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Workforce safety and health
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We foster a safe and healthy work environment, based on a culture of learning. We prioritise employee health and wellbeing through flexible ways of working, access to disease prevention, treatment and mental health services. Training for leaders and managers is a key area of focus, as is the application of human and operational performance principles.
Our approach
Delivering medicines for patients around the world requires a safe, motivated and inspired workforce. Investing in the physical and mental health of our employees is vital for our business resilience, the communities where we operate and the economy.
As outlined in our global standards, we are committed to maintaining or exceeding compliance with all local company, legal and regulatory requirements. Our Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Standard is covered by our Code of Ethics and supported by our OneSHE Framework and accompanying ‘SHE: Everybody’s Business’ training, which establishes minimum standards and is applicable to all employees, temporary staff and contractors across AstraZeneca sites and all business areas and functions.
We work with regulators, vendors, and our own Legal function to ensure we maintain compliance with applicable local regulatory frameworks. We manage SHE risks, opportunities and performance using effective management systems through the ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’ process, enabling continuous improvement. This requires effective leadership, open communication and every employee’s commitment to themselves, colleagues, the workplace, the communities where we operate and the environment.
Our AZ SHE System provides a single, transparent source of SHE data across our enterprise, enabling innovation in the management and reporting of SHE events and sustainability metrics. By collecting data from 504 locations across 81 countries on SHE events, near misses, observations, and inspections, we enable quick notifications, responses and analysis of SHE performance. Furthermore, this data enables us to target SHE initiatives where they are most needed and supports our improvement plans.