Bosch – an employer of choice
The three P’s of sustainability – people, planet, prosperity – are inseparable as far as I’m concerned. Responsible treatment of people and the environment is firmly embedded in our corporate culture as well as in our associates’ mindsets.
Social responsibility
Social responsibility has a long tradition at Bosch.
For us, it begins with fair treatment of our associates: in the “Basic principles of social responsibility at Bosch,” the board of management and the employee representatives commit, among other things, to complying with human rights, equal opportunities, fair working conditions, and global standards in occupational health and safety. The 11 principles are based on the core labor standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Diversity
Bosch values the diversity of its associates’ perspectives, experience, and lifestyles. We are convinced that teams with a range of perspectives, educational and cultural backgrounds, as well as personal qualities often produce better results and that mutual appreciation of each team member’s uniqueness is beneficial for the work climate.
That is why we have firmly anchored diversity in our mission statement “We are Bosch” as one of our values and foster and encourage diversity as part of our corporate strategy. Our Code of Business Conduct, too, underscores that Bosch respects and protects the personal dignity of each individual, tolerates neither discrimination nor harassment, and promotes diversity. It is very important to us that – irrespective of gender, age, background, or any other aspects – all associates around the globe feel valued and can devote their individual strengths, expertise, and potential to the company.
Identifying risks, avoiding accidents in the workplace
Preventing accidents and ensuring workplace safety is a crucial part of our responsibility as an employer. Having reached our first target in 2020 – less than 1.7 accidents per 1 million hours worked – and even lowered the accident rate to 1.5, we now want to build on what we have achieved: by 2025, we aim to lower the number of work accidents at Bosch to 1.45 accidents per 1 million hours worked.
As production resumed after the pandemic-related restrictions, the accident rate also rose again slightly in 2021: there were 1.62 accidents per 1 million hours worked. Despite the slightly higher accident rate, we believe we are on track to reaching our long-term target by 2025.
A key to our success is recognizing hazards before an accident occurs. That is why we focus, among other things, on training and awareness-raising measures to identify risks at an early stage and prevent accidents at work. We draw on innovative concepts and new technologies to offer our associates attractive and varied training materials.
For further information on the number of occupational accidents at Bosch, see our key figures tool.
Occupational health
Each individual’s health is of vital importance both for our associates’ motivation and satisfaction and for Bosch as a responsible, high-performing company. We have therefore integrated occupational health in our fundamental principles of work and made them a fixed element of our corporate culture.
As a person’s health depends on many factors, associates and the company work together as part of a holistic approach to occupational health. Given that good leadership culture and team spirit among colleagues are key in this respect, guidelines for healthy management are firmly anchored in the “We LEAD Bosch” leadership principles.
Our occupational health management system “befit” covers a wide range of topics from preventive medical care and physical and mental fitness to mental health and right through to tips on a healthy diet and workplace design. An important role is also played by our reintegration management, as well as leadership, training, and competence development in relation to individuals’ health, and the integration of people with reduced capacity to work and severe disabilities.
Rigorously tackling Covid-19 further
In the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bosch continues to give first priority to the health of associates. Back in 2020, extensive hygiene measures were taken very quickly to protect associates, and these also extend to third-party personnel. For example, very early on, it became strictly mandatory for all associates to wear masks covering the mouth and nose and to observe minimum distances at company sites. Such measures were flanked by additional possibilities for mobile working and virtual collaboration. The establishment of the company’s own mask production line and the rapid introduction of the Vivalytic test (see photo) also helped to contain the impact of the pandemic. To provide associates with medical support, the medical service set up a Covid-19 hotline, offered a telemedicine service, and designed information material. In addition, all associates were able to consult the latest travel recommendations and warnings at any time.
Besides continuing these measures, in 2021 we focused above all on offering our associates the opportunity to get vaccinated. To this end, Bosch has launched a vaccination campaign and – where permitted by the legal and organizational framework – offers Covid-19 vaccination for associates. In Germany, the vaccination campaign began in June 2021 at 50 sites. Bosch-internal vaccination centers were set up at the larger sites, such as the research location in Renningen. After initially vaccinating associates, we were soon able to extend the offer to associates’ family members. By the end of 2021, the company medical staff had thus administered some 79,000 doses of vaccine in total in Germany, including 13,500 booster shots. The vaccination campaign is to be continued in 2022.
