Health and safety at work
Work health and safety management system
Much of the work performed at the company involves the use of dangerous chemicals. These circumstances demand a highly responsible attitude towards safety at work, in order to minimise the risks arising from these potential hazards.
Work health and safety management system
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In 2001 we began to develop our Health and Safety Management System (HSMS) in compliance with OHSAS 18001 standard, through the development and enhancement of our existing organisational and regulatory structure. The new system was officially certified at the beginning of 2006, making Gedeon Richter the first Hungarian pharmaceutical company to obtain this type of assurance. The system is structured similarly to the related quality assurance (GMP) and environmental (ISO 14001) systems, but operates independently of them.
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Work safety is dependent on the technical state of working tools and equipment, and the conduct displayed by employees at work. The latter includes management’s awareness of safety issues, and naturally the professional skills of the workers themselves. An important duty of senior management is to honour the company’s commitment to safety at work, a fact that is also clearly stated in writing in the Health and Safety at Work policy (see attached), which represents the highest level of the HSMS documentation system. It is the responsibility of work supervisors to familiarise themselves with the risks of a given job, and to manage and oversee work processes accordingly. It is both the right and obligation of workers to demand safe working conditions, and to comply with the health and safety at work regulations.
The representation of employees’ interests with respect to work safety is performed by elected work safety officers, who are also members of the Work Safety Committee. The work safety officers are involved in all decisions concerning health and safety at work. An Equitable Labour Protection Board also functions at the highest levels of the organisation in order to build effective communication among workers and employer and prepare decision making. The regular members of the board are eight (four from both side).
Practical implementation
Special precautions are taken in the case of tasks that involve the use of potentially hazardous materials. We make every effort to minimise the exposure of our employees to risks, and accordingly we are doing all we can to replace dangerous materials with less hazardous equivalents. Wherever possible, we are committed to ensuring the safety of our employees through the use of sealed technology. If this is not feasible, then we implement the appropriate special protective measures. To ensure the early detection of any signs of possible damage to health, our employees undergo regular medical checkups, and occupational risks are revealed through the testing carried out by the Safety Laboratory. We apply a multi-tiered risk management process, with the most important prevention and action plans managed at project level, in the framework of a system of targets and programs.
Our fire safety policy places particular emphasis on prevention. Besides this, a network of sensors covering the entire premises ensures the early detection of any fires that may nonetheless break out.
The machine safety organisation is responsible for ensuring that potentially dangerous machines and appliances comply with authority regulations, and that they are safe to use.
For the purposes of disaster prevention the manufacturing facilities in Budapest and Dorog are rated as ‘Lower Tier’ under the Seveso II Directive on the control of major accident hazard regulations, while the site in Vecsés does not fall within the scope of the Directive.
Head of OH&S: András Sógor 36-1-431-4173
OH&S delegate (Budapest): Mária Miklósi 36-1-431-5807
OH&S delegate (Dorog): Ágota Kozár 36-33-530-035
OH&S POLICY
OHSAS 18001:2009 Certificate