Occupational safety and health (OSH)

Safe working environment - “We remain in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations concerning the environment, health and safety in all locations in which we conduct our operations. We provide appropriate and safe working conditions to our employees, collaborators, subcontractors and suppliers.”

The financial services sector is characterized by low risk in the area of occupational health and safety. That results from the specific nature of office work, which involves few hazards. Apart from the usually light accidents (tripping over, slipping, etc.) which can occur in the office, road accidents related to the use of company cars are also recorded. In formal terms the management of occupational health and safety is regulated in a series of internal documents. PZU and PZU Życie, like other companies from the Group, comply with legal obligations related to occupational health and safety (e.g. assessment of occupational hazards in specific jobs, analysis of accidents, training for employees, etc.).

In spite of the low level of occupational health and safety risks in insurance services sector, the approach to managing occupational health and safety issues decidedly distinguishes PZU and PZU Życie against the background of average enterprises in the country. Thanks to the knowledge and skills of the OHS Team employees, the team nowadays does more than just be a support function for the core processes in the enterprise. The team to a large extent consists of rescuers and its ambition is to disseminate knowledge related to pre-medical first aid. All employees interested in improving their knowledge in this regard participate in the training courses conducted by the OHS Team.

Thanks to their workshop form, the courses are very popular with employees (157 training courses were conducted for employees of the PZU Group in 2016-2017). An informal group also gathered, consisting of persons who had communicated the need for regular training at a mode advanced level. This is how the AED Project came into being. Its major goal was to establish quick response groups consisting of AED rescuers.

Additionally, internal “emergency lines” were put in place to allow the employees to find efficiently a person trained on providing first aid. The presence of employees-rescuers proved on a few occasions the advisability of this solution. The Group, already more than 50-strong, undergoes cyclical first aid training and workshops to improve their skills as well as the ability to work and coordinate activities. The OHS Team in the PZU Group received a letter of congratulations on this project from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy in 2014 and 2015.

Besides the in-company courses, the employees of the OHS Team in PZU willingly join in the promotion of first aid outside the company. Such actions typically take place at schools, kindergartens or are conducted for social organizations. In 2016-2017 alone, over 11,000 people outside the PZU Group during cyclical actions. This is another example of the involvement of a company team in prevention activities for general security.

The OHS Team conducted also in-house actions such as: “Your security is in your hands”, “Do not push too hard… Start exercising”. The first concerned security of pregnant women in office work. The second action encouraged people to practise sport and be physically active to get fitter and feel better. An additional action which was not directly linked to the workplace was the in-company action concerning safety of children at home addressed to parents. Importantly, the above experience can be successfully used by persons responsible for nationwide social campaigns, which will contribute to greater effectiveness of such campaigns and to more efficient use of the expenses on the campaigns from the prevention funds.

Occupational Health and Safety Commission functions in Bank Pekao in order to improve the actions related to occupational health and safety. The responsibilities of the OHS Commission:

• review work conditions;
• make periodical assessments of the condition of occupational health and safety;
• issue opinions on the measures taken by the employer to prevent accidents at work and occupational diseases;
• formulate recommendations concerning improvement of work conditions and cooperate with the employer in fulfilling the employer’s obligations related to occupational health and safety.

In the other companies from the Pekao Group the responsibility for occupational health and safety rests with units /offices established for that purpose, operating in accordance with the relevant internal regulations in line with the type of conducted activity.

In branches (medical centres) of PZU Zdrowie and in the companies directly and indirectly controlled by PZU Zdrowie the vast majority of OHS regulations are of local nature related to the specific characteristics of their activity and of the market in which they function (e.g. expectations of the local branch of the National Health Fund).

In the area of investments (PTE PZU and TFI PZU) internal regulations concerning employee issues correspond to the regulations valid in PZU and PZU Życie, save for the differences resulting from the specific characteristics of company activity.