For the Piaggio Group, workplace health and safety is a corporate value, and continuous improvement is an integral part of its activities, representing a clear strategic commitment to the Group's more general objectives.

This principle is valid and applied in all countries where the Piaggio Group operates. In particular, Piaggio continually pursues concrete actions aimed at:

  • a continual and systematic evolution towards ever higher safety standards, which considers the assessment of occupational safety and related tools, starting from the definition of new activities, or when reviewing existing ones;
  • a safer conduct through the education, information and awareness of all workers, to enable them to perform their duties safely and with awareness, and have a central role and be accountable for occupational health and safety aspects.

All employees guarantee and work together to put in place effective occupational health and safety programmes, to safeguard their own safety and that of others, based on interdependence.

Prevention and protection activities to safeguard the health of workers in a complex industrial context like the Piaggio Group, both in Italy and abroad, can only be achieved effectively through an adequately structured organisation which specifically aims to foster a “culture” of safety within the company. This context encompasses “Safety Culture” training and development initiative which shape and will shape current and future strategies.  The belief that prevention must steer behaviour and daily activities, at all levels, has led the Piaggio Group to adopt very similar safety management standards in all the countries where it operates, regardless of any regulatory constraints that are less stringent than the Group's standards. From this perspective, the plants in Italy, Vietnam and India have an Occupational Health and Safety management system certified by a certification body accredited according to ISO 45001 standard (Occupational Health and Safety Management System). Audits are conducted annually and were successfully completed in 2021.

An organisational and procedural system aimed at protecting health and safety at work is adopted for all Piaggio Group employees worldwide. The ISO 45001 certified management system applies to 83% of all employees.

Production processes or company support processes are subject to a risk assessment, conducted according to a systematic process, and with the support of external specialised technical resources where necessary, with registration in specific Risk Assessment Reports.

Specific procedures are in place for change management, both with a view to risk prevention and to identify opportunities for improvement (ergonomics, plant safety, etc.).

In addition, a consolidated system of immediate reporting and analysis of accidents, dressings and near misses is in place, with standardised methods and defined working groups, in order to identify the root causes of these events and prevent the occurrence of accidents or recurrence.

All workers, consultants and suppliers who enter the Group's sites are required to comply with this management system which provides for internal and external audits on compliance with procedures adopted.

In 2021, initiatives were further developed to mitigate occupational health and safety impacts within the commercial network.  In particular, the manual with technical instructions for maintenance operations was supplemented with general rules on safe conduct, to be observed by service network personnel during maintenance activities.

Promoting health is another important aspect for Piaggio, and this is achieved based on two main areas of action: free testing and information campaigns on healthy lifestyles. Each Group site has a health unit for prevention, surveillance and first aid, manned by specialist medical and paramedical staff.

To respond to the COVID-19 emergency, Piaggio has adopted measures to ensure social distancing, the sanitisation of workstations and communal areas, taking people’s temperature at the site entrance, the adoption of specific PPE (e.g. distribution of masks and sanitising gels).

Italy

The health emergency caused by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the introduction of organisational, procedural and technical measures to prevent contagion in the workplace, as per the company protocol signed with the company trade union representatives for each site and in line with the "Shared regulation protocol for measures to combat and contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the workplace" between the Government and social partners.

Corporate control committees have also been set up to monitor the adoption of rules to combat and contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the workplace, with the participation of company trade union representatives and workers’ safety representatives (RLS) at each site.

At the same time, specific strategies to contain the virus were defined in collaboration with competent doctors for people who tested positive or were suspected to be positive (nose/throat swabs, company contact tracing, etc.).

Starting from 2021, a post-COVID medical evaluation and support service has been operating for employees who have contracted the virus, with specialist follow-up visits, in addition to clinics which are already running, that employees can access free of charge for specialist visits at the Pontedera Company Medical Centre.

A “COVID passport” monitoring system was set up all Italian offices in 2021, for access to all company areas.

Occupational accidents in Italy1

Occupational accidents at Italian plants

Injuries that occurred at Italian sites in 2021 refer solely to Group employees and mainly involved bruising and injuries. No injury lasted longer than 6 months.

The injuries are mainly attributable to conduct, such as distractions, inadequate behaviour, failure to comply with procedures.

As for external companies operating at Piaggio's Italian production sites, no accidents were recorded in 2021, while 1 accident was recorded in 2020 referring only to the Pontedera site (6 accidents in 2019).

There were no fatal injuries in Italy in 2021, as was the case in 2020 and 2019.

1 Accident rates, for all geographic segments, are calculated taking into account the hours worked by employees during the reporting year and the multiplication factor of 1,000,000.

India

In 2021, as in the previous year, health and safety was one of the main priorities for the company, especially with a view to the pandemic.

In order to guarantee the best occupational health and safety standards, the Indian subsidiary has an organisational structure that operatively involves the “Occupier” (employer), a single person across various production sites who has responsibility for the health, safety and well-being of all employees in the workplace, Factory Managers and a Safety Committee comprising 20 members that includes executives, managers and office workers.

The Safety Committee meets at regular intervals to plan, revise and discuss action plans necessary to establish and disseminate an awareness and safety culture among employees in the workplace. The presence of a Health & Safety team guarantees that the entire system may operate effectively.

To deal with the pandemic and ensure the effective adoption of anti-COVID protocols and preventive measures, a Safety Committee was set up in which members of all company functions participate and audits were carried out on a daily/weekly basis to ensure that this Committee can promptly adopt specific corrective actions. 

Numerous surveys and situation assessments were carried out with the effective implementation of health and safety protocols across the organisation.

A priority for the Company was the strict compliance with central and local government regulations relating to the prevention of the spread of COVID-19.

To this end, the Company began to work with a primary hospital in Pune, for the preparation and assessment of health protocols and a consultation service by a specialist doctor was made available to employees at the Pune office.

All employees participated in e-learning/information activities on the anti-COVID measures followed, which are binding for entry to the company, and frequent awareness sessions were held on the conduct to adopt.

Specific prevention measures were adopted for workers at higher risk of infection (e.g. frail workers and the over 60s).

Employees were given the chance to take out additional medical insurance for any medical/hospital expenses incurred due to COVID-19.

To facilitate the management of potential symptoms of anxiety and depression related to the situation arising from the COVID-19 emergency, a virtual counselling service was also made available for employees and their families provided by a company specialised in compliance with privacy regulations. 

Comprehensive risk assessments were carried out to help identify and mitigate occupational risks related to mental health.

In line with the Group's approach, a great deal has been invested in training over the last few years as a key driver to increase employee accountability in relation to safety and, consequently, to promote a proactive approach to and engagement with safety issues.

Occupational accidents in India

Occupational accidents in India

Vietnam

The main priority of the Company this year was also the preventive management of the risk from COVID-19, in addition to maintaining the usual health and safety targets.

A series of risk containment measures were implemented at the Vietnamese plants (face mask, maintaining distances, hand-washing, spraying disinfectants, rotation of work shifts, etc.) which made it possible to avoid infection from COVID-19 in the workplace.

A Committee was set up to manage all issues relating to safety at work and the preventive measures adopted to minimize the risk of infection from COVID-19.

The protocols adopted were subject to periodic internal audits so that the Committee could promptly identify the necessary corrective actions. An external assessment was also conducted on the aforementioned H&S management model, with a positive outcome.

The planning of H&S activities was reviewed to ensure the achievement of established objectives. For example, to reduce the risk of gatherings, some internal events were postponed to avoid people gathering.

Occupational accidents in Vietnam

Occupational accidents in Vietnam

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