Approach to health and safety

We expect our suppliers to provide a safe and hygienic working environment for all their employees. Nothing less is acceptable. To make this a reality, we require our business partners to establish a health and safety management system that addresses the standards and procedures as determined by OHSAS 18001.

Most of our footwear suppliers producing for the international export market met the target and obtained certificates. This target has been expanded to suppliers of other categories. For example core apparel, key TaylorMade-adidas Golf and most accessories and gear suppliers have been working very hard to set up health and safety management systems, some of them are in the consultation stage while others have undergone the initial audit.

Major apparel and accessories and gear suppliers were certified during 2007. Our initiatives focused on preparing the SEA team and our business partners for an increased emphasis on management systems and, in 2008, we will work with other key suppliers and small and medium-size enterprises to establish effective health and safety management systems.

Training the SEA team

To provide the necessary support and evaluate the effectiveness of a health and safety management system, all team members have received introductory trainings in OHSAS 18001. Selected team members attended an in-depth OHSAS 18001 Lead Auditor course, recognised by the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA), UK. The participants now know how to establish an OHSAS management system, from inception through to implementation. At the end of 2006, there were four IRCA-accredited auditors in the SEA team. In China, three SEA team members have obtained the national qualification of Safety Engineer.

Training adidas Group employees

In 2007, SEA continued to promote a safety culture among adidas Group employees. Health and safety training sessions were provided, not only to adidas Group employees working with suppliers, but also retail staff in Hong Kong and China. CSR training was also included at the adidas Retail Academy in Singapore and other previously out-of-scope departments.

Staff in Vietnam attended NGO training sessions on managing HIV/AIDS in the workplace. SEA has supported internal business continuity planning in Asia, and training for operational staff in Vietnam, on preventative measures related to Bird Flu.

Training suppliers

Training in health and safety was provided to suppliers to influence the prevailing management culture, including environments where compliance has not been prioritised and with new suppliers in the Group’s supply chain, including those producing for Reebok, Reebok-CCM Hockey and Rockport.

Helping small and medium-size enterprises (SME) implement HSE management systems

At the end of 2004 we commissioned an independent consultant to develop a set of industry specific procedures and guidance to help SMEs establish and implement an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system. For those very small suppliers with few workers and limited resources, this package:

Raises the awareness and importance of occupational health and safety
Helps determine the key occupational health and safety impacts and practices for SMEs
Demonstrates the basics for developing generic guidance, procedures and work instructions to support the development of a documented OH&S management system, in general compliance with the requirements of OHSAS 18001.

In 2005, pilots with two apparel suppliers were run to prepare them for OHSAS 18001 certification. Both suppliers achieved certification at the end of that year. Based on the experience from these suppliers, a manual was developed with generic guidance, procedures and instructions to operate and maintain a world-class OH&S management system. This manual is being distributed to other small and medium-sized enterprises in the supply chain.

Revising the guidelines

As a result of the merger of the adidas and Reebok compliance programmes, the Group’s existing set of Guidelines on Health, Safety and Environment were revised in 2007 to include specific management guidance for small and medium-size suppliers. The new guidelines follow the original format of the earlier HSE Guidelines, but with clearer and more specific supplements. Some sections were added to cover even more complex manufacturing processes. In 2008 an e-Learning tool will be developed to support the formal roll-out of the new guidelines.

Selection of HSE certification bodies

Globally, adidas Group suppliers have a wide selection of health, safety and environmental certification bodies to choose from. However, in developing countries many certification bodies are not subject to any regulatory constraints and provide little assurance of integrity and accountability. For this reason we have selected reputable international certification bodies, and suppliers are encouraged to choose from our nominated list of certifiers.

In order to fulfil our requirements, each nominated certification body must:

Operate according to the OHSAS management system
Be recognised by the government authorities where they are located and operate in strict accordance with international standards
Be subjected to peer assessment by other recognised international accreditation bodies
Have been accredited by a relevant institution, such as UKAS in the United Kingdom
Be located in at least three of our major sourcing countries
Incorporate our Workplace Standards, as well as our employment, health and safety guidelines.

The Safety Officer Project

The Safety Officer Project kicked off in 2005. It aims to enhance the skills of safety managers in factories and to raise the profile of this important role. In 2006, the Safety Officer Qualification and Registration guidance note was launched. Training was provided so suppliers could understand what was required and could select the employee to be trained and registered as the safety officer for the company.

Since then, around 500 people from our key footwear and apparel suppliers have been nominated as safety officers. Of these, 241 successfully passed the examination and were registered as level 3 safety officers. That is, they demonstrated a basic understanding and competency in health and safety. Once the programme is extended to non-key suppliers, we expect the nominations in Asia to more than double.

Encouraging engagement

In 2006, the adidas Group sponsored an HSE Quiz Competition, launching it with 80,000 workers in the Asia Pacific region. This competition was designed to increase health, safety and environmental awareness at all levels of the workforce. Selected suppliers organised the competitions at their facilities and contributed a factory champion to the grand final competition. In order to continue fostering a health and safety culture, in 2007, SEA China organised a second HSE competition, where workers from our footwear suppliers were invited to submit a drawing depicting the health, safety and environmental programme. Twelve footwear factories with around 60,000 employees participated, and 113 posters were submitted. The best posters were chosen to illustrate a ‘Worker Safety Handbook’.

HSE outreach

To achieve the greatest impact of our HSE efforts and to bring about positive, sustained change for workers within our supply chain and the industry as a whole, in 2007, the SEA team members frequently collaborated with other companies and worked on joint projects.

We presented to the EU Chamber of Commerce and participated in an American Chamber of Commerce HSE seminar. We were also invited to participate in the China Occupational Health Workshop for government occupational health officials.
We were approached by an US-based NGO to expand the scope of our safety officer registration system beyond the adidas Group to the whole industry in China.
We were also invited to join an HSE Academy to build up a work injury prevention programme for 50 factories in Guangdong province, China.
The SEA team participated in the CSR Forum, jointly organised by China’s Ministry of Commerce and the UN’s Global Compact Office, where we shared our experiences implementing HSE programmes within the Group’s supply chain.

Health and safety, footwear factory, Thailand
Personal protective equipment
2007 HSE quiz competition
Training was provided so suppliers could understand what was required and could select the employee to be trained and registered as the safety officer for the company.