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1 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 2019
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CORPORATESOCIALRESPONSIBILITY2019
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Together, we are building a healthier world
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WORDS FROM OURPRESIDENT & CEO
PHILIPPE SANS President and CEO
Dear stakeholders,
This 2019 edition of the Corporate Social Responsibility report is the occasion to reaffirm our commitment toward sustainability while assuming our role as one of the leaders in food safety. Since the initiation of our CSR strategic plan in 2016, we have seen the launch of major projects within the organization, to keep developing and engaging our people, partnering responsively with our stakeholders while considering our positive impact on the environment and communities around us. I believe that we are on the good path.
The formalization of this report is also a way to realize the diversity of our sustainable actions that are naturally taken by all of you, our stakeholders. It is where the richness of our values – Excellence, Integrity, Innovation and Accountability – takes all its meaning: when they are embodied by our people.
There is still a lot to do, but I am confident in the capacity of the organization, through its people and stakeholders, to deliver the best and operate safely between growth and sustainability.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
MÉRIEUX NUTRISCIENCES AT A GLANCE 6OUR ACTIVITIES 6IN 2019 6
A SHARED MISSION IN PUBLIC HEALTH 7AN INSTITUT MÉRIEUX COMPANY 7ONE MISSION: ADDRESSING KEY PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGES 7
SUSTAINABILITY AT THE HEART OF OUR ACTIVITIES 8OUR VALUES 8OUR VISION 8
OUR CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 9RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY 9CSR COMMITTEE 9
PARTNERING RESPONSIBLY WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS 10DIALOGUE WITH STAKEHOLDERS 11RISK MANAGEMENT 12COMPLIANCE PROGRAM 12SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT 15
DEVELOPING AND ENGAGING OUR PEOPLE 16WELL-BEING AND ENGAGEMENT 17PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT 18DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION 19RESPECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND REGULATIONS 20SOCIAL DIALOGUE 20SAFETY OF EMPLOYEES 21
ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH 22FACILITIES 23RECYCLING 24TRANSPORT 25
GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY 26HEALTH 27ENVIRONMENT 27CULTURE 28EDUCATION 28
CONCLUSION 29
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MÉRIEUX NUTRISCIENCES AT A GLANCE
IN 2019
OUR ACTIVITIES
At Mérieux NutriSciences we are dedicated to protecting consumers’ health throughout the world, by delivering a wide range of test and consultancy services to the food and nutrition industries. In addition, we also serve companies in the water and environment, agrochemical, consumer goods, pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors.
The company has specialized in food safety for more than 50 years (thanks to Silliker legacy). Our expertise has then been extended to various sectors whose activities have a day-to-day impact on consumers’ health.
In addition to laboratory analyses, we provide auditing, consulting, contract research and education services.We also strive to improve nutrition through the expertise of our subsidiary Biofortis, an international applied research organization that has created unique methods to support breakthrough innovation for the health, nutrition and pharma industries.
47 acquisitions since 2007
Three new countries in 2019: Germany, Ireland and Malaysia
More than 80% of our revenues come from the Food business
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As a perfect blend of tradition and innovation, Institut Mérieux has worked since 1897 to push the boundaries of biology to improve the quality of patient care and consumer health around the world, thanks to dedicated employees, all sharing the same passion and values.
To fight against infectious diseases and cancer, the Institut Mérieux designs and develops new approaches in the fields of diagnostics, immunotherapy, food safety and nutrition.
AN INSTITUT MÉRIEUX COMPANY
59% 70% 60%
bioMérieux Mérieux NutriSciences
Transgene
THE MÉRIEUX FOUNDATION
As part of its commitment to public health, Institut Mérieux, with its companies, strives to provide vulnerable people around the world with access to high-quality treatment and clinical biology.
Together, we support the development of the Mérieux Foundation and Fondation Christophe et Rodolphe Mérieux, both independent family foundations.
The Mérieux Foundation’s mission is to contribute to global health by strengthening the local capacities of developing countries to reduce the impact of infectious diseases that affect vulnerable populations, particularly mothers and children.
A SHARED MISSION IN PUBLIC HEALTH
ONE MISSION: addressing key public health challenges
AT MÉRIEUX NUTRISCIENCES, WE PUT CONSUMER HEALTH AND WELL-BEING AT THE HEART OF OUR
ACTIVITIES. ACCORDINGLY, WE STRIVE TO PROVIDE THE BEST SERVICES TO OUR CLIENTS TO HELP THEM
ENSURE FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY OF THEIR PRODUCTS, AND PREVENT HEALTH HAZARDS.
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SUSTAINABILITY AT THE HEART OF OUR ACTIONS
OUR VALUES
As a leader in our core business area, we are dedicated to serving our customers and we are committed to consumers’ health. With this focus, our employees share common values:
OUR VISION
We hold the highest standards of corporate governance in keeping with our vision of contributing to the consumers’ well-being by preventing health hazards. It is through innovative leadership and efficient organization that we can reach this vision and be the reference partner for food quality and safety services.
As the food testing industry is developing fast, we help to manage the associated changes through innovation and by adapting our business model to the evolving needs of customers and consumers.
We truly believe that our commitment in Corporate Social Responsibilty participates in meeting our strategic requirements. Deeply in accordance with our philosophy, we are striving to improve public health while recognizing our social responsibility; to better living conditions within and outside Mérieux NutriSciences. Our innovative mindset allows us to encourage all our stakeholders to undertake initiatives to fullfill this CSR mission, as each Mérieux NutriSciences individual has a role to play in protecting our business, people and environment.
ACCOUNTABILITY
INTEGRITY
INITIATIVE
EXCELLENCE
Demonstrating commitment, reliability and ownership in each of our responsibilities
Acting with ethics, honesty, teamwork and trust
Acting with flexibility, proximity, innovation, responsiveness and with a pro-active approach
Leveraging scientific leadership, embedding performance driven culture
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RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY All the internal stakeholders of the CSR program are strongly committed to sustainability and have associated the businessobjectives to the social and environmental matters by:
Going beyond the compliance with the relevant legislations to the Company
Continuously contributing to the improvement of the environment and the sustainable development by means of risk management solutions
Developing sustainable partnerships, social and environmental projects with interested parties
CSR COMMITTEE
OUR CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Lead the CSR program*
Senior Vice-President Quality and Operations
VP Human Resources, Communication
Senior Director Purchasing Officer
Determine the main
CSR trends
Informed and encouraged to take actions
CEO Executive committee
Mérieux NutriSciences people worldwide
* The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program directly involves Mérieux NutriSciences top managers. We have entrusted this project to our corporate Human Resources and Communication department because we strongly believe that it is the most relevant way to positively imbord every employees.
THE CSR COMMITTEE CLOSELY WORKS WITH:
RISK COMPLIANCE AND CSR COMMITTEE:The Compliance program is managed by the Legal & Compliance department and supervised by the Compliance, Risk and CSR steering committee chaired by the President of Mérieux NutriSciences. The committee meets twice a year to review the development of the program, validate the approach and decide on new initiatives to further foster and enhance compliance and ethical culture and principles in the group.
SAFETY COMMITTEE: Launched in December 2016 its objectives are:- improve the safety culture in the group- define and follow the actions to be globally implemented- prevent and decrease the level of incidents- continuously improve safety
PMI COMMITTEE This committee aims at:- monitoring the progress of our integrations- identifying and securing risks- arbitrate-ing and unblocking roadblocks
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PARTNERING RESPONSIBLY WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS
At Mérieux NutriSciences, one of our main priorities is to ensure that all stakeholders - from employees to customers- receive a fair treatment, taking into account every level of the value chain.
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DIALOGUE WITH STAKEHOLDERS
Clients
Building excellence in customer relationships is key for us. We have decided to create a Customer Experience department to keep strengthening our customer-centric organization. Its mission is to guarantee our customers’ journey satisfaction while supporting our efficiency and business growth to serve them. We want to create a significant and sustainable competitive advantage and deeply reinforce our global leadership. It has nothing to do with a “nice to have”; it is a strategic way of doing business and serving our clients. The Customer Excellence and Commercial Excellence programs are two key strategic initiatives serving the Customer Experience mission.Their common objective is to ensure the best customer experience along all interactions and enhance our commercial approach to deliver value to our customers and ourselves in a sustainable way, thanks to effectiveand common digital tools, such as our client portal and CRM.
Universities
We strive to share our knowledge with young people studying in the scientific field. The company has a strong desire to contribute to the development of future generations. We deeply believe that it is our responsibility to help educate and create awareness among students about public health initiatives. Students are our future. Accross universities around the world, we invite students and teachers to discover our missions and activities.
Public Authorities
Our success significantly depends on sound policies around the globe at national, state, and local levels. Governments, through advancing their legitimate regulatory and political interests, affect the environment in which we operate. On a daily basis, issues vital to our ability to recognize value for our stakeholders are debated and decided around the world. That is why we participate in independent initiatives that support strong public policy and promote public safety and innovation. We also collaborate with our customers to work with government authorities to better understand sources of contamination, outbreaks, and risks in order to protect public health.
Suppliers
We strongly believe that reducing our environmental impact is not possible without cooperation with our suppliers. To accomplish this, we try to work closely with our suppliers to find more environmentally efficient solutions in order to mitigate our impact. We have decided to include CSR criteria in the process of suppliers’ evaluation performance parameters. We strive to find solutions to use less consumable materials and/or to consume less energy through investing in new equipment. We mostly focus on the savings that could be beneficial to the environment. Through this strategy we are able to generate less waste and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
We provide companies around the world with analytical and consulting services from product design to manufacture and distribution. Our services are available on a global basis and are adapted to the local needs of our clients, always maintaining the same level of quality.
VALUE CHAIN
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Integrated into our organizational strategy, Corporate Social Responsibility represents an opportunity to help drive innovation while improving risk management and fully contributing to the Group’s objectives. Identifying, mitigating and managing risks is part of our culture. Our Company’s risk management process has strategic and operational dimensions. While the focus is on analyzing, managing, and reducing risks, we also aim to identify opportunities for business development. Our risk management process is regularly reviewed by the Compliance, Risks & CSR Steering Committee. Our risk management process comprises two interacting and integrated levels: country and corporate levels.
On a regular basis, all countries and global business lines perform risk assessments on the risk categories that could have a significant impact on their operations. We quantify each risk identified at country and corporate levels, and treat them as opportunities for improvement.Our key risk areas include:
Strategic risks Financial risks Operational risks Compliance risks Other non controllable risks (such as natural disasters)
In the process of complying with the Sapin 2 law, we are in the process of setting up a dedicated anti-corruption internal control and risk management system. A vast company-wide exercise, involving local and corporate management teams, has been undertaken to establish a corruption risk mapping and set priorities in improving measures preventing corrup-tion.
RISK MANAGEMENT
COMPLIANCE PROGRAM
To ensure a high level of ethics, fairness and integrity and our business and answer to the increasing regulatory and compliance requirements, Mérieux NutriSciences has developed an effective compliance program based on the Code of Conduct.
The Compliance Program applies to all employees of Mérieux NutriSciences and we expect our business partners to com-ply with the same principles.
Several internal compliance policies have been promulgated to prevent compliance risks such as bribery, corruption, conflict of interests, breach of confidentiality and violation of international economic sanctions.
Other elements of Mérieux NutriSicences’ Compliance Program include regular compliance trainings and the creation of an internal compliance channel to report any ethical questions or issues.
GOVERNANCE:
The Compliance Program is managed by the Legal & Compliance department and supervised by the Compliance, Risks and CSR Steering Committee chaired by the President of Mérieux NutriSciences. The committee meets twice a year to review the development of the program, validate the approach and decide on new initiatives to further foster and enhance compliance and ethical culture and principles in the group.
The Group Ethics Committee has been created to take the appropriate decisions in case of suspicion of unethical behaviors reported through the compliance channel. The Compliance Program is finally monitored by the Audit Committee of the group, at the Board of Director’s level.
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CODE OF CONDUCT: Our corporate values and the principles that must govern the conducts and behaviors of any employee of Mérieux NutriSciences have been formally incorporated in the Code of Conduct issued in 2018. Our objective is to maintain high standards of integrity in our business, in our teams, in our relationship with our customers, suppliers and all business partner.
Our Code of Conduct has been approved by the Mérieux NutriSciences Executive Committee.
The Code of Conduct is the backbone of the Group’s compliance program. It is divided in seven sections:
Quality of Services Dealing with Business Partners Respect of Company’s Assets Communication and Confidentiality Business Records Commitments to Employees Corporate Social Responsibility
COMPLIANCE POLICIES:
The principles described in the Code of Conduct are illustrated in compliance policies providing guidelines and practical recommendations to all employees.
Various critical compliance risks have been covered by compliance policies such as confidentiality, gift & hospitality, conflict of interests, international sanctions and data security. Compliance policies are available to all employees on the intranet of the company.
A specific attention is taken on the relationship with suppliers. Suppliers are required to sign the company’s Code of Conduct certificate to ensure sustainable best practices in purchasing
The Code of Conduct is available in all languages spoken within the group to all employees on our Intranet and to the public on our corporate website.
The Code of Conduct was deployed among all our countries.
About 90% of our employees took the quiz in 2019.
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EDUCATION AND TRAINING ON COMPLIANCE:
Compliance to the Code of Conduct is managed through mandatory global and local trainings.
Following the emission of the Code of Conduct across all entities of Mérieux NutriSciences, the Code of Conduct Quiz has been deployed in all languages spoken in the group to all employees.
The purpose of this e-learning quiz is to present concrete situations that employees may face and to train them on how to react and solve these situations in accordance with the compliance rules. This e-learning module is regularly updated to reflect the evolution of the business and compliance risks.
Our HR teams ensure employees sign the Code of Conduct and complete the Code of Conduct Quiz as part of his/her onboarding process. This ensures consistency on integrity expectations and standards, with violations leading to possible disciplinary decisions.
COMPLIANCE CHANNEL: Any questions on the Code of Conduct, the compliance policies or any suspected violations can be reported to local managers or by using the compliance channel [email protected]. Cases are investigated either at local level or at central level under the supervision of the Group Ethics Committee, in either case always in compliance with confidentiality and presumption of innocence principles.
The result of these investigations may lead to disciplinary action, including termination of employment and criminal prosecution. Analyses of investigations are also used to inform future prevention and continuous improvement of our businesses and functions.
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We strongly believe that reducing our environmental impact is not possible without cooperation from our suppliers. To accomplish this, we try to work closely with our suppliers to find more environmentally efficient solutions in order to mitigate our impact and carry out our activities responsibly and effectively. FOCUS ON GROSSERONLeader in the sale of equipment, consumables, reagents, culture media for laboratories, supplier of Mérieux NutriSciences
Without knowing it, CSR has always been part of Grosseron’s DNA, through several sustainable actions they had naturally implemented in their facilities. After being required by its clients to present its CSR commitments, the company started formalizing its CSR strategy. CSR progressively took a bigger part in the company’s development. The company is now audited every year by ECOVADIS, which granted them a silver medal for several years.
Since 2015, a large part of their CSR efforts have been focused around their infrastructure, with the construction of a 5000sqm warehouse, certified RT2012. While 75% of the cost of using such a building would be related to lighting, the company has opted for intelligent management of its lighting. The building is equipped with 100% LED lighting that is triggered by presence detectors and modulates in accordance with the natural light. Beyond the ecological impact, this choice of lighting has an interesting economic impact for the company. Grosseron is also at the forefront in terms of waste management.
The company CSR actions are available on their website and concern:
SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT
Although our economic reality will always prevail, we try to improve our CSR actions when possible. Whatever aspect we can sustainably improve accordingly with our business strategy, we will do it.
““ Laurent Fleury, CEO of Grosseron
Conditioning Packing Delivery Communication And more
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DEVELOPING AND ENGAGING OUR PEOPLE
We truly believe that the well-being of our employees is a key element of our success. They are the ambassadors of our mission, from their first day in the company and even after their departure. That is why we are committed to making our employees a priority through the initiative “Our People First”. From strictly ensuring their safety to fostering career development, we focus on employees’ well-being in their daily activities.
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WELL-BEING AND ENGAGEMENT
Only an engaged company can expect engaged employees. Various initiatives were carried out in 2019, from having Culture ambassadors in the United States to deploying an award-winning HR policy in the Netherlands, to concentrate on the well-being of all Mérieux NutriSciences employees. We strongly focused on occupational health and work-related stress and strived to prevent psychological risks.Our Human Resources teams are invited to mesure their people’s engagement by sending every employee an engagement survey. Progressively, teams are mesuring their eNPS score, to estimate how an employee would recommend working at Mérieux NutriSciences to a relative.
MXNS DAY - 7th June 2019 We took the occasion of the World Food Safety Day to hold our first company day, to promote engagement by gathering every employee around our public health mission. As an example, in Peru, everyone could assist to health consultation with a registered dietician, to measure their health indicators (%fat, BMI, etc.)
Chile Chile team won the first Sergio May Colvin prize, recognizing their commitment in developing good labor practices that contribute to improve the quality of life of their workers.
BrazilThe initiative “Saúde que faz você sorrir” encourages physical exercise and healthy eating within the company. In 2019, it has reached 100% implementation in our Brazilian units.
The project consists of classes given by physical education professionals and physiotherapists. Every month, a fruit basket is made available in the departments of each branch.
In Israel, I have an “Open Door” policy, which means that every employee can meet me without asking permission of their direct manager, but just by letting them know. It enables me to be approachable and be aware and assist when possible on issues that affect our employees before and after working hours. Guy Malchi , Managing Director Israel
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PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT
Giving every employee the means to grow as a professional individual is at the heart of our human resources strategy. We provide every employee with all the necessary training to keep them safe and competent in their workplace and to enable career opportunities within the company, as part of Mérieux NutriSciences Individual Development Program.
Our locations ensure that all employees are competent in performing their assigned tasks. Competency is based on appropriate education, training or experience. Each site retains associated records and identifies training needs associated with the Quality Health Safety and Environment Management System, Occupational Health & Safety risks, and Environment Protection requirements.
Mérieux Université We work closely with Mérieux Université, a training and collaboration center for all Institut Mérieux companies and external companies, to develop capabilities and talent, improve organizational efficiency, encourage entrepreneurial leadership, and promote a culture of excellence around the world.
In 2019, the yearly program “Fit for the Future” was successfully held, to improve leadership capabilities of the Mérieux Group leaders.
Career Management We invite every managers and their employees to carry yearly interviews, as an opportunity to develop their career plan and: discuss with his/her manager have/give a feedback about performances, achievements and difficulties explain what his/her aspirations are understand what is expected get/give information about career decisions (salary increase, bonus, training, promotion, discipline) prepare for the future
HeRo HeRo is our global HRIS that is being deployed in all our sites. This platform aims at reuniting all HR features, connecting employees worldwide, enabling the diffusion of the same level of information and participating in document dematerialization. HeRo will include 5 modules: Core, Recruiting & Onboarding, Learning, Performance, Compensation and Talent & Succession.
Any employees will have access to HeRo, and will be able to: access his/her employee profile manage his/her career at Mérieux NutriSciences lead his/her development plan access to learning content via the integrated e-learning platform search for employee by skills and expertise
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Non DiscriminationAt Mérieux NutriSciences, we do not discriminate against a person, a group, a community or its members on the ground of race, color of skin, religion, caste, disability, health status, gender, sexual orientation, union membership, political affiliation, age or nationality in hiring, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement. Mérieux NutriSciences provides equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants without regard to any protected classification. This applies to all aspects of the employment experience including recruitment, hiring, compensation, promotion, transfer, disciplinary action, termination, training, social activities and recreational programs. Any and all such employment decisions will be made in a non-discriminatory manner. Pregnancy, childbirth, or medical or common conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth shall be treated the same for all employment- related purposes as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work. The company does not discriminate or retaliate against employees or job applicants who are pregnant or who have requested a reasonable accommodation. If an employee or job applicant requests a reasonable accommodation for any medical or common condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, we will engage in a timely, good faith, and meaningful exchange to determine effective reasonable accommodations that do not impose an undue hardship on Company operations.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Preventing HarassmentWe have a zero tolerance policy regarding harassment. We embrace the concept that all employees should be able to work in an environment free from all forms of employment discrimination, including harassment of any type.The Company’s anti-harassment policy prohibits harassment based on gender, race, color, creed, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, military status, veteran status, physical or mental disability, medical condition including genetic characteristics, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local laws.This anti-harassment policy applies to all persons involved in the operation of the company and prohibits unlawful harassment by any individual, employee, supervisor, internal/external vendor or contractor, visitor or guest who is directed at anyone involved in any Company related activity.Any employee who feels that he/she has been harassed should report the incident(s) to their HR Business Partner or by sending an email to a confidential email address available on the intranet of the company.Any individual deemed to have harassed another employee will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
Encouraging the employment of people with disabilities
Mérieux NutriSciences France has signed a company agreement with regard to the employment of persons with disabilities
They also developed a partnership with a school training laboratory technicians with disabilities for which they buy training equipment, offer internships and organize laboratory visits.
4 : number of people with a disability working among MXNS China laboratories
France
Embrassing differences
United States
The team organized webinars on Awareness, Definitions, and inclusive language for the LGBTQ+ communities and conducted Unconcious Bias Trainings.
Any worldwide employee managing teams in the United States has to take an elearning training on preventing harassment.
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RESPECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND REGULATIONS
Human rights are integrated in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the policies, procedures and actions deployed for each of our CSR priorities.
At Mérieux NutriSciences, we are committed to respecting the following statements:
We have set up social dialogue in locations where it is required by law, through the election of Employee Representatives. These representatives are democratically elected and try to answer individual or group requests, so far as reasonably practicable. The company allows employees to join the trade unions of their choice. In addition, in most laboratories, Employee Representatives are allowed to carry out their duties within working hours without losing pay. Social partners contribute to informing the general management of employees’ needs, satisfactions, difficulties and questions. They help employees understand the technical, competitive and economic challenges that the company is facing, and the decisions that are made to address them. Furthermore, we implemented several initiatives within our laboratories worldwide in order to take into account the expectations of our employees.
SOCIAL DIALOGUE
To ensure that work is conducted on a voluntary basis
Mérieux NutriSciences does not engage in or support the use of forced labor, nor is personnel required to lodge significant deposits
or identity papers upon commencing employment with the company. Employees are free to leave the Company after
reasonable notice according to applicable laws.
To ensure that all our employees are over the minimum legal working age
Mérieux NutriSciences does not tolerate child labor.
To treat all our workforce equally and with respect and dignity
We ensure that no worker is subject to any physical, sexual, psychological, verbal harassment, abuse or other form of
intimidation. Any form of discrimination is prohibited.
To work on the basis of freely agreed and documented terms of employment
Policies are adopted and adhered to respect permanent and casual workers, and, at a minimum, safeguard their rights under their employment contract, local, national labour and social security laws and regulations, and applicable collective
agreements.
To guarantee the workers’ health and safetyMérieux NutriSciences strives to provide a healthy and safe
workplace to prevent accidents and injury.
To pay all our workers fair wagesWorkers are provided with a total compensation
package that includes wages, overtime pay, benefits and paid leave, which meets or exceeds the legal
minimum standards established by legally binding collective bar-gaining agreements.
To maintain working hours reasonable for all workers
Workers are not required to work more than the regular and overtime hours allowed by the law of the country where they work.
To respect the rights of communitiesMérieux NutriSciences does not tolerate any form of
discrimination.
To permit all our employees to exercise freely their right joining trade unions
Mérieux NutriSciences respect the right of employees to freely organize and bargain collectively. Workers are not intimidated or harassed in the exercise of their right to join or refrain from joining
any organization.
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SAFETY OF EMPLOYEES
We are committed to keeping safety paramount in everything we do. Mérieux NutriSciences provides a safe and healthy working environment and takes adequate steps to prevent accidents and injury by minimizing causes of hazards and managing risks in the working environment, as much as reasonably possible.Mérieux NutriSciences regularly evaluates the professional health and safety risks and a pre-employment background check is performed for each employee where required by law. Most of our laboratories have established programs to prevent occupational health risks to workers. We strive to implement in all our locations a formal analysis of hazards by workstation. In addition, almost all our subsidiaries have a health and safety committee that includes both management and employee representatives.As part of the Human Resources Quality Metrics, Mérieux NutriSciences tracks levels of accidents and incidents in all laboratories in order to reduce the injury frequency rate. We have set safety indicators, recording the number of accidents or incidents related to time away from work or not (TF1, TF2).
Mérieux NutriSciences is committed to:
Making continuous efforts to achieve a workplace that is free from work-related injury and illness
Conducting business in a manner consistent with all applicable safety standards, including governmental requirements, operations and facility-specific safety requirements, and contractual requirements
Treating injured employees with respect and providing medical treatment for workplace injury and illness
Maintaining a workplace free of the effects of alcohol and drug use
DRESSING FOR SAFETYAt Mérieux NutriSciences we dress for safety. Aligned with our public health commitment, the safety our employees is our main concern. We issued a dress code presenting what to wear in each area (lab, sample reception,...) to guaranty safety. The dress code has successfully been deployed in all our countries thanks to a communication campaign.
GOLDEN RULESAs a company we want to deliver quality, ensure safety and minimize our impact on the environment. To achieve our goal, 12 Golden rules were defined to be cascaded to every employee, 6 of them regarding safety:
I respect the dress codeI drive safelyI am careful when I move (I don’t run, I hold the handrail, I don’t watch my phone while walking)I prevent fireI take care of my postureI take care of the safety and wellbeing of my team and colleagues
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ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
We strive to promote responsible behavior in favor of environmental protection. Thanks to our Mérieux NutriSciences Global Quality Health Safety and Environmental Manual identifying environmental protection procedures and risks, we provide key environmental guidelines to all our subsidiaries worldwide.
Picture: BRUMADINHO DAM DISASTEROur daily commitment to public health, working to ensure consumer safety by conducting excellent analysis and studies, is also translated into emergency actions. After the rupture of the Brumadinho dam in Brazil in early 2019, an Environmental Analysis unit of 15 people was hired to provide sampling and analysis services. 628 km were covered daily, most of them in boats, to collect samples from rivers and hydroelectric dams, before the mud arrived in these areas.
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All locations must establish, implement and maintain an environmental management system to meet our corporate guidelines and local environmental legislation. They should also determine the risks and opportunities related to environmental aspects.
The environmental program of each subsidiary must: Assure that the environmental management system can achieve its intended outcomes for risks and opportunities that need to be addressed considering solid, liquid and gaseous laboratory wasting Prevent and/or reduce undesired effects, including the potential for external environmental conditions to affect the organization Determine the environmental impacts of its laboratory activities, including those that can be controlled and those that can be influenced Develop procedures and rules to ensure the implementation of safe practices with minimal risk of causing negative impacts on the environment (for example using recyclable materials as appropriate)
In certain regions, we have a local formalized environmental policy. This documentation is based on regular internal audits performed in the laboratories to comply with local legislation. In those countries, a Senior Manager is responsible for environmental management and is in charge of dealing with current environmental issues and managing environmental audits performed by external partners.
FACILITIES
SUSTAINABLE SITES
Gold medal for France A documentation audit was performed by the CSR rating platform EcoVadis for Mérieux NutriSciences France, which was attributed a gold medal, for the second year! This excellent result places the company among the top 5% companies rated by the platform. This method is based on 21 criteria and 4 topics (environment, social, ethics, and supply chain)
Brasil: PiracicabaThe Environmental Analysis laboratory in Piracicaba unit is certified ISO 14001:2015, the international standard that specifies the requirements for an effective environmental management system (EMS).
Ensuring safety and sustainability in the laboratoriesOur Merville laboratory in France has been smartly designed to improve the employees’ safety and comfort. It includes specific equipment for energy and rainwater recovery such as low consumption and variable flow fume hoods with presence detectors and automatic closure, LED light in the lab with presence detectors, electric car charging stations, eco pasture, energy recovery on the production of air conditioning, safety showers with eye rinse in temperate / thermostatic water, building meeting APSAD D14A requirements, etc.
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We have implemented a waste management strategy. We seek to address two key challenges: reducing the quantity of waste generated by our activity setting up specialized recycling facilities.
RECYCLING
Mérieux NutriSciences also promotes electronic copies and reminds in its email signatures to print only if necessary. The eco-print system enables a more rational management of paper use through more accurate monitoring and traceability of consumption levels. Double-sided printing and the use of black and white instead of color are set up as default settings on printers.
Waste is managed at local sites in accordance with local legislation and following our policies. We classify waste by type and according to the disposal routes: recycling, treatment, incineration or landfill. We have a strict policy against sending any hazardous waste to landfills, regardless of local regulations. The suppliers of waste are qualified and monitored to avoid any environmental risk.
Our laboratories have established a written procedure for the safe storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials in order to prevent any kind of environmental risks. Most of our laboratories have a list of wastes generated by their local activity describing the kind of waste, its classification, and its environmental impact. We strongly believe that this is the first step to think about value creation from wastes recycling. We encourage our local teams to imagine new solutions to recycle our plastic waste, or any other alternatives to reduce the amount and costs related to waste. In France, we are currently seeking to work with companies able to create value from our plastic wastes.
Employees are regularly trained about waste management and laboratories are encouraged to share lists of best practices regarding waste management. Waste sorting schemes are in place in most of our offices around the world. All of our sites recycle paper, cartons and plastic bottles by splitting those wastes from others in a different container.
GOLDEN RULES2 of the 12 Golden rules we defined concerned the environment: I recycle as much as possible I save energy/natural resources
PARTNERING WITH A RECYCLING COMPANY
TurkeyIn Turkey, recycling is a legal requirement. In 2019, the teams were able to recycle: 3 tones of paper 17,792 kg of medical waste 1,1 tone of hazardous waste 10 kg of glass
South Africa The team in Capetown has implemented a win-win situation regarding recycling: a local NGO picks up their paper waste for free and then sells it. The money is used to help disabled people have a home.
The company’s cooler boxes are also picked up once a week by an NGO which uses them to make building bricks to provide homes to the disadvantaged populations.
Tassin The corporate team works with Elise, a company that recycles their paper, plastic cups, cans and bottles. In 2019, their actions allowed the preservation of: 66,718 L of water 1,232 kg of CO2 52 treesThis actions resulted in 56 hours of employment for people living with a disability, working with Elise.
Colombia Mérieux NutriSciences Colombia goes further into recycling by partnering with the company Boils. Employees are invited to bring their used domestic oils. Boils picks it up to turn it into bio-fuel.
Brazil Brazilian teams say no to plastic cups! Since July 2019, the company no longer provides plastic cups. A distribution of reu-sable cups, showing the whistle-blowing contact, was made on every site, to all em-ployees.
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In order to contribute to the reduction of the climate change impacts, we try to reduce energy use and subsequent greenhouse gas emissions resulting from our global activities. While the environmental impact of our core business as a protector of global public health by doing laboratory analysis is minimal as compared to manufacturers, we have implemented a set of initiatives in our environmental management, including regarding transportation.
We try to optimize the trips of our auditors and sample collectors to reduce our emissions. Likewise, travel by air and car is kept at a minimum due to our continued investment in videos conferencing equipment and capabilities.
TRANSPORT
MOBILITY CHALLENGELa Rochelle team, in France, participated for the first time in the mobility challenge, an intercompany challenge which encourages companies to use or test alternative means of transport during the Mobility Week in a fun way.
1,286 km were covered in a way other than by car alone. 78% of employees participated.
The site won the challenge in its category (company with 20 to 99 employees) and was awarded an electric bike. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE PARTICIPANTS!
10BONNES PRATIQUES ENVIRONNEMENTALES
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AU BUREAU GESTION DESDÉCHETS
Augmenter et améliorer le tri
de nos déchets
Privi-légier les
tasses aux gobelets en
plastiques dans les distributeurs qui le
permettent
CONSOMMATIOND’ÉNERGIE
TRANSPORT
Privilégier le train pour les longs déplace-
ments
Privilégiez le co-voiturage
Eteindre complète-ment les équipe-ments
électriques et lumières en quittant le bureau.
Préférer éteindre un
appareil plutôt que le
laisser en veille
Eviter l’impression
systéma-tique
imprimer en recto/verso
préférer l’impression
noir et blanc
Utiliser le verso des pages avant
tri en papier brouillon
Utiliser les systèmes de
collecte organisés par les associa-
tions
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Sensibiliser les salariés à
l’éco-conduite et la pratiquer
OPTIMIZING CAR TRAVELS
ColombiaThe Colombian team works on assuring the compliance with the environmental regulations and vehicle documentation. They also put in place trainings on good driving behaviors and practises.
FranceFrench teams are rigorously working on lowering their environmental impact caused by their vehicule fleet.One of their focus is on decreasing the average number of kilometers travelled daily by their auditors by: selecting auditors located where the workload is high decreasing the number of visits to clients premises putting in place a shuttle to collect samples from industrial clients to reduce their moves adding exceptional operations to existing rounds (except in case of emergency)They also put emphasis on raising awareness on eco-driving and training for their drivers, and on managing the vehicle fleet by doing an audit with an external firm.
ENCOURAGING ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION The French team selected 10 good environmental practises they were willing to strive for. These are general provisions which have different impact on people’s daily work depending on their activity or location. Each employee contributing to overall improvement (energy consumption, car sharing, eco-driving, etc.) at their own level.
2,5% of the French car fleet is now
hybrid
that’s 9% of their four-seat vehicules
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GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY
As the reflection of our values, various social initiatives are taken and proudly held by our employees, hence reinforcing the company’s presence in the local landscape. We encourage people to step up and take meaningful actions to improve the quality of life of the communities around them, by promoting health, education, culture and environmental protection.
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Beyond their daily tasks in favor of public health, people at Mérieux NutriSciences swing into action to raise awareness and collect funds for health charities. Blood donationBlood donation sessions were held in January and September in Portugal. Mérieux NutriSciences teams were invited to give their blood to help those who need a blood transfusion.
Moving for a causeEvery year, many Mérieux NutriSciences teams around the world gather to participate in sport charity events:
Oakville and Markham participated in the CIBC Run for the Cure, a 5k benefiting the Canadian Cancer Society. The labs collected more than $2000 in donations for the event through participant donations and a bake sale!
Around thirty French Mérieux NutriSciences employees put on their sports shoes to join the 36,000 participants in the Odysséa race, which mobilizes for cancer research. Others, from the corporate team at Tassin participated in a foot tournament “But en Or Entreprises” organised by the Sport dans la Ville association, while others participated in the “Jogg dans la Ville” challenge.
HEALTH
ENVIRONMENTWe are also raising awareness on the importance of the planet preservation and on how to lower the impact of our activities.
In March, a group of employees from the Gainesville operations and Gainesville Research Services laboratories in the United States, helped plant local longleaf pine trees at the Little Orange Creek Preserve. The opportunity was organized with the Alachua Conservation Trust (ACT), recipients of fundraiser donations raised in 2018 by the labs towards the planting of over 1500 trees in the area.
The laboratories held their annual fundraiser in honor of Earth Day and Arbor day benefiting the ACT. The laboratories held a bake sale, a raffle, and a fundraiser lunch. Together they raised over $300 for the nonprofit organization continuing the corporate sponsorship through 2020. The funds will be used towards protecting the natural, historic, scenic and recreational resources around North Central Florida.
BrasilPromoting health and wellbeing at work is also possible through sports! In Brazil, the initiative “Saúde que faz você sorrir”, which encourages physical exercise and healthy eating, was the occasion to celebrate the 28 years of Mérieux NutriSciences Brazil by reuniting more than 150 employees and their family for a sporting event.
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CULTUREWe believe in the power of culture as a vector of change and mobilization. We support several cultural organizations through sponsorship.
EDUCATIONWe support programs in order to give disadvantaged children access to education. We believe in the importance of offering equal opportunities to all those who will pioneer our future.
Our worldwide teams, in France, the United States, China, the Netherlands, South Africa and Portugal, took part in career forums to present our activity and professions to students. They took the time to answer their questions to help them define their career plans.
FOCUS ON SOUTH AFRICA’s CHARITY ACTIONS
The International City of GastronomyAs a corporate citizen, we support projects in the communities where our sites and operations are located, where we contribute to cultural and social philanthropy actions. In Lyon, we supported the creation of the International City of Gastronomy. This museum aims at showing the diversity of the French gastronomic meal and how nutrition and health are inseparable from gastronomy.
TurkeySchools supplies collections were organized among our Turkish team. They bought school bags and boots for poor region schools while employees gathered and collected pencils, notebooks, bags and thermoses for urban area schools. They also gave books and second hand clothes to children.
TassinEmployees can contribute at their own level to take action for equal opportunities and promote the social and professional integration of young people by getting involved in partner associations such as Télémaque and Sport dans la Ville.
FranceMérieux NutriSciences France is partnering with several schools supporting the training and professional integration of people with a disability, such as UniLaSalle and CRP Bouffemont. CRP Bouffemont trains laboratory technicians and we supported them by buying equipment, offering internships and organizing laboratory visits.
Mandela Day: giving our time to a charityIn 2019, the team worked with a local bakery: more than 2000 sandwiches were prepared and distributed with soups to homeless people in Capetown!
Supporting small local businessesThe company has developped ways to support small
companies, from loans to startups to a supplier program helping them develop their business.
Annual donations to orphansFunds are collected to give to NGOs, helping
orphans and people living with HIV.
Handwashing day programEmployees held workshops with children to insist on the importance of handwashing to prevent illnesses.
SantashoeboxFor about ten years, employees have been collecting hygiene furnitures, clothes and school supplies to put them in shoe boxes
which are given to unpriviledged children for Christmas. More than 800 boxes have been already made!
Mérieux NutriSciences South Africa has developped a rich solidarity program engaging its people around many causes, such as:
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CONCLUSION
WHAT’S NEXT?
For a few years, we have implemented a number of voluntary initiatives throughout the organization to improve our impact on the environment, our social policies and our commitment to business ethics. Through this report, our wish is to formalize what is done worldwide, to give it the visibility it deserves.
With the increasing complexity of the world we live in, we are impulsing sustainability and embodying the changes we want to make in the company. A lot of opportunities have been identified, they will lead to the concretization of new ideas and initiatives in the years to come. Setting ourselves CSR goals, with a structured plan of actions and a panel of tools and indicators represent a step in our CSR journey, that we want to take.
In accordance with the organization strategy, one of the priorities we identified is and will remain our people. Mérieux NutriSciences people are the most powerful driver of our success. Their well-being, safety and engagement are essential in the accomplissement of our objectives, and CSR is part of it. The 2019 Worldwide Management Meeting was dedicated to our people as it is our ambition to create the right context for people engagement, collective effciency and best-in-class quality.
We deeply believe that CSR must be an integral part of our business strategy. All employees are invited to promote and integrate CSR stakes in their daily work.
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Let’s stay connected!
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Mérieux NutriSciences111 E. Wacker Dr. Ste. 2300
Chicago, IL 60601, United StatesPhone: +1 312 938 5151
www.merieuxnutrisciences.com/corporate
This document was printed on recycled paper.
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CORPORATESOCIALRESPONSIBILITY2019
AUSTRALIA
CHILE
FRANCE
IRELAND
MALAYSIA
PERU
SAUDI ARABIA
SPAIN
TURKEY
BRAZIL
CHINA
GERMANY
ISRAEL
MAURITIUS
POLAND
SINGAPORE
SWITZERLAND
UNITED STATES
CANADA
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THE NETHERLANDS
