Integrated Management System for Health, Safety, Environment, Energy, and Quality

Covestro’s stated aims are to take preventive measures to protect employees, suppliers, and service providers; ensure uninterrupted operations; and continually improve quality. The head of the corporate function for health, safety, environment, energy, and quality (HSEQ) is commissioned directly by the Board of Management. The system ensures implementation of the requirements of the HSEQ corporate regulations and is based on internationally recognized standards governing occupational safety (ISO 45001), the environment (ISO 14001), energy (ISO 50001), and quality (ISO 9001).

Adherence to processes and workflows is verified through regularly conducted internal audits, annual self-assessments, and external certifications. The insights we gain from these measures are incorporated into our annual management review. Every process is thus subject to ongoing monitoring and is updated as required.

Our existing HSEQ management system corresponds to the requirements of the current ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 45001 standards. In fiscal 2020, based on the respective new ISO standards, it was also successfully reviewed, audited, and had its certification upheld by an external certification body. Specific targets in line with the aforementioned ISO standards have been defined.

In fiscal 2020, Covestro decided to reorganize the HSEQ functions throughout the Group to encourage the individual regional and global functions to coalesce. The Environmental Management and Occupational Safety corporate functions were consolidated for this purpose into a new function called Environment, Health, and Safety. In the future, all regional HSEQ functions will follow the same organizational logic and act based on clear roles and responsibilities. The range of responsibilities exercised by the new corporate function will be expanded, and wellbeing will be emphasized as an increasingly important aspect of occupational safety. The second step will be to adapt the structure of the existing HSEQ-related communities to reflect the changes in the HSEQ organization there, too. This will also reduce existing redundancies in the handling of certain issues and guarantee a clear delineation of responsibilities. Coordinated roles and responsibilities are intended to promote cooperation and exchange between regions. Internal stakeholders benefit from the more consistent provision of a full range of HSEQ services and better site coverage. At the same time, HSEQ will play a more active role in implementing the integrated HSEQ management system. The integrated management system comprises the following three sub-sections:

Occupational health and safety

In the area of occupational health and safety, globally applicable processes and workflows include detailed rules governing the safety of production facilities and manufacturing processes, the investigation of accidents and environmental as well as transportation incidents, health care and occupational safety, and emergency management at Covestro. In fiscal 2020, we completed our migration to the new ISO 45001, the international occupational health and safety standard. The rules stipulated by international standards such as ISO 45001 comprise the minimum requirements applicable worldwide and are supplemented with additional regulations if needed. They are intended to prevent accidents and incidents at the workplace or on transportation routes that could have adverse consequences for people or the environment. In addition, we offer support to our customers, for example by providing training on the safe handling of our products in and outside of our facilities. We increasingly rely on the support of third-party databases to help us identify and comply with legal and other requirements.

Environment and energy

Minimum environmental and energy standards applicable worldwide were specified to ensure that our high standards for resource conservation and emissions reduction are met. These requirements are based on internationally recognized standards and rules such as ISO 14001 (environmental management) and ISO 50001 (energy management). Each year we analyze and evaluate the effects of our activities on the environment. From our environmental performance assessment, we derive measures to reduce and minimize environmental impacts. Global process and workflow descriptions help us implement these measures throughout the Group. In the year under review, the energy efficiency system we introduced in 2008 based on ISO 50001 was reviewed, audited, and recertified for the ninth time at the main German production sites by an independent certification body.

Quality

We have very high expectations of the raw material quality we use, and we set ourselves standards for their processing into high-performance plastics and polyurethane precursors. Within the framework of our integrated HSEQ management system, our quality management activities meet the requirements of the current ISO 9001:2015 standard. Thanks to our quality management system, we can put in place the conditions necessary for incorporating our customers’ requirements and their satisfaction into our products and services.