To reach this zero accident objective, VINCI’s health and safety policy relies on managers to be directly accountable for bringing all employees on board in supporting a safety culture. The Group does this through a special focus on training. These measures are also carried out by a network of more than 2,800 employees specialised in health and safety roles throughout the Group (managers, coordinators, experts, etc.). A set of training courses was designed specifically for them, such as Safety by VINCI. Launched in 2023, this programme addresses all of the Group’s senior health and safety specialists to complete the range of measures implemented in business lines and divisions.
Prevention policies and procedures are translated every day into different types of measures, ranging from analysing risks upstream to updating and disseminating safety standards. They also include 15-minute safety sessions that bring together all individuals involved at a worksite, reporting and analysis of near misses and accidents and their root causes, as well as the delivery of training adapted to each business line, type of site and operational environment. VINCI business lines define and apply these policies and actions to their respective scope based on the risks and issues identified for their business activity.
Safety events are held each year worldwide at the business lines to promote a shared safety culture. Partners, temporary staff, subcontractors and customers also take part in these events alongside VINCI employees. Applications are being used to transition the reporting of risk situations, near misses and accidents to digital systems. This information is compared to better analyse trends and feedback. The findings are then used to improve prevention programmes for similar risks and businesses across an entity’s scope, and more broadly throughout the Group.
More than 2.6 million hours of training on hygiene, health and safety
Employees and their representatives play a key role in prevention. The joint declaration on occupational health and safety (www.vinci.com/publi/manifeste/sst-2017-06-en.pdf) was signed by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and by the Secretary of the European Works Council in 2017. This statement outlines the essential and fundamental steps to be taken and upholds the shared belief that progress can only take place with the support of all employees and their representatives by promoting the Group’s safety culture. The employee representatives of each entity are expected to be proactive in suggesting measures that could improve working conditions and occupational risk and accident prevention. At Group level, this topic is on the agenda at every Group Works Council or European Works Council meeting. As part of its continuous dialogue with Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), VINCI has 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).
The prevention programme is coordinated by a Health and Safety Coordination unit, which brings together the heads of health and safety networks in all the business lines and divisions. Its aim is to foster the sharing of best practices, improve the reliability of H&S indicators, and devise new ways of making progress.
These exchanges provide the opportunity to disseminate locally implemented initiatives that could be developed into standard Group practices. For example, safety briefings are organised before anyone starts a new position or an unplanned action is launched. Also, the stop work procedure has gone from option to requirement in situations with a risk of accident.
In addition, the unit launches foresight approaches to address emerging business risks and takes action to develop innovation in health and safety. Leonard, VINCI’s innovation and foresight platform, has coordinated a mission on innovation in safety and prevention. It applies an approach divided into three parts:
Leonard is extending its mission to include foresight relating to environmental issues that impact employee health and safety. In addition, the Catalyst component is being expanded to include health innovations.
Working closely on the ground, accident prevention Pivot Clubs and internal collaboration platforms help disseminate and monitor health and safety measures for the community of H&S coordinators and experts. Local initiatives are launched by these clubs and, if conclusive, are rolled out more widely within their scope of application. This was the case for the Trajeo’h programme, with the creation of delegations and structures to cover all of France, and more recently with the responsible driving training plan, whose rollout in 2023 met with considerable success.
Furthermore, VINCI companies establish partnerships in the countries where the Group operates with leading national health and safety organisations and actively contribute to adapting these policies to their respective core business and industry. It was for this reason that VINCI became a member of the Institute for an Industrial Safety Culture (ICSI) and the Foundation for Industrial Safety Culture (FonCSI) to participate in and financially support a research programme on ensuring safety in the future.
The Group’s health and safety policy aims to anticipate and prevent risks relating to the health and safety of VINCI employees and external staff. It also has a focus on quality of life in the workplace and the redeployment of employees who have suffered a workplace accident or occupational illness. Specialised internal structures such as Habileo’h and Trajeo’h work to better integrate people with disabilities into the Group and help redeploy incapacitated staff.
Preventing health and psychosocial risk
Preventing and responding to psychosocial risks is an important focus for the Group. At many VINCI sites, measures were introduced at the outset to raise awareness, provide training to managers and support employees. The range of initiatives undertaken include setting up help hotlines, offering psychological counselling, training employees to recognise signs of depression and situations of distress, and organising events dealing with mental health and stress management.
Group companies have also collaborated with public authorities and specialised service providers to launch health awareness campaigns, for example, to promote the importance of exercise and a healthy diet in preventing multiple chronic diseases. Other initiatives include individual counselling with a dietician and screening for diabetes and heart disease. Additionally, awareness campaigns have been carried out in various regions worldwide to focus on certain addictions (smoking, alcohol, drugs, etc.) and diseases (such as cancer, AIDS, and Alzheimer’s). Each one aims to inform employees and get them involved, while creating opportunities for team-building and mutual support through challenges and group activities. Companies are also renewing equipment and tools as well as reorganising work conditions to reduce workers’ exposure to the risks of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). For example, employees have been trained to help their colleagues adjust their practices and to lead warm-up exercises before starting work.
