VINCI Construction’s safety culture is supported by three pillars: transparency, exemplary conduct and dialogue. A focus on health and safety permeates the body of rules, indicators and tools shared by all VINCI Construction business units, called “The Way We Work”. Ten health and safety rules establish and maintain a strong safety culture. One of these rules is to apply a core methodological approach to managing risks at each of a project’s key stages. It begins with the incorporation of safety concerns into work instructions and procedures early on, at the design stage. During the work execution phase, the works manager holds a pre-start briefing with the site team prior to starting a new job, to ensure that everyone has fully understood the work that has to be done and the safety measures that need to be taken. Whenever a situation is unclear or a change is made that could create a hazard, the rulebook also encourages participants to stop and alert their supervisor. To prevent major risks, most VINCI Construction entities have established golden rules, to be followed by all workers, as well as business-specific guidelines. A root cause analysis is systematically required after every serious accident and every near miss with a high potential risk. VINCI Construction’s Safety Days are an annual highlight of its safety culture, encouraging employees to share their experience and focus together on an area of the health and safety policy needing improvement.
After observing a new increase in maintenance van collisions, VINCI Autoroutes stepped up its action plan to prevent these accidents. The business line first overhauled the training of personnel working on motorways. Next, it collaborated with government agencies to update work procedures and implement technological solutions such as video surveillance and AI-based collision avoidance systems. It also ran large-scale communications campaigns, using media such as travelling exhibits and videos, to raise public awareness of the problem.
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 2025, 55 health, safety and prevention agreements were signed by Group companies. Following recommendations made by the Group Works Council, VINCI companies in France are encouraged to set up a health, safety, and working conditions committee (CSSCT) if they have more than 50 employees, which is well below the legally required minimum threshold. Companies of any size are also advised to hold a regular social and economic committee meeting 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 by suggesting areas for improvement, monitoring measures and assessing the need for any adjustments.
1,866 meetings of health, safety and working conditions committees across the Group in 2025
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, trade union representatives or 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. As part of its continuous dialogue with Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), VINCI has joined the latter’s Global Alliance for Healthy and Safe Workplaces campaign by signing a declaration 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. Many VINCI Construction entities have made the decision to investigate employee perceptions of the safety climate on a regular basis. Subcontractors and temporary workers are encouraged to participate.
The Declaration on Essential and Fundamental Actions Concerning Occupational Health and Safety emphasises that any situation observed by employees that represents an imminent threat to health and safety must be immediately reported and that no employee can be reprimanded for making such a report. Likewise, depending on the operational context, employees in any of the Group’s business lines or countries of operation 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 make reporting hazardous situations and near misses easier and facilitate the processing and sharing of this information.
In addition to MoveSafe, a mobile application people can use to report dangerous situations and near misses, VINCI Autoroutes has developed and launched Jarvis. This new application helps to maintain records of 15-minute prevention sessions, record and report on prevention inspections, and keep product safety data sheets available at all times.
