Business lines also develop their own guidelines to address a specific major risk. For example, VINCI Autoroutes observed an average of one maintenance van collision in its motorway network every week. To remedy this situation, it launched an ambitious action plan in the beginning of 2020, involving the collection of detailed statistics of van collisions, the updating of procedures and equipment, and a system to inform motorway users. Implementation of the plan continued in 2021, with encouraging initial results. VINCI Autoroutes worked to improve motorway intervention procedures, in collaboration with French government agencies, and to evolve equipment, such as by developing an AI-powered intrusion and collision detection system. To protect the “men and women in yellow”, communicating to motorway users and personnel is as essential as ever. This year saw the launch of a new awareness and action campaign in social networks and other media, called #Exposed. Damaged patrol vehicles were displayed at various motorway rest areas to expose to public view the consequences of collisions mainly caused by fatigued or distracted drivers.
In the policies implemented by business lines and divisions, the participation of employees and employee representatives is central to building a safety culture, as emphasised in the Group’s joint declaration. Consulting employees and keeping them informed are critical factors in their level of uptake and engagement across the organisation.
Business lines and divisions regularly meet with employee representative bodies to present initiatives in progress and report on outcomes. As a result of this social dialogue, specific agreements have also been negotiated and entered into with trade unions. In 2021, 25 health, safety and prevention agreements were signed by Group companies (33 in 2020). Following recommendations made by the Group Works Council, VINCI companies in France with over 50 employees are encouraged to set up a health, safety, and working conditions committee (CSSCT), thus going beyond legal obligations. Furthermore, companies of any size are advised to hold a regular economic and social committee meeting every month, and to check the organisation’s progress on prevention, health and safety indicators at every meeting. Outside of France, some divisions and companies have formed health and safety committees whose members include employee representatives, even if the law does not require it. VINCI looks to these committees to provide local insight and enhance risk prevention at its worksites and operating sites by suggesting areas for improvement, monitoring measures and assessing the need for any adjustment.
1,577
meetings of health, safety and working conditions committees across the Group in 2021
Various Group entities also offer training to employee representatives to boost their participation and help them carry out their duties regarding health, safety and working conditions. The training is delivered by VINCI’s health and safety specialists, by trade union representatives or by professional organisations such as the French Professional Agency for Risk Prevention in Building and Civil Engineering (OPPBTP).
Health and safety is a core component of all social dialogue between the Group and the Group Works Council or the European Works Council. In 2021, as part of its continuous dialogue with Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), VINCI signed the latter’s “Declaration on Healthy and Safe Workplaces” in support of the recognition of occupational health and safety as a fundamental right by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Dialogue is also maintained through employee surveys. VINCI Construction has made the decision to investigate employee perceptions of the safety climate at least every two years. These surveys are administered at division and company level to capture the on-the-ground realities of operating sites and worksites. Subcontractors and temporary workers are encouraged to participate. In 2021, VINCI Construction France surveyed perceptions of its safety communication. The study, which is being finalised, used a sample of nearly 650 employees, including managers and site teams, representing the different business activities and regions. Soletanche Freyssinet also conducted a survey of its entire workforce of 22,000 a month before International Safety Day in 2021. The questionnaire was anonymous to encourage respondents to answer freely. Half of the items applied to the division, and the other half applied to the local company. In addition to getting direct feedback from site teams at worksites, it aimed to give local managers a sense of their workers’ perceptions. The response rate was high and, on International Safety Day, the results were shared locally to encourage group discussion on how to drive improvement in each company and in the division.
The joint declaration emphasises that any situation observed by employees that represents an imminent threat to health and safety must be immediately reported to the employer or relevant superior and that no employee can be reprimanded for making such a report. Likewise, depending on the operational context, employees can avail themselves of procedures such as exercising the right to refuse work, if they believe the situation presents a serious and imminent danger to their life or health. Employees are strongly encouraged by managers to raise alerts and report hazards. Business lines and divisions continue to develop and disseminate new digital applications to ease the reporting of hazardous situations and near misses and facilitate the processing and sharing of this information.
An application called MoveSafe was launched in May 2019 for all VINCI Autoroutes companies. It enables any employee to electronically report any information about a dangerous situation or near miss. Employees have made more than 3,500 reports, together helping to raising safety levels in the company. In addition, local risk prevention groups are set up every quarter in regional divisions. Their members are employees from all business activities, and as such can discuss occupational health and safety issues with full knowledge of the local context.
