Schneider Electric North America

2009 Robert W. Campbell Award Recipient
Category I

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Organizational Overview

Schneider Electric, based in Paris, France, is a global specialist in energy management with operations in over 100 countries. Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation and data centers/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications.  Focused on making energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive and green, the company’s 114,000 employees achieved 2008 sales of $23 billion, through an active commitment to help individuals and organizations “Make the most of their energy.”

The North American Operating Division (NAOD), headquartered in Palatine, Ill., markets brands of Schneider Electric to customers in the United States, Canada and Mexico. NAOD has 19,000 employees who generated $3.6 billion in sales in 2008. This submission focuses on the EHS efforts of NAOD.

Overview of Environment, Health and Safety at NAOD

Environment, health and safety, along with community, are the guiding principles of our organization. Our people are our most important asset and therefore their safety and health is our top priority. We want our people utilizing safe practices, being environmentally conscious and being healthy at work, home and at play.

Leadership Commitment

It begins with management commitment. Our current president and CEO of NAOD, Chris Curtis, includes a safety and health message or review in of his all company-wide communications. He also pushes all levels of the organization to be the safest and healthiest workforce in the industry and to continue to give back to local communities. This message is echoed by COO, Amy Huntington, who also is driving us to toward our ultimate goal of zero accidents, as well as be a more energy efficient organization. George Powers, senior vice president of Human Resources, leads our healthy lifestyles initiative, which required each manufacturing, logistics and large office locations to implement a healthy lifestyles program by May 2008.

Internal Efforts

Because compliance is a minimum standard, a continuous improvement model utilizing seven major categories was developed. The categories include: safety and environmental policy, procedures, training, employee involvement, audit, communication and recognition and management commitment. 

Environmental, health and safety communication and measurement are a part of our company’s organizational model and are in effect at all levels of the company. One example is the monthly corporate newsletter “Safety & Environmental Updates,” that compiles and communicates data by location and business division. This communication vehicle is used to track both pre-loss and post-loss goals. Other key initiatives include: 12 hours of safety and environmental training per employee per year for operations and services employees; Off-the-Job Safety Initiative (healthy lifestyles and safety-at-home program for all employees); Safe Start (on and off the job training for all operations and services employees); and on-line safety training (all office employees are given annual training requirements utilizing Coastal Technologies’ interactive training courses). In addition we strive to reduce the environmental impact of our products and their entire life-cycle, particularly through eco-design and eco-production.

External Efforts

In addition to addressing the health and safety of our employees, NAOD reaches out to the community, further demonstrating a beyond-compliance approach to human and environmental responsibility. Many NAOD sites are involved in voluntary safety or environmental certification programs. Currently all 33 of our manufacturing and logistic sites maintain ISO 14001 certification. As of May 2009, 10 sites have received OHSAS 18000 certification and all manufacturing and logistics sites will be registered by the end of 2010. All NAOD facilities have completed certification for Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism (C-TPAT) - a voluntary process to ensure the safety of employees and products during the transportation cycle. NAOD also uses May, National Electrical Safety Month, to reach out to communities to conduct electrical safety training, and June, Home Safety Month, to encourage employees to make their homes and families safer. NAOD actively participates with industry sector organizations like National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) to promote continuous improvement in product and workplace safety standards and practices.

Results

The best evidence of NAOD’s commitment to environment, health and safety is in the results. 

Schneider Electric set an objective to reduce energy consumption by 10 percent per employee by the end of 2008 based on 2004 use. NAOD achieved energy reduction of 22 percent by the end of 2008 based on 2004 use and avoided an estimated 46,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. NAOD core operations (USA plants) also improved waste recovery by nearly 16 percent between 2005 and 2008, resulting in 32,300 tons of manufacturing waste being diverted from landfill disposal in 2008.

Schneider Electric also implements health awareness through encouraging employee participation in a health assessment, which minimizes employee health risk factors. Each location achieved 60 percent participation in the health assessment. Based upon an internal survey conducted by NAOD, 72 percent of employees report that the company’s culture is supportive of healthy lifestyles.

While NAOD’s injury statistics were consistently better than their industry average in 2003, the company determined that to build a culture of safety throughout NAOD it needed to initiate a plan and set aggressive goals beyond industry standards. Since 2003 there has been a 71 percent improvement in the Medical Incident Rate (MIR) similar to the OSHA recordable rate, a 65 percent improvement in Lost Time Accident Rate (LTAR), and a 67 percent improvement in the Lost Time Day Rate (LTDR). This translates to an outstanding result of 353 fewer injuries in 2008 compared to 2003.

Executive Summary Conclusion

NAOD recognizes that stakeholders include the people, customers and the communities in which it operates. NAOD’s people are instrumental in the success of the safety, health and environmental program, and this success influences its reputation in the marketplace to customers and the community. By driving beyond compliance and integrating a comprehensive continuous improvement program, NAOD has driven dramatic results. We continue to improve because our ultimate goals are to have no one injured on or off the job, to have the healthiest workforce in the world, and to have no adverse environmental impact to the communities in which we operate.

BUSINESS PROFILE

As a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation, and data centers/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications. Focused on making energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive and green, the company’s 114,000 employees achieved sales of more than $23 billion in 2008. 

Consistent with its principles of responsibility, work-related risk prevention is one of Schneider Electric’s priorities. Schneider Electric aims to be one of the companies with the lowest occupational accident frequency rate and become an international benchmark of safety standards. The challenge is to develop a culture and a uniform safety management system throughout all the entities in the Group, whilst at the same time adapting the global policy to local contexts and capitalizing on best practices and initiatives.

As a pioneer in the new environmental economy, Schneider Electric is an active participant in the process of sustainability and the need to balance our societal requirements while maintaining and nurturing the ecological needs of today and the future.

Headquartered in Palatine, Ill., Schneider Electric North American Operating Division (NAOD) employs 19,000 people in 33 plant & logistic sites and numerous sales and services locations throughout the region. NAOD’s total sales in North America in 2008 were $3.6 billion (U.S.). Their products and solutions include the following major brands: Square D® and Juno® Lighting Group.  Other Schneider Electric major brands in North American outside the NAOD include:  APC®, Pelco® TAC® and Xantrex®.

Schneider Electric NAOD benchmarks against our key competitors annually on safety performance in North America, and we currently lead the electrical industry in overall performance for MIR.

This is significant and speaks to the strong safety culture and commitment to safety that has been established. Additionally, the strong safety results that have been achieved provide a competitive advantage and help to differentiate NAOD in the marketplace.