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Lastly, the objective to reduce accidents was reiterated,
confirming the numerical target to be reached in 2013 (the
details are presented in the chapter on Social Responsibility).
More generally, the HSE function coordinates and checks all
systems, activities and programmes designed to guarantee
the health, safety and well-being of employees, as well as
respect for the environment. This function also supports the
delivery of HSE training and the collection, consolidation
and reporting of HSE data, in addition to helping local
organisations to implement their programmes of improvement
and investment, having regard for the specific nature of each
manufacturing sector and geographical area.
During the year, the HSE function coordinated a series of
activities, including:
• participation in various working parties and trade
association committees, such as: Europacable’s ECOE
committee, Orgalime’s “Substances Task Force”, the
Environmental Committee of ANIE and the environmental
working party of AICE, and the Maintenance Team
for rewriting as a standard the IEC - International
Electrotechnical Commission’s TR 62125 regarding the
environmental declaration for power cables;
• collection of the information and data required for bids, or
by investors or customers, in order to assess Prysmian’s
performance in the area of HSE management or, more
generally, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR);
• participation, for the section relating to environmental and
safety matters, in RobecoSAM’s assessment for inclusion
in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, in which Prysmian
achieved a marked improvement with respect to the points
obtained in the prior year. The Group’s HSE function has
already planned and commenced additional procedures to
ensure even more complete reporting, in order to highlight
in greater detail the link between the environmental
improvements achieved and the economic effects
generated;
• promotion of a number of HSE training initiatives including,
in particular, the “Safety Leadership” initiative designed
to increase and spread the culture of safety, starting
with management, and contribute to a gradual change in
behaviours via, above all, the setting of examples;
• the activities of the HSE training school, with a number of
distance training sessions (using webex) on environmental
and health and safety matters. These were delivered
primarily to the HSE managers of affiliates/operating units
and, in some cases, to personnel from other functions
including, for example, the training of “Procurement”
function managers about their obligations under the
European REACH regulation concerning the materials
purchased and the suppliers concerned;
• organisation of training meetings and, in particular, a
meeting on the subject of “Safety aspects in the conduct of
electrical tests”, which was attended by 45 employees from
various countries and business functions.
The activities carried out in 2013 and prior years have helped
lay the foundations for the ever more aware and integrated
management of environmental, health and safety matters.
The commitment to environmental protection and the
safeguarding of workers also extends to devising and creating
products that are even safer, with a lower environmental
impact. In this regard, environmental, health and safety
performance criteria and quality criteria are gradually being
included in all phases of the product life cycle.
Various studies have been carried out using the Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) approach in order to test the methodology
and respond to increasing requests from customers. The
methodology adopted to assess the environmental impact of
various types of product was updated and applied during the
year. In particular, studies were carried out in order to:
• compare the LCA of P-Laser cables with the LCA of XLPE
cables produced at the Delft and Pignataro factories;
• compare the LCAs of medium voltage cables produced in
France, considering the respective installation/end-of-life
scenarios;
• compare the LCAs of different scenarios for the use of
drums to wind and transport cables.
The latter two studies were carried out together with Nexans
and Sycabel in order to check the difference in environmental
impact (in terms of energy consumption, CO
2
emissions and
water consumption) depending on:
• the difference between alternative end-of-life treatments
for cables (recovery / leave buried),
• the difference between alternative installation methods
(in urban as opposed to rural contexts), including the
mechanised installation of cables rather than first digging
a trench (low-medium voltage / cable for mechanised
installations).
• the reutilisation of drums or not.
Amongst the initiatives in the field of environment conducted
by the Prysmian Group, it’s important to point out those
implemented in factories dedicated to the production of
lift accessories such as cables, chains, signaling equipment,
