Health and safety are fundamental to the policies of Iren Group, which, in the management of the Covid-19 emergency, has also implemented a series of anti-infection measures concerning supplier companies, publishing information and communications on its Procurement Portal addressed to suppliers, aimed at defining in detail the rules for access to the Group’s sites and the behaviour to adopt. In addition, the Safety and Coordination Plans and costs therein have been adjusted for contracts in progress.
During qualification in the Supplier Register, the following aspects are investigated through the evaluation questionnaire:
- the existence of a Prevention and Protection Service, either within or outside of the company;
- the appointment of a Safety Contact that deals with individual contracts/orders;
- monitoring of data relating to the number of injuries that the company has recorded in the last three years and any criminal proceedings for breach of health and safety regulations;
- benefit, at least once in the last 3 years, of the INAIL rate reduction (ref. OT24 FORM);
- availability of an Occupational Health and Safety Management System certified pursuant to Article 30 of the Italian Legislative Decree 81/08 (in 2021, 191 out of the 1,090 suppliers qualified during the year declared that they had a management system, for a total of 1,905 out of 7,280 qualified);
- existence of a training programme on the subject and systematic verification of the degree of learning achieved by each worker after each training event;
- the integration of Italian language courses within foreign workers’ training.
In day-to-day management, specific measures for the protection of health, safety and hygiene at work are required in contracts. In fact, tender and contractual documentation must include the Safety and Coordination Plan (SCP) and the Interference Risk Assessment Document (DUVRI). Further obligations regarding occupational health and safety to be implemented in the operational management phase of the contracts are defined by specific procedures.
In contract/subcontract situations or, more generally, in situations where third parties operate at Group sites, relevant documentation required to identify and communicate information on workplace risks and prevention measures, as well as any interference risks relating to the performance of activities by third parties in those sites, is prepared. This documentation is prepared according to procedures specific to each Business Unit, in order to make the process as tailored as possible to the characteristics of the individual contracted or subcontracted activities.
The ISO 45001 certified systems adopted by the Group Companies are defined, documented and implemented in order to guarantee systematic control of aspects relating to the health and safety of both employees and workers of third-party companies operating on behalf of the Group, also thanks to procedures for controlling the operating methods adopted by contract workers in relation to compliance with safety requirements.
Furthermore, the Group carries out monitoring and control inspections on the activity carried out by the personnel of third-party companies working on construction sites and in plants, related to aspects of safety and hygiene at work. The monitoring of activities is guaranteed by internal supervisory inspections by the Works Supervision (pursuant to Article 26 of the Italian Legislative Decree 81/2008) or by the Coordinator during the execution phase (on temporary and mobile construction sites pursuant to Title IV of the Italian Legislative Decree 81/2008).
The Group procedure for the management of injuries provides for a specific injury report form with reference to the personnel of third-party companies, through which third parties are required to inform the Group of the occurrence of any injuries in the context of the activities carried out on behalf of the Group and/or at sites where the Group has legal responsibility. The compilation of the form requires the involvement of the supplier and the Works Supervision; information regarding the context which led to the injury is collected in a database and analysed in depth by the Prevention and Protection Service, also in collaboration with the Works Supervision. In 2021, there were 47 third-party company injuries.
| Third-party accidents1 | U.m. | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of accidents | no. | 47 | 33 | 12 |
| of which with serious consequences – non-fatal2 | no. | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| of which with serious consequences – fatal | no. | 0 | 1 | 1 |
1 Accidents during travel and those not recognised by INAIL are excluded.
2Injuries lasting longer than 6 months.
Training and information activities
In 2021, the Group provided over 204 hours of training to third-party companies, 29.5% related to health and safety at work, involving 34 employees of the companies. In addition to specialist training and operational training on procedures relating to the introduction of new IT systems for the management of activities, extensive information was provided on work equipment, on sites and the specific characteristics of workplaces, in terms of health and safety and the prevention and emergency measures adopted.