Health, Safety and Environment

Prysmian considers that a good HSE performance and its constant improvement is not only the result of a healthy and safe way of working, but is indicative of a good and responsible management contributing significantly to benefiting the business.
Therefore, Prysmian keeps continuously monitored its environmental aspects and work related hazards, in order to identify any critical areas and work hard towards the constant improvement of work conditions, in terms of reduction of the number of work accidents, reduction in the incidence of occupational sickness, as well as the prevention of all kinds of environmental pollution. 

HSE Strategy and Policy
The mission of Prysmian Health, Safety and Environment department is to contribute to fulfilling the company's objectives and stakeholder's expectations by developing, maintaining and controlling an effective system to manage the Environment and the Health and Safety of everyone working for Prysmian. With the aim of clearly stating the importance we place on environmental conservation and protection, we have prepared and adopted a formal policy since February 2007 that summarises the principles that we are committed to observing in terms of the environment, health and safety. All companies of the Group companies shall comply with these HSE Policy principles.
A review and update of the HSE Policy is foreseen, and willbe carried out in order to consolidate the principles, the commitments and the systems to manage the Health & Safety and the Environment within the new organization as defined after the integration of Draka into the Prysmian Group.
Prysmian has elected to make environmental and territorial protection part of its business objectives, on the basis of the commitment given in its Health, Safety and Environment policy, endorsed by the Chief Executive Officer and reproduced in an appendix to the present report.
The Group's actions regarding the health, safety and environment are based on this Policy and touch every business process, from strategy definition to production process development through to product realisation.
• Prysmian promotes at each industrial site and every Group company:
- the adoption of a certified environmental management system that guarantees constant monitoring of activities, and continuously sets objectives and targets for improvement,
- the identification and appraisal of all the hazards associated with its activities, with the objective of minimizing or eliminating injury and health risks, by adopting preventative measures and collective and individual protection systems.
• Prysmian products are designed and created in compliance with international industry standards with the goal of satisfying current requirements aimed at improving environmental performance, cutting the use of harmful substances and reducing pollution.
• Prysmian is committed to applying the best available technology in order to reduce the environmental impact of its products and to seek ever new solutions for maximising its technical and environmental efficiency.
• Prysmian is committed to minimising the production of waste and to foster the recyclability of materials.
• Prysmian provides training and information about the health & safety and the environment, involving every level of the organisation in the application of operating procedures and rules aimed at ensuring a safe working environment, protection of the territory and integrity.
• The broad geographical distribution of the Prysmian plants reduces the need for movement of goods across the world and thereby also the environmental impact. 

Management Systems
At the end of 2010, about 75% of the production sites had their Environmental Management system certified with the ISO 14001 international standard and almost 40% of Prysmian sites, including 21 production sites and the 2 Organizations of R&D Milan and High Voltage Installation Italy, had been released for the Health and Safety Management Systems, according to the OHSAS 18001 standard.
The percentage of ISO14001 Certificates has decreased compared with the previous (approximately 80% in 2009), due to the acquisition of new sites, not yet certified.
Within the Group we undertake periodic ISO 14000 and 18001 audits by the head office, which involve on-site inspections that analyse key health, safety and environmental issues and highlight any problems, support possible investments, prepare or maintain compliance with the standard, also with a view to certifications. 

Environmental Investments
During 2010, in accordance with its HSE Policy, Prysmian, at a Group level, has undertaken investments for 4,5 million Euro with a positive environmental impact.
Such investments have had or will have a positive impact in terms of emission reduction, water and energy consumption reduction, wastewater prevention, removal of PCB containing equipment, and fire prevention. The improvement initiatives have been taken either at a central company level or have been proposed and managed at the local plants as part of their continuous improvement objective in the Environmental Management Systems required by the application of standard ISO 14001.