Appendix 9: Health & Safety Policy

A core value for VMS is to maintain a safe and healthy workplace for all employees. VMS is committed to comply with the laws that regulate safety and health, and also manage and improve workplace behaviours that can lead to injuries and illnesses. VMS accepts the responsibility for leadership of safety and health programmes, and for aggressively maintaining the necessary safeguards required to provide safe working conditions. It is our belief that employee interest, involvement, responsibility, and teamwork all lead to injury and illness prevention. To this end, VMS insists that all employees will be given the opportunity to be involved in creating our collective safe workplace. VMS expects every employee to comply with the Health & Safety Policy.

Safety management framework

VMS has established a safety management framework on which the Safety management programme is structured. The framework is rooted in our core values and corporate principle of standardisation expressed as “One Brand, One Vision”. This framework has four interconnected pillars of safety management as indicated below. Underpinning this framework is a clearly defined process for driving continuous improvement and strengthening of safety culture. This Framework and Process have been branded “BSafe!” VMS has established the BSafe! programme not just because of an obligation to do so but because VMS cares for the safety and wellbeing of each of its employees.

Incident reporting and lessons learned process

All Incidents have to be reported into VMS’s internal KPI reporting systems. This allows standardised rapid and clear communication of incidents within a 24 hour period. Following on from the initial incident notification a detailed 8 step problem solving process begins which identifies root causes and solutions which will either eliminate or significantly reduce the risk of a repeat. This 8 step process is expressed visually on “Event Maps”. Following on from a plant’s close out on an incident a “Lessons Learned” review is undertaken by Senior Operational Management and agreement made as to what corrective actions need to be deployed throughout the entire organisation to prevent a repeat anywhere in the business. These “Lessons Learned Deployment Actions” are tracked to completion via our internal reporting system.

Risk assessment

At the heart of any safety management system is a robust process of risk assessment. This is no different in VMS where the process has been defined in VMS’s Best Practice System. The process requires that risk be identified, quantified and monitored controls put in place to manage risks. The lessons learned process also provides an input to the risk assessment process. Risks typically managed relate to machines, job tasks, handling, use and exposure to chemicals, and work place environment such as noise, lighting or heat. Each plant is required to both establish and maintain a register of risks. Employees are encouraged to participate in the risk assessment process.

Training

The risk assessment and lessons learned process links directly to the safety training of employees through formal classroom sessions. These include comprehension testing of developed Standard Operating Procedures (“SOPs”) and/or Safe Systems of Work (“SSOW”) and on the job training to ensure employees are fully aware of health and safety issues relevant to their plant and position, as well as a practice review by management. Formal training records must be maintained.

Health check-ups

Where the risk assessment process has identified, or where legally required as a result of health exposure risks associated with our operations (e.g. noise, exposure to dust or solvents), VMS conducts regular mandatory health monitoring checks and all records are kept.

Ownership and culture

Success in safety management can only be achieved when all employees own and drive these processes. As such VMS has defined four pillars to strengthening safety culture. Each pillar is underpinned by supporting guidance materials. The pillars are:

• Leadership to establish;

• Communications to focus;

• Engagement to own; and

• Empowerment to sustain.

These pillars are integrated and embedded into VMS’s internal audit review process, with guided question sets, and are defined best practices with supporting examples of how Best Practice has been implemented. Further VMS is committed to conducting regular “Safety Perception” surveys which allow VMS to gauge the strength and health of the safety culture in plants.

Responsibility and accountability

VMS has structures that clearly define accountability and responsibility in both management and support functions for not only the maintenance but progression of safety standards and culture in all our facilities.

Dedicated structures for health and safety are in place to ensure responsibilities are clear and taken on, which is essential for the successful implementation of the Health & Safety Policy. Ultimate responsibility for health and safety is with management.