Workforce wellbeing & safety

What is Workforce wellbeing & safety at AstraZeneca?

Company efforts to create a healthy and safe working environment are conducive to a workforce thriving and maintaining a good work–life balance. This includes efforts to limit safety hazards for employees through proper design, engineering and preventative maintenance, and embedding a safety, health and environment (SHE) culture across the organisation.
 

Our approach

We use our Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) strategy to create a culture of safety, health and well-being and to protect life at our sites all over the world. Through our SHE management system, we identify and manage risks to maintain a workplace that is safe and healthy for all staff and visitors. We have created a culture of continuous improvement so that we learn from any incidents. We make sure our suppliers embrace these same principles.

 

Our Stories

Employee challenge incorporates holistic health and wellbeing

AstraZeneca employees from 38 countries participated in the 100-day Virgin Pulse Global Challenge (VPGC)® 2018. The programme is a holistic tool to improve general health and wellbeing. VPGC 2018 included an online physical and psychological health risk assessment, nutrition and weight control tracker, heart health assessment, sleep health module and a mental wellbeing module. Additional features for this year included introduction of the Health Hub, which provided health information and tips for healthy living, and step conversions for 50 activities. The metrics below illustrate that this programme was successful in supporting employees to improve their physical, social and mental wellbeing. Based on the total number of steps taken by our workforce, AstraZeneca was ranked 3rd most active company out of 93 healthcare companies and 10th out of all 807 companies who participated in the 2018 Challenge – our best result to date. Of the participants:

  • 66% reported feeling less stressed
  • 40% are more aware of what they eat
  • 67% met the recommended amount of sleep (vs 56% before VPGC)
  • 75% met the recommendation of 10,000 steps a day (vs 17% before VPGC)
  • 54% reported concentrating better and feeling more productive

SHE Excellence Award winner – UK Macclesfield Campus SHE Improvement Team

The team identified a deteriorating safety performance on campus and took action to address it. A cross-functional team came together to look at the long-term trends and identify areas for improvement. It launched an engaging visual campaign using the concept of ‘SHE Starts With Me’, encouraging everyone to take personal responsibility. Using a set of ‘golden rules’, clear expectations were set for all 3,500 people on site. Significant improvements were made in safety performance and the whole campus became engaged and re-energised around the concept. The journey doesn’t end there – a three-year programme, including health and wellbeing, is planned to continue the improvements in SHE culture, and the concept has been adopted globally by other manufacturing sites.