Since real and sustainable improvement cannot be achieved without measuring outcomes, VINCI assesses the effectiveness of its action using relevant indicators, which are presented and discussed to determine what steps can be taken to further improve results. Companies methodically and thoroughly investigate every serious accident and share the findings with employee representatives. Efforts to identify hazardous situations and near misses aim not only to reduce the number of accidents, but above all to embed the Group’s safety culture into everyone’s daily work.
These foundational rules apply to everyone, at every operating site or worksite at which VINCI companies oversee operations, and across all businesses, all companies and all countries where the Group operates. In compliance with the global framework, each business line adapts and implements its health and safety policy to closely address local challenges.
Manager accountability and a large support network of health and safety specialists
VINCI’s managers bear the primary responsibility for instilling and promoting the Group’s culture of health and safety. This responsibility is shared among the different levels of management in its business lines, divisions and companies. Dedicated occupational health and safety departments and a worldwide network of more than 2,800 employees in health and safety roles support managers in spreading this culture. They work together to implement an occupational risk prevention management system that complies with VINCI’s requirements and reflects the realities of their entity or project. A number of training resources have been created for managers; “Safety by VINCI”, a course launched in 2023 for senior health and safety managers across the Group, tops off the many training programmes delivered in business lines and divisions.
At Group level, health and safety policy is supervised by the Health and Safety Coordination unit, under the authority of the VINCI Executive Committee. The Coordination unit is chaired by a member of the Executive Committee and made up of the health and safety directors of the Group’s business lines and divisions. Its mission is to build a common and interdependent safety culture, mainly by facilitating the sharing of best practices and experiences among business lines, assessing existing procedures, delivering reliable indicators and driving improvements. For example, it has launched initiatives across business lines enabling them to reduce risks, such as those associated with the lifting and moving of heavy loads, electrical risks and road traffic collisions with third parties.
The Health and Safety Coordination unit meets regularly with the Executive Committee to debrief and discuss accidents and significant events. Potentially serious incidents and fatal accidents are therefore monitored separately at the highest level of the Group. Reporting is organised collectively to better disseminate the lessons learned from these accidents and prevent them from reoccurring. Information on each accident is shared with the European Works Council.
The Health and Safety Coordination unit also convenes on a regular basis to assess the sector’s human resources needs and promote mobility.
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:
Different innovative solutions have been identified and are now being tested; several of these show promise.
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.
Business lines and divisions structure their activities to enable the development of a common language and tools, which they use to monitor actions and results; reliably collect feedback, share information and issue alerts; and analyse trends in their business activities so they can enhance their risk prevention. Each business line has a coordinating body to help cascade information throughout the organisation. For example, the health and safety directors of VINCI Autoroutes and VINCI Energies hold a coordination meeting every quarter. At VINCI Construction, the coordination team meets monthly. The head office of VINCI Concessions produces a monthly report of health and safety data from all entities, including those that are not fully consolidated, and their subcontractors. The international network of health and safety experts ensures that the safety culture spreads across borders, sharing best practices developed in various countries and ensuring that rules and tools are understood and applied by all. The health and safety departments at the head offices of business lines and divisions facilitate safety audits across their organisation and help to integrate new companies.
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.
A targeted approach, based on the business activity and country, has always been fundamental in identifying and preventing risks to people’s health and safety. Each business line and division maps out its major risks based on its operational experience so that it can take preventive measures that are best suited to its business activities and local context.
