Siemens 2011 Annual Report Download - page 173

153 D. Consolidated Financial Statements
273 E. Additional information
143 C.2 Additional information for supplemental
financial measures
145 C. Siemens AG (Discussion on basis of
German Commercial Code)
151 C. Notes and forward-looking statements
140 C. Information required pursuant to Section  ()
and Section  () no.  of the German Commer-
cial Code (HGB) and explanatory report
142 C. Compensation report and Corporate Governance
statement pursuant to Section a of the German
Commercial Code (HGB)

We are convinced that empowering employees with shares
motivates them to assume greater responsibilities and helps
them identify more closely with the company they work for –
a fundamental prerequisite for the sustainable development
of Siemens. In , the Global Equity Organization (GEO), the
largest international organization concerned with share plans
and equity-based compensation, presented Siemens AG with
the Judges Award – for overall excellence with regard to glob-
al benefit schemes. Siemens AG was commended by the GEO
jury for its strategy of establishing a truly global equity cul-
ture within the Company, taking all employees worldwide into
consideration. For further information regarding these pro-
grams, see D. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
Employee rights and relations
to employee representatives
We aim to respect and uphold the fundamental rights of our
employees. Underscoring this commitment, Siemens joined
the United Nations Global Compact in . We declare our
adherence to core principles such as the United Nations’ Uni-
versal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on Fun-
damental Principles and Rights at Work of the International
Labor Organization (ILO), and the principles of the Rio Decla-
ration of the United Nations. The various principles are also
reflected in our Business Conduct Guidelines. In addition, fair-
minded communication and collaboration among our Compa-
ny ’s management, employees and employee representatives
plays a central role at Siemens. This collaboration includes
sharing information on all sides in a timely manner and main-
taining an open dialogue among all parties.
Occupational health and safety
The breadth of our business activities poses a variety of po-
tential health risks for our employees. We address these risks
by establishing centrally defined rules and applying them lo-
cally in combination with programs appropriate to actual
business operations. In addition to a set of guidelines focused
on occupational health and safety (OHS), we also include OHS
topics in our Business Conduct Guidelines, our internal moni-
toring systems and our risk management and internal control
system.
Minimizing safety risks – We place particular emphasis on
minimizing OHS risks throughout our training and education
programs regarding electrical safety, fire protection, road safe-
ty, first aid and emergency evacuation. When accidents do
happen, we meticulously investigate the causes so we can
take steps to prevent recurrences. These efforts address tech-
nical improvements as well as more effective training for both
employees and their managers. We call in teams of indepen-
dent experts to investigate the causes of all fatal accidents.
We make the causes known within the affected unit (and oth-
ers, as appropriate) to ensure that the requisite changes are
made to machinery, installations and procedures in order to
prevent recurrences. The safe handling of working materials
is another issue of particular importance to us, and we are
preparing a global company program to search for alterna-
tives to especially hazardous materials. We regret the work-re-
lated fatalities of three Siemens employees and  contractors
in fiscal . A year earlier, we had work-related fatalities of
four Siemens employees and eight contractors.
Promoting health – Siemens has established a high standard
of occupational health and safety to avoid work-related health
risks. We have broadened these initiatives to include mea-
sures for strengthening the physical, mental, and social well-
being of our employees as well as the individual and organiza-
tional related health resources. We offer a range of activities
in the field of physical activity, healthy nutrition, mental well-
being, healthy work environment and medical care. To inte-
grate health as a part of every employee’s daily work life we
defined a framework with uniform structures, processes, re-
sponsibilities and resources. We have begun implementing
the framework in pilot projects.
C... COMPLIANCE
Key performance indicators
Year ended September ,
 
Inquiries submitted to the
“Ask us” help desk 1,740 3,077
Incidents reported to the
“Tell us” help desk and the ombudsman 787 582
therein treated as plausible 683 502
Disciplinary sanctions 306 448
therein warnings 179 313
therein dismissals 77 108
therein other
50 27
1 Includes loss of variable and voluntary compensation elements,
transfer and suspension.
The Siemens Business Conduct Guidelines provide the ethical
and legal framework within which we conduct our business
activities. Our compliance system aims to ensure that our
worldwide business practices are in full compliance with ap-