Month: March 2023

Climate protection: Share of renewable electricity use at production sites worldwide climbs to 70 percent, reducing CO2-emissions by 55 percent (per ton of product)Circular economy: Further progress towards 100 percent recyclable and reusable packagingSocial engagement:  Solidarity program of 6 million euros for victims of Ukraine warGender Parity Ambition: Further increasing share of women in management positions“Sustainability Pioneers”: Global employee engagement program successfully rolled out

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, March 7, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Henkel published today its 32nd Sustainability Report, outlining its performance and progress on implementing its sustainability strategy and targets. In a highly challenging market environment, the company was able, among other things, to drive progress in sustainability in many key dimensions, in particular by further reducing its CO2-emissions and expanding its social engagement.

“I cannot recall a year in the recent past in which the overall business environment was so challenging for our company. The war in Ukraine has deeply shaken us and has far-reaching consequences. It has shaped the economic environment, particularly the energy crisis and higher raw material prices. But it is precisely in such difficult times that it is even more important to focus on sustainability and live up to our responsibilities towards the environment and society. Despite all the challenges, we were able to make further progress on the vast majority of our ambitious sustainability targets and I would like to thank our more than 50,000 Henkel colleagues around the world for their strong commitment and dedication,” said Carsten Knobel, CEO of Henkel.

“In 2022, we took a significant step toward our goal of achieving a climate-positive production by 2030 by further expanding our use of renewable energy,” added Sylvie Nicol, member of the Henkel Management Board, responsible for Human Resources and Sustainability. “We were also able to make further progress on gender parity. The percentage of women in management positions increased to 38.7 percent in 2022. We are fully committed to further accelerating and stepping up our efforts with concrete programs and actions to leverage the full potential of our diversity.”

Improvements in key sustainability areas

Last year, Henkel published its 2030+ Sustainability Ambition Framework, in which the company defined new and additional ambitions, taking global developments into account. In particular, Henkel made progress on climate protection in 2022, reducing its CO­2-emissions in production by 55 percent per metric ton of product (compared to the base year 2010). Henkel has increased the proportion of electricity purchased from renewable sources to 70 percent. By 2030, Henkel aims to achieve a climate-positive carbon footprint for its worldwide production and source 100 percent of the electricity for production sites from renewable sources.

The 10-year contract concluded with IGNIS in December 2022 for the supply of renewable energy in the form of a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) is an example of cooperation with energy utilities. The contract goes hand-in-hand with the construction of two new photovoltaic plants in Spain. This will ensure the supply of renewable energy to Henkel’s European sites in the amount of around 200 GWh per year.

In order to minimize waste and its negative impact on the environment, Henkel also works continuously to avoid and reduce the use of packaging materials, especially for its consumer goods, and to keep them in economic cycles for as long as possible. By 2025, 100 percent of packaging will be designed for recycling and reuse*. In 2022, the proportion increased to around 87 percent. Henkel also aims to increase the share of recycled plastic content in its consumer goods packaging. In 2022, this share was around 16 percent.

By 2025, Henkel also aims to reduce its waste volume by 50 percent per ton of product compared to 2010. In 2022, the company already recorded a reduction of 43 percent. By 2030, Henkel aims to achieve circular use of its production waste material.

Henkel also made progress in the protection of natural resources last year. As part of its supplier management, the company works with selected strategic suppliers to ensure the procurement of sustainable raw materials. In 2022, for example, Henkel was able to increase the traceability rate for palm-based raw materials back to the mill from 84 to 89 percent compared to the previous year.

Particularly against the backdrop of last year’s geopolitical events, Henkel further expanded its social engagement. By 2030, the company aimed to improve the lives of 30 million people worldwide through social projects and donations. Henkel exceeded this goal last year. From 2010 to the end of 2022, Henkel was able to reach more than 30 million people. This was especially due to the contribution made to combating the global COVID 19 pandemic, as well as to the support for the victims of the war in Ukraine.

To promote equal opportunity, Henkel aims to continuously increase the ratio of women in management levels and is pursuing the ambition of achieving gender parity across all management levels by 2025. In 2022, the percentage of women in management positions was around 38.7 percent, representing a further increase over the previous year.

Driving the sustainable transformation of the product portfolio

Sustainability is a central pillar of the innovation strategies of both Henkel’s consumer goods and industrial customer businesses. In the consumer goods business, one focus is on optimizing ingredients, among others. To this end, Henkel is working with various partners. Last year, for example, Henkel entered into a multi-year cooperation agreement with BASF. With the aid of the so-called biomass balance approach, fossil raw materials are to be replaced with renewable raw materials for up to 110,000 metric tons of ingredients per year.

In the Adhesive Technologies industrial business, the company’s innovative solutions help to reduce emissions, increase energy and material efficiency, and recycle valuable resources. One example is recycling-optimized adhesives for the development of circular flexible packaging. Here, Henkel works together with packaging manufacturers and recycling specialists. The recyclability of the adhesives has also been certified by independent institutes.

Global employee engagement program rolled out

To further promote employee engagement on sustainability, Henkel expanded its existing training offering to a holistic engagement program, which rolled out in March 2022. The aim of the global “Sustainability at Heart” program is to inform and train employees even more comprehensively on sustainability. For example, the “Sustainability Pioneer” training, developed in collaboration with the IESE Business School, is now available in multiple languages. In 2022 alone, more than 5,800 employees took part. The aim is also to motivate and support employees in actively promoting sustainability in their working environment and private lives.

Media Contacts:

Sina Pfanschilling
Henkel Corporate Media Relations Headquarters, 
Düsseldorf/Germany
+49-211-797-9904
press@henkel.com

Hanna Philipps
Henkel Corporate Media Relations Headquarters, 
Düsseldorf/Germany
+49-211-797-3626
press@henkel.com

* Excluding products where ingredients or residue may affect recyclability or pollute recycling streams.

It is well-known and accepted that data centers are growing and expanding at a fast rate. With this growth, the exposure to risks and hazards will continue to increase. However, unlike the number of data centers popping up, the hazard risks can be anticipated and controlled with proper identification, evaluation, and preparation. 

Some data center clients and providers are getting ahead of the game for their site hazards and protecting employees by taking a proactive approach through their audits and assessments. Fortunately, these hazards are present throughout other industries and are not new in terms of hazard type. This can be a great way to apply best management practices that are already used in other industries to data centers. 

Top 5 Health and Safety Findings

Antea Group has been conducting health and safety audits at data centers for years. Below, we have consolidated and analyzed the information obtained from decades of audits and assessments of operational data centers to identify the top five most common health and safety findings. We have also included examples of international regulations to demonstrate the complexities of EHS compliance in data centers.

For a look at our top 5 Environmental Findings from data centers, check out this blog post. 

1. Noise Assessment 

Servers and fan ventilation systems are the main sources of environmental noise within data halls. These systems can vary between each data center based upon the size of installed servers, the make and model of servers operating, and the ventilation system to keep the servers cooled within the hot aisles.

Due to this continuous and intermittent fan noise within the data halls, the sound pressure levels can rise above an 85-decibel level on an a-weighted scale (dBA). Noise exposure at or above this level for an 8-hour shift is considered hazardous. Other factors to consider when evaluating noise exposure is time spent within the data center and distance an employee works relative to the servers.

In most cases, data centers haven’t completed a baseline noise assessment that includes either personal dosimetry (if regulation requires) or sound level measurements. This baseline assessment is key to determining whether any programmatic or occupational measures need to be in place. 

International Regulation Example: 

In the United Kingdom, companies must follow the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 (The Regulations), which is based on a European Directive requiring similar basic laws throughout the Union on protecting workers from the risks caused by noise. The duties of The Regulations are in addition to the general duties set out in the European Directive. These general duties safeguard the health and safety of people, and that extends to those who are not your employees, such as students, voluntary workers, visitors, and members of the public.

Regulation 5 of the Regulations provides specific advice to the employer about risks created by exposure to noise in the workplace. It states: An employer who carries out work which is liable to expose any employees to noise at or above a lower exposure action value shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk from that noise to the health and safety of those employees and the risk assessment shall identify the measures which need to be taken to meet the requirements of these regulations.”

2. Heat Stress 

Data halls are known for having a cooling system, which is necessary for keeping servers at an optimal temperature. With this operational necessity also comes the risk of heat exposure for workers within the hot aisles. Determining the risk of heat stress as an occupational hazard depends on multiple factors such as workload or metabolic activity, acclimatization, clothing, wet bulb globe temperature, and more. Due to all these varying factors, the best way to determine risk is through a heat stress assessment.

In many cases, data centers have yet to asses their data hall environments for heat stress risk and therefore don’t know what controls to implement. In the United States, OSHA provides guidance for this. Plus, some states like California and Minnesota also have regulations related to indoor heat stress that should be tracked for impacts to businesses. Due to varying regulations globally, having a qualitative assessment done would provide the best guidance to determine how to tackle this hazard.

International Regulation Example: 

In Singapore, the occupier of a workplace must take measures to ensure that employees and/or contractors are protected from excessive heat or cold and harmful radiations in the workplace (Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) Regulation, Section 10). Data centers need to be kept cool to remain functional, which can be very challenging in tropical climates. Thus, it is important to have a plan to map heat within your data center. Plus, during hotter days when the data center struggles to reduce indoor temperature, taking breaks and raising awareness of the risk to employees is key. There has also been a market movement to use technology to track temperatures for energy efficiency as well as employee protection. 

3. Electrical Safety 

Many electrical hazards exist within the data center environment from power generation to server backup power. These can vary from high voltages to low, and they can present the possibility of severe injuries. In most cases, injuries come when qualified contractors conduct work on major electrical changes. Ensuring contractors perform work safely in and around the electrical environment is critical to prevent serious injury. For the general worker within the data hall, it’s important to teach them electrical awareness for working in spaces with electrical hazards. It’s also crucial to ensure workers’ tools are appropriate for this type of environment. This may include a hazard assessment to determine the use of intrinsically safe tools, ladders, and more.

International Regulation Examples: 

In Austria, companies must follow the Federal law named the Health and Safety at Work Act. It states that in any workplace where employees work on electrical installations, employers must ensure that the proper work equipment and items of personal protective equipment are present. It also states that employers must ensure that any facilities used for fire detection or firefighting, first aid, and rescue from danger are properly maintained. 

While this is just one example of many, the regulation citation may be different in every country. In most cases the employer is required to complete a risk assessment, provide and train employees on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and use specialized training. This is uniform across the globe.

4. Ergonomics 

Most people associate computer troubleshooting with plugging in cables and cords, however, within the data center environment, workers are conducting server change outs and replacements as a regular part of the job. This should not be taken lightly, as servers can weigh around 35 pounds or more. This load weight combined with the awkward size and potential lifting repetition can all ‘weigh’ in ergonomic hazard risks and potential for injury. In these cases, data center work should be evaluated for these types of risks and mitigation measures.

International Regulation Examples: 

While ergonomic regulations vary across the globe, most countries offer some guidance for how employers should protect workers from ergonomic risks. One example comes from South Africa, which has the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 and the Ergonomics Regulations of 2019. In this regulation, the employer must, before the commencement of any work, have an ergonomic risk assessment performed by a competent person. This document should be reviewed whenever there is a change and at least every 2 years.

Other countries have similar but slightly varying regulations, and many also require employers to complete an ergonomic assessment like South Africa.

5. Lone Working 

In data centers, lone work is becoming more common as facilities operate with fewer employees.  A lone worker is a person who is performing their job alone, with no supervision or partner to help. Lone work also includes situations where several people are in the same building but are out of hearing range and/or out of sight from one another.  

Although some regions and local regulations do not have specific lone working requirements, the risk is still present and can fall under other safety and health measures, such as how to follow an emergency action plan. Data centers should develop a plan for lone working and focus on protecting those workers within the data halls that do not have any other oversight. This is another piece to a data center’s health and safety program.

International Regulation Examples: 

In France, the employer and the facility owner must review operations to identify any operations that require an employee to work alone. They must have protective measures established as required by the risk assessment Article L4121-3 of the Labor Code. This includes the requirement to train personnel to recognize unsafe conditions (isolation, poor lighting, unlit parking areas, unsafe building, etc.) and to know protective measures to take (e.g., maintain routine contact with coworkers, supervisors, managers, etc.) (Article L4121-1 of the Labor Code). This ensures that in any situation where an employer may not be aware of the danger that workers are exposed to, it is up to the employee to bring this danger to the attention of their superior. Once informed, the employer is required to take all necessary measures to put an end to the danger in question. 

Other countries have their own lone work requirements that vary slightly. In general, having a corporate global policy and a communication standard in data centers ensures employees’ safety throughout the facility. As a founder of the global Inogen Alliance, Antea Group provides global coverage with local experts through our 75 Associate companies, giving us first-hand local regulatory and cultural nuance understanding with our multinational client needs.

Why Data Center Safety is More Important than Ever 

Recognizing potential health and safety risks in data centers is crucial for keeping employees safe and maintaining compliance with regulations. Antea Group has assisted data centers and cloud data halls in many ways, including maintaining EHS regulatory compliance, providing support with internal and external auditing, developing safety and health programs, industrial hygiene sampling and analysis, and using management systems. Antea Group maintains a database documenting all state/provincial and local requirements, and we can apply this database to the data center health and safety environment. 

For support in your data center, reach out to our Data Center Support service line, or our team of Health and Safety experts today. 

TORONTO, March 7, 2023 /3BL Media/ Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC) announced its new Women’s Sport Initiative (WSI), a multi-million-dollar investment, earmarking a minimum 50% of its sponsorship dollars towards women’s professional sport by 2026. The WSI also includes a dedicated media fund to increase the visibility of women’s sport across top broadcast, digital and social platforms, all which will further support a new era of growth and opportunity.

“Canadian Tire Corporation is proud of our longstanding commitment to gender equity and inclusion in sport, from the playground to the podium and now, to the professional arena with the introduction of our Women’s Sport Initiative. Helping to pave the way for more equitable opportunities in women’s professional sport and inspire a new generation of female athletes is part of how we are bolstering our communities and living our brand purpose: We Are Here to Make Life in Canada Better,” said Susan O’Brien, Chief Brand and Customer Officer, Canadian Tire Corporation.

The Women’s Sport Initiative includes adding five new sport partnerships to its growing roster:

Founding Partner of Project 8, Canada’s first women’s professional soccer league slated to launch in 2025 and led by Diana Matheson, Former Olympian and Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Project 8 SportsSupporting Partner of the WNBA Canada Game presented by Tangerine the first-ever pre-season WNBA game to be played in Canada, which will take place at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday, May 13, 2023Premier National Partner of Canadian Women & Sport’s Commercial Women’s Sport Initiative to help fund valuable research demonstrating the business case for further investment in women’s professional sport in CanadaCorporate Partner of the Toronto Metropolitan University’s Future of Sport Lab directing funds to support the next generation of female leaders in sport innovationPresenting Partner of the first espnW Summit Canada, bringing together industry leaders and trailblazers in sport, which will take place on Friday, May 12, 2023, in Toronto

“Forthcoming research will show that Canada can support a thriving commercial women’s sport marketplace, and we are proud to see a historic company like Canadian Tire Corporation stepping up to make meaningful commitments to invest in the space,” said Allison Sandmeyer-Graves, CEO of Canadian Women & Sport. “When we invest in gender equity, we make sport better for all.”

“Every kid in Canada dreams of playing the sport they love to the highest level but unfortunately those opportunities differ for boys versus girls,” said Diana Matheson, Former Olympian and Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Project 8 Sports. “That’s why Project 8 was created and why initiatives like this one from Canadian Tire are so important. Together we can help more girls achieve their dreams of playing sports at the professional level and on home turf. The future is bright, and we’re just getting started.”

Today’s announcement amplifies CTC’s existing partnerships dedicated to driving inclusion and diversity in sport including the Hockey Diversity Alliance, The Carnegie Initiative, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, The Toronto 6ix, The Montreal Force, Hayley Wickenheiser’s Wickfest, the Canadian Women’s National Para Hockey Team and ongoing support of female Team Canada players via the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and the Canada Games as well as providing fundraising support for Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities’ Girls in Sport initiatives which support over 200,000 girls annually.

ABOUT CANADIAN TIRE CORPORATION

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited, (TSX: CTC.A) (TSX: CTC) or “CTC”, is a group of companies that includes a Retail segment, a Financial Services division and CT REIT. Our retail business is led by Canadian Tire, which was founded in 1922 and provides Canadians with products for life in Canada across its Living, Playing, Fixing, Automotive and Seasonal & Gardening divisions. Party City, PartSource and Gas+ are key parts of the Canadian Tire network. The Retail segment also includes Mark’s, a leading source for casual and industrial wear; Pro Hockey Life, a hockey specialty store catering to elite players; and SportChek, Hockey Experts, Sports Experts and Atmosphere, which offer the best active wear brands. The more than 1,700 retail and gasoline outlets are supported and strengthened by CTC’s Financial Services division and the tens of thousands of people employed across Canada and around the world by CTC and its local dealers, franchisees and petroleum retailers. In addition, CTC owns and operates Helly Hansen, a leading technical outdoor brand based in Oslo, Norway. For more information, visit Corp.CanadianTire.ca.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

mediainquiries@cantire.com

416-480-8453

Meet Chiara Notargiacomo, EHS manager, Pomezia Plant, Italy. Chiara, like all women at IP, provides valuable insight and a unique perspective to our organization.

About International Paper
International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a global producer of planet-friendly packaging, pulp and other fiber-based products, and one of North America’s largest recyclers. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 39,000 colleagues globally who are committed to creating what’s next. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Europe. Net sales for 2022 were $21.2 billion. Additional information can be found by visiting InternationalPaper.com.