Safety and health at work

People are at the heart of our business so taking care of our employees, business partners and the communities we operate in is extremely important.

A safe and healthy workplace is a crucial component of a fair and ethical food industry – one that has a positive impact and creates a motivated workforce. We carefully tailor the occupational health and safety measures we put in place to the specific needs and requirements of local industries and workers.

Setting high standards for health and safety

As the world’s biggest food business, our hygiene standards were already strict. But the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have required us to put additional safety measures in place, including ensuring workers have access to personal protective equipment, hygiene services or emergency equipment. Our office-based workers are also encouraged to work from home, wherever possible, and we have introduced programs aimed at enhancing physical and mental health.

Enhancing mental well-being

Nestlé UK & Ireland has trained people to become qualified Mental Health First Aiders. They are on hand to support anyone who is experiencing emotional distress, mental health issues or who just wants to talk, regardless of whether it is work-related or personal. We support the charity Mind to ensure we offer our people the best support and tools to promote mental well-being across our entire workforce.

Safer working conditions at sea

In Thailand, where we source up to seven percent of our seafood, we have explored how to improve safety on fishing vessels. In a collaboration with non-profit organization Verité and our seafood supplier Thai Union, we funded and developed a demonstration vessel demonstrating how mechanization to deploy and retrieve nets could improve worker safety and reduce overcrowding on board.

Ensuring a safe workplace through independent audits

Within our global operations, we audit that all our facilities are compliant with our sustainability and human rights requirements across seven pillars including Safety and Health, Environmental Sustainability, Conditions of Work and Employment, Local Communities and Labor Accommodation as well as Business Integrity and Security.