fires Environmental Incident Near Misses Natural Cause incidents Total incidents
2 33 7* – 166 195 2,333
Reportable to RIDDOR Major injuries Over three day injuries Members of the public Total reportable accidents
Total reportable incidents
50 165 9 224 2 28 – – – – 254
*Four fires were reported post production of the 2010 Group Sustainability Report.
RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
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Supporting our people
2010 Key successes
UK
We continue to improve and expand the ways in which we support, value and listen to our employees.
Lifematters uptake 2010:
16%
higher helpline uptake than the industry average
36%
online usage, compared with 20% industry average
During 2010 we: Global employee assistance programme
Developed a new process for the business to report serious incidents in a timely and consistent way Extended our employee assistance programme (EAP) to an additional 33 countries Developed a new safety management framework to assist our property teams to maintain our buildings in the UK safely Captured serious accident data outside the UK and Ireland in 37 countries, for the first time
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RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
Implemented three safety and health training modules for all employees on Fire Safety; Display Screen Equipment; and Slips, Trips and Falls Completed our suite of 42 supporting standards covering all aspects of health and safety Audited 28 properties across the regions to identify compliance with local laws and property related standards Developed a schedule to ensure that our global health and safety legal library is kept up to date, and updated this for 25 countries
Identified and confirmed local legal requirements for Occupational Health for 39 countries in which we operate Carried out an audit of 45 of the Group’s Occupational Health suppliers against local legal requirements, in-country medical standards and industry practice for occupational health Streamlined our processes for and reduced the time taken to provide workplace adjustments by 11%
We want to provide equitable and culturally relevant assistance services for all our employees. During a period of significant internal change and continuing economic uncertainty, we continued to promote the comprehensive suite of support services available through our employee assistance programme (Lifematters) to employees. We believe that our commitment to giving our employees the support they need to deal effectively with issues such as restructuring, redundancy and financial hardship has resulted in RBS having a higher than industry average use of its employee assistance services. In 2010 Lifematters, our employee assistance programme was implemented in all countries. By extending the provision of Lifematters to all employees, we achieved cost-efficiencies in the UK and other countries where the programme already existed. Lifematters is available to all employees and their immediate families and can be accessed either by a phone helpline or online. The service provides advice, information, support and resources to help employees deal with challenges at work or at home. Where needed, we offer face-to-face counselling.
CASE STUDY
Cumbria shootings In June 2010 in the Cumbria area of the UK, a lone gunman shot and killed 13 people and injured several others. Employees in three of our NatWest branches were exposed to the incident. Throughout the day two on-site trauma specialists from the Lifematters Critical Incident Team co-ordinated their movements to give staff full support. The team provided one-to-one support to 14 employees across the three sites. All affected employees received advice and support to cope with their trauma and with the extensive media attention. A month later the team offered follow-up on-site support to the branches, which was not needed as all employees were at work and coping well. Employees gave very positive feedback about the support they received and the availability of ongoing support if needed.
In the UK in 2010 Lifematters was crucial in providing on-site psychological support and advice after incidents including the Cumbria shootings, bank raids, and the death of a team member. Around 5,000 of our employees in the UK accessed the Lifematters’ work life consulting counselling services and more than 47,000 hits were made to Lifematters’ online resources, tools and advice as employees proactively sought the information they need to balance the demands of work and home positively. In 2010 we focused on establishing baseline usage of the service outside the UK, and in 2011 we will set utilisation targets for selected countries to make sure our employees are getting best value from the service. In 2011 we will publish an online promotions toolkit to help countries create awareness and increase usage of the service. In response to employee feedback outside the UK, 2011 will see the implementation of Work Life Essentials. This is an online tool providing culturally relevant resources that are accessible in local languages.
RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
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Supporting our people continued
Developing capability
India
Lifematters uptake 2010:
12.2% uptake following our communication campaign
23%
of all cases included support for family members
Improving the delivery of employee assistance services in the US
Our managers told us they need straightforward advice and guidance in five key areas:
In 2010 we decided to integrate the delivery of our US employee assistance programme (EAP) into the Group’s global EAP model. Our analysis showed that integrating delivery would provide an enhanced service to US employees, equal to the EAP services in other countries and at a reduced cost.
•• •• •• •• ••
Employees will benefit from the move to a six session counselling model instead of three sessions, access to enhanced online work-life tools and resources, and improved health education. In 2010 we completed a robust tender process in partnership with our US colleagues, developed a US-specific scope of services, and started to contract services with the Group’s global EAP supplier. The new programme is scheduled to be implemented by June 2011.
Supporting the business in managing absence We continue to develop resources and tools to support the business in managing absence effectively. While timely specialist support can help people back to work more quickly after absence, success also depends on managers having the confidence to take the right action at the right time.
Short-term absence; Long-term absence; Pregnancy-related absence; Home visits; Return-to-work interviews.
We have developed online guidance based on these five areas, using our award-winning* safety, health and wellbeing quick reference card format. This guidance complements existing resources for managers, including tools for managing stress and specialist workplace adjustments for supporting people back into work. We know that helping employees to become more resilient makes them more able to cope with significant change, and therefore they are less likely to be absent from work. In 2010 we therefore looked at the benefit of providing training for employees undergoing organisational change. We have benchmarked across external organisations and started work with our employee assistance supplier to provide targeted resources to support managers and employees.
We are investing in training our employees to manage our safety and health risks, and improve our performance in this area.
Global safety and health training We want to create a culture that promotes safe behaviours. In 2010 we delivered three safety and health training modules for all employees. These were launched as part of the Group Policy Learning training calendar: Fire Safety; Display Screen Equipment; and Slips, Trips and Falls. In 2011 we will further rationalise the modules following feedback from the business to improve overall efficiency. We will also incorporate feedback from our international colleagues to ensure suitability for a global audience, taking account of local laws, signs and language.
Working in partnership with external agencies The Group engages with social partners and trade unions for consultation and collective bargaining in a number of countries on a range of employment issues. Unite is the Group’s recognised trade union within the UK and represents workers in our Retail, Wealth, Corporate Banking, Business Services and Group Functions businesses. The Safety, Health and Wellbeing team meets every quarter with Unite to discuss safety and health policy
standards and performance. Union Health and Safety Representatives play an important role in making sure we provide a safe working environment for our employees and customers. In the UK we continue to work in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council in the Lead Authority Partnership Scheme in relation to health and safety, and with Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service in relation to fire safety. This helps to achieve consistent enforcement across our UK portfolio of over 3,000 properties. We believe in collaborating with external agencies and academic networks to benchmark and share best practice on a number of topics including global safety and health standards and employee wellbeing. We actively participate in a number of forums including the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Health and Safety Forum, Inter Bank Health and Safety Group, International Organisation of Employers (IOE), Global Occupational Safety and Health Network (GOSHnet). We also have strong relationships with academic institutions and we support City of Edinburgh Council in training student Environmental Health Officers.
*SHP, IOSH awards 2009
CASE STUDY
Launching Lifematters in India Lifematters was launched in India in January 2010. Usage in the first two months was quite low, with employees relatively unfamiliar with such services and unsure of what benefit Lifematters could offer them. A strong communication campaign was needed to create awareness of Lifematters and to build business support for the service. The campaign included 84 orientation sessions for managers and employees and a range of marketing materials designed to outline the benefits of the service and how to access it. 6
RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
As a result, India’s combined usage of the helpline and Lifematters Online increased from 4.7% to 12.2%. 259 of our employees in India were assisted with issues through the service and 23% of all cases included support for family members. Feedback from some employees cited RBS as the first company they had worked for to have offered an employee assistance service. Since then, a quarterly Lifematters newsletter has been launched and employees have shared positive feedback on how essential the service has been.
RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
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Managing risk
We seek to continuously improve the way we manage risk in order to ensure compliance with local legal requirements and to protect our employees and customers from harm.
We recognise the importance of understanding the local legal requirements in the countries in which we operate in order to ensure we comply with statutory and regulatory requirements.
Progress in managing significant risks Managing significant risks in the UK In 2010 the Property Services UK Risk team undertook a high-level gap analysis of UK Property Services’ safety arrangements. The output was a new safety management framework which is based on an internationally recognised safety standard and provides a blueprint for managing safety in the UK. The framework sets out safety responsibilities, accountabilities and training needs and is supported by a set of guidance documents covering key topics such as fire safety and asbestos management. It is scalable and can be adapted to account for any future organisational changes. Our plan for 2011 is to fully embed the new safety framework. The senior team have agreed a number of actions to achieve this, including: setting safety objectives; agreeing leaders for each safety topic; implementing safety training plans; being accountable for safety performance; and sponsoring annual reviews.
Implementing our Safety and Health Policy Standard Our global Safety and Health Policy Standard has been communicated across the Group and is available in 15 languages. It sets out our commitment to ensuring the safety and health of all our employees and customers, and compliance with legislation in the countries in which we operate. Our policy standard is underpinned by a suite of 42 supporting standards that set out requirements to comply with local legislation and list additional controls that we consider necessary to manage our risks. These are grouped into management system standards, property-related standards and people standards. In 2010 colleagues in each country reviewed the standards to ensure that they were easy to understand and did not conflict with local laws. The Executive Steering Group then approved the standards and agreed the plan for implementing them.
In 2011 our focus will be to:
Understanding our legal requirements internationally
Managing significant risks internationally
1. Implement the management system standards, including governance, risk assessment and accident reporting. This will provide a solid platform for developing a prioritised plan to implement the people standards.
Our strategy is designed to ensure legal compliance in every country in which we operate, to manage health and safety risks effectively, and to make sure we have consistent standards for life safety risks.
In 2010 the Property Services Executive approved the business case for appointing a new single property management supplier across all non-UK regions. A key benefit of this new supplier model is the inclusion of health and safety building management as a core component of the service.
2. Continue to implement and embed two people standards: employee assistance and occupational health, building on the progress we made in 2010. 3. Start the implementation of property-related standards, which will continue over two years.
CASE STUDY
Implementing property-related standards The property-related standards, designed to manage life safety risks such as fire safety, asbestos management and water safety, will be implemented over two years starting in 2011. Our intention is to have equitable standards globally for all life safety risks regardless of location or local legal requirements. Evaluating the cost of implementing these property-related standards across our international businesses was a challenge in 2010, since the scale of effort needed for implementation was unknown across all regions. RBS Property Services therefore engaged a global safety consultancy to undertake a sample audit covering 28 properties located in four regions: the US, Europe, Asia, and India. 19 properties were located in the US, five in Europe, and two each in Asia and India. The objective of the audit was to check site compliance with both local legal requirements and our standards, and to estimate the costs of closing any gaps. We will hold workshops in 2011 within each region to consider the audit findings, evaluate the cost impacts and look at the practicalities of implementation. We will then develop plans for implementing the standards in each region.
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RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
In 2008 we developed a global health and safety legal library in collaboration with our global legal partner. The library provides an overview of the statutory and regulatory regime for occupational health and safety in each country. It gives us a much greater understanding of how health and safety is managed in each country and provides insight into local government policies. It also sets out requirements for reporting accidents and occupational diseases to external agencies. In 2010 we created a schedule for ensuring that the library is regularly updated. During the year the library was updated for 25 countries as part of a rolling programme of maintenance for all countries. This enabled us to identify a number of legislative changes, which will be taken into consideration as we implement the standards.
CASE STUDY
Global health and safety legal library The legal library is an extremely valuable resource for understanding our legal obligations in each of the 50 countries in which we operate. While in the UK health and safety legislation is a discrete subject area, elsewhere it spans a number of legal disciplines. This presents a real challenge to global businesses like RBS because the legislation with which we must comply is not readily accessible through a single source. The value of the library is in having readily available access to all relevant current health and safety legislation all in one location.
In the US the Property team appointed an experienced and qualified health and safety specialist into its risk department to assist with the implementation of the safety and health policy standard. One of the first outputs is a suite of procedures covering the key safety topics for US. In EMEA, due diligence has started for the new supplier model. One of the first outputs is a matrix showing what safety deliverables the new supplier will be responsible for. In India the Property team continues to make significant improvements to safety management standards. In 2010 new procedures on food safety and chemical handling were implemented. The facilities health and safety checklists are undertaken on a monthly basis and scores are improving. Training for First Aiders and Fire Marshals has been delivered across the business. In Asia the Property team has carried out a gap analysis of existing arrangements against the safety and health policy standard. The new supplier will use this information to develop plans to close any gaps. Key priorities for all regions in 2011 will be to:
••
Build on improvements made in 2010 using RBS Property Services regional safety co-ordinators;
••
Implement a set of safety roles and responsibilities for the new supplier model;
••
Launch a set of new safety guidelines to help Facilities Managers control property risks;
•• ••
Improve safety data collected via the new supplier model;
••
Embed the new Risk and Control Assessment to record our safety risks and manage these through to resolution.
Refresh the Property Services global event reporting process to ensure that serious accidents and incidents are quickly escalated to the Property Executive;
RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
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Managing risk continued
Clear governance
39
Local law for Occupational Health verified in 39 countries
45
Occupational Health providers assessed
We recognise the need for a clear and robust governance framework to ensure that we manage our safety and health risks appropriately and have transparent reporting on performance.
Source: Project data
Delivering Occupational Health services globally
Reporting serious incidents and accidents
The provision of Occupational Health services is essential to our employees’ health and wellbeing. At the end of 2009 an initial review of Occupational Health provision uncovered wide variations across our international operations. In 2010, we committed to ensuring that we have all the information and expertise needed to achieve compliance with local requirements for Occupational Health in every country in which we operate.
In 2010 we enhanced the process for reporting serious incidents to ensure timely and consistent reporting and escalation. Given the low numbers of serious incidents in the Group, we wanted to integrate the procedure into existing processes that have robust governance rather than create a separate process.
We partnered with a network of 36 experienced Occupational Health specialists from International SOS to ascertain the requirements for 14 key areas of Occupational Health in 39 countries. We then assessed 45 of the Group’s Occupational Health suppliers against local medical standards, regulatory requirements, industry standard practice and local pricing benchmarks. We now have a robust understanding of Occupational Health internationally. Two options were designed to address the identified gaps in provision. We developed both a global model, which will achieve consistency in delivery and Occupational Health information across the Group, and a local model, which will enable the business to implement services aligned with local legislation on a stand-alone basis. In 2011 we will work with the business in each country to implement the model that best ensures both compliance with legislation and cost-effective and efficient service delivery.
Working with colleagues who have responsibilities for incident management, risk management, buildings management and security, we introduced the new enhanced process for reporting serious incidents through the Group’s existing Incident Management Framework and Group Notifiable Event Process (GNEP). Our approach has been welcomed by the business for the clarity it provides, especially in relation to who owns the management of serious incidents. We also identified opportunities to improve the efficiency of our outsourced accident and incident reporting service. In 2010 we reviewed the availability of accident reporting services in the market and, following a tendering process, made the decision to bring accident reporting in-house using RBS Mentor Health and Safety Services. The new service, Accidentline, launching 2011.
CASE STUDY
Independent audit in accident repair centres In 2010 the MVRA (Motor Vehicle Repairers Association) carried out an independent audit of the safety, health and environmental controls in place at our RBS Insurance vehicle accident repair centres. All centres have a bespoke management system in place for managing safety and health risks to employees. This includes internal monitoring and auditing as well as ongoing staff training which was reinforced by the independent assessment carried out in this relatively high-risk environment. Based on an audit of several centres, the auditor’s report acknowledged that the management system and risk
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RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
assessments in place were robust and adequately controlled the risks. However, some corrective actions were identified and implemented. These included:
•• Simplifying and displaying working procedures and •• •• •• ••
job safety instructions; Improving systems for maintaining documentation; Regulating the staff training schedule by transferring to the learning management system; Improving waste management of aerosols; Consistently managing non-compliance audit observations and action logs.
CASE STUDY
Access to specialist workplace support Working with key stakeholders including our internal HR advisors and Occupational Health provider, the Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing team set up a project to:
•• Improve the experience of employees who need specialist support in the workplace; •• Streamline and reduce time taken to process and complete assessments and adjustments; •• Make cost-efficiencies in the implementation of specialist support. The team introduced a telephone-based workplace assessment process. This process was delivered by our internal Policy and Advice, Safety and Health advisors, who were trained on a range of health and safety topics. Templates were developed to capture data accurately and to decide whether specialist external assessment is needed. During the assessment, managers and employees received new guidance cards to help them resolve the issue locally. Specific outcomes for this project include: •• 37% reduction in time taken to complete assessments; •• 55% reduction in the number of face-to-face assessments needed; •• 50% of cost savings; •• 11% reduction in the time taken to close cases.
We have an established governance framework to manage safety, health and wellbeing issues across the Group. The Group Executive Safety, Health and Wellbeing Committee is the key decision making body which is supported by an Executive Steering Group and divisional Safety, Health and Wellbeing forums. The Group Sustainability Committee (GSC) is a Board level committee which reviews our overall sustainability strategy, values and policies. The GSC has representation for all key business divisions and Safety, Health and Wellbeing issues are fed into the GSC when appropriate and it has oversight of this report.
Responsibility and accountability for safety and health The Group’s Roles and Responsibilities document for safety and health, approved by the Group Chief Executive in December 2009, was launched in early 2010. This sets out the safety and health roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for functions and individuals at all levels across the organisation. In 2011, our focus will continue to ensure that roles and responsibilities are included in personal objectives for the Group Executive Safety, Health and Wellbeing (SHW) Committee members and embedded in each of our businesses. We will also establish regional and divisional SHW governance forums to provide governance for safety and health at a local level.
Global safety and health at a glance Understanding safety, health and wellbeing performance is fundamental to managing our risks and identifying opportunities for improvement. In 2010 we collated accident data centrally for the first time in 37 countries outside the UK and Ireland. This included serious accidents, which are accidents that are reported to a government agency, or result in three days absence. While very few accidents were reported by employees, we recognise that more work is needed in 2011 to ensure accident reporting processes are robust and communicated locally. A review of accident reporting arrangement in our businesses outside the UK highlighted that opportunity exists for improvement in those countries where either informal or no arrangements currently exist.
RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
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2011 Focus
We are committed to continuing to expand the support available to our employees worldwide. We will continue with our drive to deliver our global standards, and to reduce the number of incidents affecting our employees and our business.
Our core themes and deliverables for 2011 Drive improvements in accident and injury rates by focusing on slips, trips and falls and manual handling; Ensure competence and capability of line managers to discharge their safety, health and wellbeing roles and responsibilities by ensuring they are reflected in role profiles and providing them with training; Improve management and oversight of safety, health and wellbeing by putting in place effective governance and completing a risk profiling exercise for each business;
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RBS Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Report 2010
Continue to implement the global safety and health standards to deliver equitable standards for life safety and acceptable levels of risk management across all jurisdictions; Ensure our employees understand what resources are available to support their mental and physical health; Drive improvements in the support provided to employees to help them manage their health and reduce costs associated with ill health.
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