Health and Safety

General Managers bear full responsibility for the implementation of labor practices and safe working conditions in Sika’s local operations. They report to the regional management, who is in charge of the development of regional strategic plans and targets in accordance with the Group Strategy. All of them ultimately report to the CEO. 

At local level, all General Managers, Operations Managers, and line managers are responsible for meeting Sika’s occupational health and safety targets and for setting local targets accordingly. From 2023 onwards, the compensation scheme of Group Management and Sika Senior Managers will be linked to the safety performance of the company. 

Sika maintains and implements a Corporate EHS Management System which applies to all Sika locations and employees and fulfils the requirements of the ISO 45001:2018 “Occupational Health and Safety Management System” and of the ISO 9001: 2015 “Quality Management System”. Local Sika companies implement their local Sika Management Systems based on the Corporate Management System and local regulatory and legal requirements. Newly acquired companies are integrated under the Corporate Management System as part of the integration approach.

Sika considers hazard identification to be the basis of safe work, and therefore applies the STOP principle (Substitution, Technical measures, Organizational measures, Personal protective measures) to all risk and incident investigations. Sika companies are required to regularly assess hazards and analyze risks within their premises and operations, and to define corrective and preventive measures accordingly. Each site carries out adequate risk assessment within the workplace. These are led by EHS professionals and serve to give a comprehensive and valid judgment regarding the protection level of occupational health and safety. Risk analyses are reviewed when new information becomes available, e.g., new legal requirements, changes to systems, equipment, raw material, incidents, accidents, near misses, etc. 

It is the responsibility of all employees to ensure that all accidents or incidents, as well as near misses, are promptly reported to line management to ensure timely investigation and corrective action. All incidents that happen within Sika entities and premises and that involve Sika employees as well as contractors and visitors are included in the scope. To ensure prompt awareness of management, incidents with high or potentially high severity (including all accidents resulting in lost time) must be reported within 24 hours through a central notification system. Investigation and root cause analysis are significant drivers of continuous improvement in Sika health and safety performance. 

It is ensured that each incident is investigated, that a root causes analysis is performed, and that lessons learned are shared across the business for assessment and implementation of risk mitigation measures. From 2023, this process will be supported by the Global EHS Incident Management tool, which was rolled out during 2022. 

Local companies report on health and safety indicators monthly to the Group Management. Monthly review meetings are organized at regional level with Global EHS to follow up on the safety results and adjust the management approach accordingly. In addition, safety performance is reviewed at each Group Management meeting.

Occupational health and safety trainings are organized at various levels withing the company for Sika employees and external workers: 

All new employees receive an induction safety training that is embedded in Sika introductory program, focusing on safety policies, guidelines, and procedures. Regular refresher training sessions on health and safety are also performed. Apart from the mandatory health and safety induction training sessions, local management teams are responsible for setting up and deploying specific additional health and safety trainings. 

For contract workers, both the contracted party and Sika must be fully aware of and prepared for potential hazards. Contractors need to demonstrate a clear understanding of the task being performed and have a system to understand and control the risks. Training needs assessment, content and effectiveness are completed at local level under EHS Manager, HR, and General Manager responsibilities. The same safety rules and trainings apply to contractors as for employees. 

Apart from the mandatory health and safety induction training sessions, local management teams are responsible for setting up and deploying specific additional health and safety trainings. In addition, dedicated trainings on specific work-related hazards and hazardous activities are also provided to workers and contractors under the framework of the internal EHS Minimum Requirements. Each country has set up its own program to roll out and train employees to these standards.

Customers Health and Safety

Customer health and safety is crucial for Sika and is factored into development work (formulation work, system design, etc.) where product characteristics are determined. Moreover, Sika ensures that its customers are fully aware of handling requirements so that they can work safely. For this reason, customers and product users can attend application training sessions to learn the proper use of the products.