Social Responsibility

Social Responsibilty at Heraeus

As a family-owned company with a tradition that goes back more than 160 years, Heraeus has upheld its responsibility to its employees, to society and to the environment for generations. The owners and employees actively support one another, pursuing sustainable solutions to societal problems and facing company challenges together.

We pay particular attention to fulfilling our responsibility in the areas of human welfare, health, occupational safety, innovation and lifelong learning, and social involvement on the part of our employees.

Heraeus Corporate Responsibility

In addition to corporate responsibility, companies also bear responsibility for society, the processing of materials, and for their own employees. At Heraeus, we take this responsibility seriously and have codified our wide-ranging values on responsibility in our Corporate Guiding Principles.

 Learn more about Heraeus Corporate Responsibility

 Heraeus Sustainability Report 2020

Local Focus: Heraeus Quartz North America LLC

Human Welfare

Heraeus helps employees balance family life and work with measures appropriate to our times. We stand by our employees especially in difficult phases of life and reach out to them with support through our health and welfare benefits programs. With an attractive package of benefits, we contribute to providing financial security for their later years.

Code of Conduct

All employees must conform to the Heraeus Worldwide Code of Conduct, including the related Guidelines concerning Procurement of Goods and Services, Acceptance of Precious Metals, Anti-Money Laundering and Bribery, Sourcing Guidelines, Prevention of Bribery in Commercial Transactions, Prevention of Antitrust Violations, and Guidelines for Public Relations.

Compliance with these standards is necessary to protect the Company’s hard-earned reputation, revenues and assets, and violation of these standards is grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Further, Heraeus seeks to provide fair wages and reasonable hours of work to its Employees in each country, and rejects all forms of forced labor and child labor. Heraeus also expects its suppliers to ensure safe and fair working conditions. The suppliers are selected and controlled in accordance with the provisions of the Heraeus Sourcing Policy.

Specific US Laws:

  • In addition to the laws and principles set out in the Heraeus Worldwide Code of Conduct, employees need to be aware of the US laws that may apply to the way Heraeus’s US companies conduct business.
  • All Employees in Heraeus Quartz North America received annual refresher training on the Code of Conduct which includes the detailed overview as well as the reporting procedures for suspected violations or questions. The goal for refresher training completion is September of each year for current employees.
  • Employees who have questions about the contents or the interpretation of the Heraeus Code of Conduct or who are unsure if a certain behavior is consistent with applicable law or the Heraeus Code of Conduct are encouraged to contact their superior or, if necessary, the competent Compliance Officer or the Heraeus Compliance Officer.

 Heraeus Code of Conduct

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Occupational Safety

It is a top priority for Heraeus to provide a safe and healthful work environment for all employees, customers, visitors and the community. Heraeus has established comprehensive safety programs at its facilities to address these issues and to comply with all state and federal regulatory requirements.

Employees receive workplace safety training on potential hazards, safe work practices and procedures to eliminate or minimize safety hazards.

Heraeus uses an internal Incident Rate that monitors the number of incidents with greater than 3 days away from work relative to the number of hours worked. These measures help Heraeus Quartz North America to determine the effectiveness of the site safety programs and training.

Employee Opinion Survey

A company that wants to remain successful must evolve, which requires analyzing its own strengths and weaknesses, identifying potential for improvement, and initiating development processes. This can be done only with the support of the employees. They are most familiar with day-to-day business and know where the problems lie.

Heraeus Group’s Management asks employees worldwide to confidentially share their opinions in detail in the Employee Opinion Survey (EOS). Areas surveyed included general working conditions, environmental health and safety, customer focus, company strategy, Heraeus Guiding Principles as well as 11 other categories. The results were tabulated at organizational levels and presented to employees in workshops. Employees were involved in submitting suggestions for improvement.

The EOS results are reported in quartiles as each organizational unit is compared to the next level Business Group and to overall Heraeus. The results reports show the relevant organization’s position in relation to the Teams who scored in the Top 25%, the Bottom 25% and the range of the Middle 50%. This varies by question, so there is no absolute. The closer a score is to 1.0 (Strongly Agree), the better the score. Additionally, the 2012 results are compared to the previous survey in 2008.

Heraeus Quartz North America Results:

Overall summary:

  • No Questionnaire Section Score was greater than 2.0.
  • 11/15 questions results (74%) ranked in the Top 25%
  • 4/15 questions results (27%) ranked in the Top 50%
  • Management Index results in Top 25%.
  • Guiding Principles results in Top 25%.
  • Satisfaction Index results in Top 25%.

2008 vs 2013 Results:

  • 35 questions were directly comparable
  • 30/35 questions showed improvement with a range of .1 to .8
  • 3/35 questions did not improve or degraded with a range of .1 to

Due to the scope of the survey, the EOS is conducted every 3-4 years. All employees at all Heraeus locations worldwide are surveyed at the same time. The EOS 2012 questionnaire was available in German, English, and 16 other languages. Every Heraeus employee who had worked at the company for at least three months at the time of the survey was eligible to participate.

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Environment

The Heraeus EHS Policy sets the framework for the Environmental Management System, and is applicable to all employees. We expect that our contractors and suppliers will also fulfill the core principles of this Policy. We will implement and maintain this Policy and will communicate it to employees, suppliers, customers and the public.

 More details on Heraeus EHS Policy

Heraeus Quartz North America in Austin, TX complies with all local and national environmental regulations, for a manufacturing site has a small environmental footprint:

  • Our carbon dioxide (CO2) or ozone-depleting compounds (ODC) production is negligible due to our use pure hydrogen and oxygen flames for glassblowing.
  • Our volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions are nearly 0.
  • We operate below thresholds for United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting.
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As our EMS principle dictates that we integrate and continually improve sound environmental practices and technology, we focused on three elements:

  • Reuse/recycling:
    In 2013 we started a program to recycle quartz. In that year we were able to repurpose 12,000 pounds of quartz waste.
  • Energy conservation:
    In 2012 we made 60% of our lighting energy efficient. In 2013, 70% was converted. Our commitment is to convert 5-10% per year.
    In 2013 our site in Kleinostheim, Germany was certified ISO 50001. To be certified the site must demonstrate that they have a EnMS (Energy Management System) and positive results.
    Austin plant has plans to be ISO 50001 compliant by 2016. We are creating our baseline and should have goals in early 2015.
  • Water conservation:
    Baseline efforts are underway and goals should be published early in 2015.