Health and safety

How we manage our impact: strategy and governance

Impacts, risks, and opportunities

Policies

To prevent adverse incidents we have an Environmental, Health, and Safety Policy (new window) in place. Our commitment to achieve a zero-incident culture is based on our core beliefs:

• Environment, health, and safety (EHS) is everyone's concern.

• Safe behaviors prevail over business priorities.

• We protect ourselves and our colleagues from unsafe situations.

• Everybody should feel free to speak up.

• Management leads by example.

• Continuous improvement of our Environmental, Health, and Safety performance is essential.

• We hold ourselves accountable.

• We actively engage with our contractors.

Our policy is accessible on our website and is prominently displayed across all our global locations. The policy is applicable to all employees, contingent workers, and contractors across every site. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), and VP EHS hold joint accountability for its effective implementation and adherence. 

We expect our contractors to uphold similar standards on environmental and social responsibility by meeting the standards of the Corbion Supplier Code. Our Supplier Code is based on the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Base Code, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the fundamental conventions defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO). Corbion offers guidance and support to suppliers in understanding and implementing the intent and requirements of the Supplier Code. Corbion verifies compliance with the principles of the Supplier Code through various methods such as self-assessments, third-party assessments, certification or on-site audits.

Engagement and processes

We approach our operations with meticulous care, prioritizing the safety, health, and well-being of our employees, contractors, and the communities we engage with.

Empowering safety

Our activities are supported by a management system that includes policies, procedures, training, and feedback mechanisms, ensuring adherence to applicable laws and regulations as well as alignment with our company standards and codes. Corbion is committed to complying with the ISO 45001 standard and is working toward certifying all of our manufacturing locations. By end of 2024, 10 out of 12 of our active manufacturing locations were ISO 45001 certified.

Speaking up and reporting

Corbion’s management, employees, and contractors are committed to achieving a zero-incident culture. We promote an open and transparent work environment by encouraging all employees and contractors to voice their concerns, halt unsafe work practices, and report all incidents, near misses, unsafe situations, and suggestions for improvement to enhance our safety and environmental performance.

Reporting can be done by employees, contractors, and visitors, through Sphera, our online incident management system. Reported events are reviewed, investigated, and monitored according to the Corbion Global EHS Incident Management standard.

Maintaining a safe work environment is embedded in our Code of Business Conduct. Therefore, if an employee cannot use other channels, they may raise their concerns (anonymously if desired) via our Speak Up Line, which is hosted by an independent third party. For Corbion’s external stakeholders, there is the dedicated online Speak Up Platform.

Global and local metrics and analysis of the reported events are shared regularly with employees. Locations have various ways of actively communicating with employees about their feedback and how this has influenced the plans and activities for the location, depending on the type, size, and culture of the location. Some examples are regular communications from each location’s EHS Steering committee, regular townhalls, safety dialogues in the field, etc.  

Learning and sharing

Insights from (potentially) high-risk incidents or near-misses are documented in Safety Alerts and shared among all locations. To facilitate learning, locations also exchange insights and best practices through the Global EHS Platform, a network connecting EHS managers across the company, and Site Director calls.

The Global EHS Platform is also the forum where the insights gained from the Sphera incident reports and from the broad variety of health & safety engagement activities which take place at the locations are shared between the locations and with the Global EHS team.

Behavior-Based Safety Task Forces

Our journey towards safety excellence is a collective effort. A key component of the Behavior-Based Safety program is the Task Force: small project teams aimed at reducing risks, enhancing risk awareness, and promoting safe behaviors. Employees at all levels are encouraged to participate.

Contractors

Contractors are fully integrated into our safety framework, considered during selection, provided comprehensive onboarding, and given on-site support. They can report incidents, near misses, unsafe conditions, and suggest improvements via Sphera. Incident investigations may be conducted jointly with contractor safety specialists. Regular meetings with 'house contractors' assess safety performance and explore improvements.

Performance

Targets

Following the requirements of the CSRD, the total recordable injury rate is now calculated as the number of recordable injuries per 1,000,000 hours rather than per 200,000 hours, which was how we reported up to last year.

Actions and progress

While we fell short of our own ambitions in terms of our safety performance target, we successfully reduced recordable injuries by 15% from the prior year. In this aspect of our business, no result greater than zero will ever be good enough. This is where 'preserving what matters' starts.

Felt leadership

The Executive Committee prioritizes safety-focused site visits at Corbion locations. They believe in the importance of direct safety dialogues with employees and contractors, and track safety observations and follow-up actions in the global management system. This is a continuous action.

Process safety capability and systems

Implementing a robust Process Safety Management system is crucial for reducing the risk of major safety and environmental incidents at our manufacturing facilities, such as fires, explosions, chemical releases, or spills. Our long-term goal is to foster a 'zero-leak' culture, ensuring that all products stay contained within the pipelines. In 2024, we strengthened our process safety capabilities and procedures further by conducting Process Safety Management training, Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) training, and providing site-specific support across various global locations. Additionally, we actively monitor sites' multi-year process hazard analysis planning and progress.

Behavior-Based Safety

The Behavior-Based Safety program launched in 2022 and aims to enhance site safety leadership and reduce risks through employee engagement at all manufacturing and R&D locations. Five out of 12 locations have completed the project phase and are now advancing their safety initiatives with guidance from their safety steering committees. Six additional locations continued or began the Behavior-Based Safety journey in 2024. Leaders are also learning about visible felt leadership, fostering open and positive safety discussions with employees and contractors. Moving forward we aim to have all manufacturing and R&D locations included.

Global EHS Audit Program

In 2024, we continued evaluating our manufacturing and R&D sites for compliance with Corbion’s EHS standards. This audit covers all manufacturing locations and supplements ISO audits. Everyone at Corbion’s manufacturing sites, including employees, temporary workers, and contractors, participate in an occupational health and safety system. Most sites are ISO 45001 certified, covering the majority of production volume. In 2024, we certified one additional manufacturing site. Non-certified sites ensure compliance by following Corbion’s global EHS standards and Safety Rules.

Safety management system

We continue to expand our global EHS management system to standardize and clarify minimum EHS requirements across all our locations. Focus in 2024 was on consolidating the implementation of previously issued global practices and the introduction of three additional standards. Our health and safety actions are managed by our Global and Local EHS departments in close collaboration with the quality and manufacturing departments.

The framework below outlines the specific responsibilities within the safety management system of local sites versus the Global EHS department:

Metrics

	Unit	2024	2023	% change
Fatalities own workforce	#	0	0	0%
Fatalities contractors	#	0	0	0%
% of own workforce covered by certified health and safety management system (ISO45001) - Operations	%	96%	96%	0%
% of own workforce covered by Corbion's health and safety management system	%	100%	100%	0%
Total recordable injuries (own workforce)	#	18	23	-22%
Total recordable injury rate (own workforce, per mln hrs)	#	3.58	4.20	-14%
Total recordable injuries (own workforce + contractors)	#	23	27	-15%
Total recordable injury rate (own workforce + contractors, per mln hrs)	#	3.58	2.55	41%