Environment, Health and Safety
Environment, Health and Safety
Ipsen’s commitment is formalized by way of a comprehensive Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) policy, based on the ISO 14001 (environment) and OHSAS 18001 (health and safety) guidelines. The Group’s approach is part of a continuous improvement policy and sets out to increase accountability across the organization.
The Group further strengthened its EHS policy in 2012, stressing individual accountability at all levels of the organization. Ipsen has committed to:
- design and manage its products and business to reduce their carbon footprint and enhance the protection of people and the environment, according to ethical and compliant practices;
- minimize the risk of accidents and incidents;
- contribute to the continuous improvement of EHS performance and culture.
Ipsen is committed to a voluntary ISO 14001(environment) and OHSAS 18001 (health and safety) certification policy. Five of the Group’s manufacturing sites are ISO 14001 certified: Dreux, Signes and L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (France), Cork (Ireland) and Tianjin (China), demonstrating their commitment to protecting the environment. Certification is renewed each year and is part of Ipsen’s continuous improvement policy. Two sites have obtained OHSAS 18001 certification: Dreux (France) and Cork (Ireland), in recognition of their efforts to ensure safety in the workplace.
Ipsen’s sites at Les Ulis (France), Milford (US) and Wrexham (UK) have aligned their EHS management systems with the Group’s corporate standards, and regular internal audits are conducted to assess compliance. The Wrexham facility in the UK obtained certification according to three standards: BS 8555 certification for the implementation of its environmental management system; the Corporate Health Standard in recognition of its efforts to promote health and safety in the workplace (both of these from local authorities), and the RoSPa Gold Award (Royal
Society for the Prevention of Accidents).
Trained and accountable
Ipsen renewed and extended its environment, health and safety awareness and training program in 2012. Each site rolled out its program according to its specific risks and impacts. All employees received training regarding the risks inherent to their roles and the environmental impacts associated with their activities. This preventive approach helps employees adapt a responsible attitude in their daily work.
Climate change and carbon footprint
Ipsen is engaged in a voluntary policy to assess its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, measure the environmental impact of its activities and implement priority measures to reduce them. At end 2012, each entity in the
Group had produced at least a first report on greenhouse gas emissions to raise stakeholder awareness and provide an initial benchmark.
Ipsen has rolled out a number of initiatives in the past several years to reduce its carbon footprint, focusing on energy consumption in particular:
- use of videoconferencing and webconferencing as an alternative to meetings requiring travel;
- gradually replacing the corporate fleet with low-carbon vehicles;
- carpooling and shuttles to reduce the use of private cars;
- in Cork, the implementation of “lean” initiatives for energy efficiency, in particular for the improvement of waste processing systems.
The Group published its carbon footprint report, in accordance with Article 75 of the French environmental law, Grenelle II, demonstrating its commitment to countering global warming by reporting a wider scope than the scope required under the law: