sain t-gobain annu al report 2008 annual report

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EHS auditors are drawn from a pool of specially trained
and experienced managers, primarily from the EHS field
but also from other areas such as Human resources,
quality assurance and risk management.
These audits are designed to yield practical recommendations.
The site manager and the local EHS manager,
with support from the EHS Department at the Delegation
level, are responsible for ensuring that the resulting action
plans are carried out.
There are 741 auditors for all of the Delegations. They take part
in a professional certification course taught by outside
consultants who specialize in auditing techniques and by
seasoned in-house auditors with expertise in Saint-Gobain’s
internal auditing process. A “Serious Accident Plan” index
was added in 2008 to focus attention on subcontractor
management, lockout/tagout, maintenance activities
and other basic safety practices adopted at the audited site,
so that auditors can assess the quality of the site’s
EHS management.
A significant number of Gypsum Division sites were audited
for the first time in 2008 through both 12-step and 20-step
audits. Integrated audits at Maxit, which was recently
acquired, will begin in 2009, in accordance with the audit plan
defined by the Delegations. A number of EHS coordinators
at Maxit sites will receive training in Saint-Gobain’s EHS
standards during 2009, based on a training schedule to be
set by each Delegation, to enable them to join Saint-Gobain’s
team of EHS auditors.
In addition, audit quality assessments have been carried out
in France since 2006. These assessments are used to evaluate
satisfaction levels and also pinpoint areas for improvement.
The sites that have responded to date have shown high
satisfaction rates.
Internal control: the self-assessment questionnaire
The internal control questionnaire provides an opportunity
for unit managers to assess their unit’s internal control
situation and report the results to Group senior management,
as well as committing to action plans designed to correct
any identified weaknesses. EHS is one of the areas addressed
in the self-assessment questionnaire, which covers the most
critical aspects of the Group’s EHS policy, in the same way
as the EHS self-diagnostic process described below.
Each Group entity is required to complete the questionnaire
every year. The 2008 self-assessment exercise was conducted
in two phases during the first half of the year. It covered
700 Group entities, which were given three months
in which to validate their responses and draw up corrective
action plans. These action plans were implemented over
the course of 2008.
Self-diagnostics
Self-diagnostics are used to make a general assessment
of EHS practices at a given site. They include a detailed list
of questions and an evaluation grid, designed to provide
facility managers with a quick and simple overview
of EHS conditions at their site. Saint-Gobain uses two types
of self-diagnostic, one for industrial operations and the other
for distribution sites with fewer than 50 employees.
The latter takes into account two specific attributes
of the Building Distribution Sector: i) the presence
of customers on the site and ii) a supervisory structure that
is more dispersed and therefore occasionally less visible,
providing limited guidance. These self-diagnostics are now
being implemented in all of Saint-Gobain’s newly acquired
companies and continue to be used on an annual basis
at the discretion of the Asia-Pacific, North America and certain
other Delegations.
2008-2010 OBJECTIVE
Saint-Gobain is committed to the objective of
systematically conducting 20-step audits at least once
every three years at each site in its industrial Sectors,
and 12-step audits tailored to each entity in the Building
Distribution Sector.
An assertive certification policy
Certification of concerned sites remains a Group priority,
in accordance with the target set in 2007 to obtain ISO 14001
certification for 80% of these sites by 2010. As explained
in the Reporting Methodology section, concerned sites are
those with the greatest environmental impact, as measured
by their energy use, water use and quantity of unrecycled
waste among other criteria. Non-concerned sites, such
as Building Distribution Sector builders’ merchant outlets,
are also encouraged to incorporate environmental certification
into their action plans. As of December 31, 2008, nearly 46%
of concerned sites were ISO 14001-certified versus 41%
in 2007 on a comparable scope basis.
Other forms of certification are becoming more common
within the Group. In 2008, 197 Saint-Gobain sites were
awarded OHSAS 18001, BS 8800 and other health and safety
certifications, compared with 132 in 2007 on a comparable
scope basis. Saint-Gobain Glass’ float facilities are
in the process of obtaining OHSAS 18001 certification;
while sites in Pisa, Italy; Aniche, France; Santa-Iria, Portugal
and Busan and Gunsan, South Korea, have all recently
been certified.
Moreover, 678 Group sites now boast ISO 9001:2000, ISO 9002,
QS 9100 and other quality certifications, compared with 619
in 2007 on a comparable scope basis.
Saint-Gobain - 2008 Annual Report