Staying healthy and safe at work is an important daily ritual in the workplace, which is often taken for granted. By making safety a non-negotiable priority for us as a company, we ensure our people are not easily exposed to risks, injuries or dangers.
Focusing on this area is an effective way of creating a healthier workforce.
Four Golden Rules of Safety
Nestlé is helping to ensure all its employees are covered by a certified safety and health management system, and achieve a uniform level of safety and zero work-related injuries and illnesses.
In 2016, it’s Safety and Health Roadmap was updated to set out high-level priorities to be met by 2018, focusing on keeping everyone engaged, managing key risks and supporting management processes.
In Central and West Africa, the company launched its four Golden Rules of Safety at its sites across the region to help do this.
Employees are encouraged to keep all walking pathways clear, to always use the handrails when using the stairs, not to use multi electrical connections, and to never use mobile phones while walking or driving. These simple and easy-to-remember routines are an essential part of the effort to boost a safer workplace.
Road safety
A road safety programme to increase safe driving in Nestlé’s operations in the region is already underway and benefiting employees in Francophone and Anglophone countries, by enhancing safer driving and reducing road accidents.
In Cameroon, the company is also a founding member of Safe Way Right Way, which teaches people about road safety. More than 120,000 drivers in the region attended education and awareness sessions that highlighted the dangers of speeding, drink driving, driving while tired and using mobile phones while driving. By encouraging employee drivers to wear seat belts, employees who use the motorcycle to wear helmets and carrying out periodic vehicle checks, the company helps to instil a safer work ethic.
Healthier lives
Employees are learning about how to lead healthier lives through the Nestlé Nutrition Quotient programme (NQ), making sure everyone has good nutritional knowledge and can apply what they’ve learnt in their day-to-day roles.
The e-learning programme launched in 2007 covers basic nutrition science, regulations and the components of a healthy, balanced diet.
For those employees without computer access, in-class training is organised by the company, and educational posters, activities and handouts from a factory site campaign can be taken home to their families. They are tested before and after NQ training to measure progress. The programme was again up and running last year, and all employees were trained at least once in this module.
Instilling such basic health and safety measures in the workplace and leading various programmes and initiatives can help to ensure a healthier and happier workforce.
