We are committed to our employees, who contribute significantly to our mutual success with their experience, commitment and ideas. Your health and safety are our top priority. In addition to preventing occupational accidents, specific support services also make an important contribution to long-term health preservation.
Proven systems and clear responsibilities
Occupational health and safety is the responsibility of our Labor Relations Director at board level. Our employees can also address various points of contact if they have any questions or concerns: the Human Resources Department, central company health support, social counseling and the Disabled Persons’ Representation Council are on hand to support you. At each of our sites, a company doctor is also provided by external services, and they are qualified in accordance with the legal requirements and known to all employees.
Occupational safety is particularly important in logistics. At BLG LOGISTICS, the Corporate Safety and Environmental Protection Department (PSU) plays a central role by regularly carrying out facility inspections, inspecting workplaces and organizing preventive processes and training. The employees in the department have the legally required qualifications to carry out their work. Getting feedback from our employees, who experience the practices and processes as part of their everyday work, is particularly important to us. We therefore encourage them to actively share their concerns and suggestions for improvement in occupational health and safety with us – also anonymously, if they so wish, via our external ombudsman or our complaint hotline. In return, we regularly provide comprehensive information about our occupational safety measures, in operational meetings and via our employee app, for example. For managers, our safety and environmental protection portal is available on the intranet, and this provides an overview of mandatory standards and processes, as well as current templates and forms for hazard assessment, and it also provides information on any legal changes. In addition, we train our managers in accordance with BLG LOGISTICS’ occupational health and safety policy and the associated guidelines on their occupational health and safety responsibilities. In the reporting year, this was done as part of the “Welcome@Leadership” training series, among other things. A specific occupational safety briefing for office workplaces is available through our Tutorize training platform.
Following the BLG LOGISTICS GROUP with the PSU corporate department, BLG Cargo Logistics and the Kelheim car terminal becoming certified according to ISO 45001 for their occupational health and safety management system, our BLG AutoTerminal Bremerhaven site also successfully completed the certification process in the reporting year through BLG AutoTec, which is located there. With defined occupational health and safety standards for BLG Germany, further sites can also aspire to certification in the future.
Safety through clear processes
Jobs in logistics can sometimes be physically challenging – all the more so for our employees in ports and warehouses, where people often have to work with machines and special safety precautions are therefore necessary. Hazard assessments and regular effectiveness checks form the basis for an effective occupational health and safety system. On the basis of these risk assessments, specific working instructions and guidance are created for our employees to follow as they go about their daily work. Each site also has its own Occupational Health and Safety Committee, which implements new measures directly on site if necessary. In addition, there are alarm and response plans with important instructions in the event of an accident or fire, as well as first aid measures.
A corresponding software tool was purchased in 2023 to make it easier to produce and regularly update hazard assessments. The integrated work steps were individually adapted to BLG processes by the Corporate Safety and Environmental Protection Department. In 2024, the hazard assessment tool was further developed and from the fourth quarter, a series of training courses were rolled out. This process will continue into 2025.
Furthermore, plans for 2025 include developing a systematic system for analyzing the causes of accidents via the work incidents log book and expanding the possibilities for action.
In 2024, there were reportable work 332 accidents with a resulting incapacity to work of more than three days across all consolidated German companies. The number of reportable accidents decreased compared to the previous year (403). At the same time, fewer hours worked led to a 10 percent reduction in the accident rate per 1,000 employees from 40.6 to 36.3.
Reportable work accidents
Number per 1,000 employees
From 2025, the accident rate per 1,000 employees will be replaced by the international Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR), which indicates the number of work-related injuries with at least one day of absence. The LTIFR for 2024 is 29.1. The database has been adjusted compared to the previous year. For 2024, the LTIFR was calculated by initially taking into account our own workforce’s data. The objective is to reduce the LTIFR annually by 10 percent. This target figure was integrated into quarterly reporting to the Board of Management and senior executives in the reporting year, for targeted management during the year.
Using the system introduced in 2024 for classifying accidents into hazard factors, focal points continue to be identified. The available data show that, in the reporting year, accidents due to trips, slips and falls (TSF) once again accounted for the largest proportion. The TSH hazard factor accounted for 30 percent of all reportable work accidents company-wide. The figure remains unchanged compared to the previous year. This confirms the trend in German companies observed by many employers’ liability insurance associations and the Federal Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin, BAuA).
In the reporting year, occupational health and safety was once again included in the target agreements for BLG management. This step highlights the high importance of occupational health and safety at BLG and is intended to further strengthen the preventive approach. Occupational health and safety continues to be anchored in our sustainability goals, and the overall objective is zero fatal accidents.
Target:
0
fatal accidents & from 2025, 10% reduction of our accident rate annually
Our Sustainability TargetsAll employees – whether internal or external – receive the same briefing, instruction and personal protective equipment. When providing safety clothing, we pay attention not only to the fulfillment of safety requirements, but also to individual needs, such as customized hearing protection in particularly exposed areas. Guests, suppliers and other people present at our sites are also informed about the safety regulations. In order to ensure that our employees can move safely at their work stations, we also provide comprehensive training on topics such as fire protection or hazardous goods handling. As a rule, the training courses are conducted by external trainers, with the PSU corporate department providing support as required.
More movement for our health
BLG LOGISTICS supports employees with various programs to promote their fitness and health over the long term. As part of restructuring the Human Resources department in the reporting year, an expert for occupational health management was hired.
The “Fit & Fun” prevention program is particularly popular. In cooperation with an external provider, we provide our employees with access to over 11,000 partner studios throughout Germany. The offer ranges from fitness studios to yoga classes to swimming or bouldering, so participants can choose from a wide range of options every day. On request, online courses are also available via the corresponding app. In 2024, 1,381 employees registered for Fit & Fun and we were able to expand the offer to some new locations.
Since 2019, employees have also had the opportunity to order a company bike through the Company Bike program. Since the launch of the program, 1,089 bicycles have been financed, 220 of them in 2024. Our latest mobility survey confirmed that the company bike has changed mobility behavior: almost 40 percent of Company Bike users said they have switched from cars to bikes for trips to work.
As part of our daily work, we also want to help our employees promote their health and well-being, and have therefore organized health days at various sites once again. In 2024, everything revolved around the topic of sun protection. In addition to information on personal skin type and self-protection times, skin layers were analyzed and employees were advised on how to optimize their skin care.
Many of our employees also work standing up and walk long distances. On the initiative of the general works councils, all employees across BLG can now have their feet individually measured, after this was initially offered trade logistics back in 2022. If necessary, appropriate insoles for work shoes are then issued, which increase comfort and prevent foot problems.
A further prevention component is the option of ergonomically designing workstations within the departments, with height-adjustable desks and work tables, for example.
The MEXOT research project, with the aim of making work processes more ergonomic and the provision of materials more efficient, was completed in the reporting year. The focus was on the use of exoskeletons to reduce the physical load placed on employees and autonomous transport systems to support employees in their manual work and help them move materials more efficiently. In another research project, “Resource Development in Service Work – ResourceE”, technical solutions and concepts for health-promoting work design are tested and examined for general transferability. BLG is represented by the Bremen Logistics Center as an application partner.
A good re-start with re-integration services
We want to maintain our workforce in the long term. For this reason, we offer support to those who are out sick for more than six weeks in a year. Through our company re-integration management service, we support these employees when they return to work. The return-to-work process is tailored to the individual and can take place in stages or with the help of medical and vocational rehabilitation programs. Absenteeism appraisals can help us better understand whether and to what extent the workplace impacts the employee’s illness and what measures we can take to reduce those impacts. In this way, we want to minimize illness-related absences and promote the long-term well-being of our employees.
In 2024, the rate of employees unfit for work rose by just under 0.1 percentage point to 10.4 percent compared to the previous year. In contrast, the rate of employees receiving continued sick pay fell from 7.4 to 7.3 percent. Through social counseling, we offer staff and senior executives in Bremen and Bremerhaven professional support in difficult professional and private situations. In the reporting year, 2.4 percent of employees used this service.