EHS Management Systems

Baxter's global Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Policy and EHS requirements provide the foundation for the company's EHS program, establishing the minimum standards all facilities must meet and maintain. These requirements are designed to protect employees and company assets, minimize environmental impact, reduce company risk, and enhance Baxter’s reputation and EHS leadership. Baxter assesses all of its facilities using the same performance measurement system.

Global Management Systems

Baxter's EHS program follows a management-systems approach guided by its global EHS requirements. The program has evolved from using internally developed standards, prior to the availability of globally accepted standards, to applying external standards to develop and achieve EHS program objectives. Baxter currently applies the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 Environmental Management System Standard to systematically manage its environmental programs, and the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 to properly manage hazards that pose risk to employees. Successful ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 assessments verify that a facility's management system enables compliance with relevant regulations and company policy. Following a successful corporate EHS audit, an external auditing and certification body may recommend a facility for certification to these standards.

As part of subscribing to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001, Baxter uses management tools at the facility, business unit, regional and corporate levels to identify EHS aspects¹ and hazards, assess risks, set goals and prioritize risk-reduction initiatives. Facilities are required to review and update their EHS aspects, hazards and risk assessments as conditions change.

ISO 14001 Certification

Baxter generally requires third-party certification to ISO 14001 for the company’s manufacturing and research and development sites, and distribution sites with a capacity of more than 10,000 filled pallets or a workforce of 100 or more people. Exceptions may be granted based on company criteria. Facilities that do not meet these criteria still may choose to apply ISO 14001 standards and seek certification to improve their environmental performance. Baxter subjects newly acquired facilities as relevant to a phase-in plan and evaluates those sites against the certification standards within two years of acquisition. As of year-end 2011, 66 Baxter locations (including all but one meeting the criteria outlined above) have met the requirements of ISO 14001 and are covered by Baxter’s group certificate (see map).

OHSAS 18001 Certification

Baxter recommends but does not require facility certification to OHSAS 18001. Manufacturing, research and development, and distribution sites that have achieved third-party ISO 14001 certification generally also pursue third-party OHSAS 18001 certification, as it helps improve a facility’s health and safety programs. Baxter incorporates OHSAS 18001 principles such as risk assessment, personnel competency, and system performance measurement/monitoring into corporate EHS audits even at facilities that do not pursue certification. Moreover, all OHSAS 18001 requirements have been incorporated into Baxter’s EHS requirements, and thus are included in routine oversight audits.

As of year-end 2011, 50 Baxter locations (see map) were certified to OHSAS 18001.

View facility list.

Global Certifications

In 1997, Baxter began to certify a group of facilities to ISO 14001, working with ERM Certification and Verification Services, the company’s external auditing and certification body. Since then, Baxter’s group certification has evolved into a global certification including 66 facilities worldwide.² In 2007, Baxter also established a group certificate for OHSAS 18001.³

With its global certifications, Baxter has improved consistency in facility evaluation. Specifically, the group certificate requires Baxter to focus on areas of weakness across all facilities managed under the certificate. Additionally, the company can reduce external audit frequency and costs.

Green Building Certifications

Employing green building principles saves energy and money, improves indoor air quality and brings additional benefits as well. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building rating system-certified buildings cost 8-9 percent less to operate than non-certified buildings, consume 30-50 percent less energy, generate 30 percent less carbon dioxide equivalent emissions and reduce potable water use by 40 percent, while enhancing worker productivity by 7 percent.⁴

In 2010, Baxter approved a new EHS policy that requires new sites or those undergoing major modification to undergo a “green building” review. This checklist-driven process challenges Baxter’s construction teams and contractors to design and build low-impact facilities. The checklists include evaluating parameters such as HVAC, lighting, compressed air and variable speed drives.

Baxter does not require certification to international building rating standards such as the U.K.’s Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, known as BREEAM, LEED, or the Swiss certification for building energy consumption, Minergie.

The following new Baxter-owned or leased buildings have achieved certification. Many other Baxter sites have incorporated energy-efficient and environmental performance-enhancing characteristics, but have chosen not to pursue certification.

1	An environmental aspect is an element of an organization's activities, products or services that can interact with the environment, for example, air emissions, wastewater discharges, or energy use.
2	This covers the facilities described in the ISO 14001 Certification section above.
3	This covers the facilities described in the OHSAS 18001 Certification section above.
4	According to www.usgbc.org.

Baxter Facilities with Green Building Certification
Location	Building Type	Certification	Attributes
Vienna, Austria	Lab/office	LEED Gold, 2011	The building effectively harnesses daylight, includes a solar-powered LED Baxter sign, uses well water for toilets and urinals, and has a vegetative roof.
Mississauga, Quebec, Canada	Office	Canada LEED (applied)	More than 90% of employees at this location have direct lines of sight outdoors. 100% of all new wood-based materials are certified to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards. Lighting controls enable 90% of occupants to adjust for individual task needs.
Lyon, France	Warehouse	BREEAM Good, 2011	Solar panels were installed to generate hot water. Rainwater is recovered for flushing toilets. A certified ecologist developed an ecology plan of the site and neighboring landscape. An outdoor noise level plan was completed.
Rome, Italy	Business office	Italia LEED Silver, 2011	The first office in Europe to receive existing building certification to the Italia LEED “Silver” standard. The building’s innovative automation system controls the heating and cooling on each side of the structure as the solar load changes throughout the day.
Rosersberg, Sweden	Warehouse	EU GreenBuilding 2011	Additional roof and wall insulation combined with reused refrigeration heat reduced energy consumption by more than 25% compared to a standard warehouse.
Zurich, Switzerland	European headquarters	Minergie Plus, 2010	The building features water-based cooling and heating, rooftop solar panels, and uses nearly 80 percent less energy than a typical office building of comparable size.
Round Lake, Illinois, United States	Fitness center	LEED Gold (applied)	The fitness center has low-flow touchless faucets that use solar power to activate/run, thus reducing battery use. The site uses daylighting to conserve energy, and renewable energy credits offset 100% of consumption. All carpeting, flooring and finishes have low or zero use of volatile organic compounds.