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s a company focused on creating life-saving products and therapies, Baxter considers it a natural extension of its work to make a positive impact on the safety and health of its employees and contractors.
Employee Safety
In 2008, Baxter identified the following facility-level processes as the most effective ways to improve safety performance and strengthen the safety culture companywide:
- Hazard identification and risk assessment: A 2008 survey of facilities revealed that hazard identification and risk assessment programs reflect varying degrees of maturity. Baxter is standardizing its efforts in 2009 to improve consistency.
- Near-miss reporting: A near-miss program identifies incidents that might have resulted in injury, illness or damage but did not. For 2009, Baxter established eight required elements of an effective near-miss program and is tracking facility progress in implementing these across the company
In 2007, Baxter’s cases with days lost rate performance ranked fourth of industry peers.1
Health and Wellness
A productive and healthy workforce is vital to Baxter’s ongoing success. Through BeWell@Baxter, the company’s global employee health and wellness effort introduced in 2007, Baxter is building a culture that promotes work-related and personal health. BeWell@Baxter aligns the company’s many health and wellness initiatives under a comprehensive program that raises awareness and supports individual accountability and engagement.
In 2008, Baxter launched its vision for global smoke-free campuses. By the end of the year, 77 percent of company facilities were smoke-free campuses. The target for the end of 2009 is 80 percent of global facilities.
Baxter also launched its Personal Wellness Profile in 2008, an online health risk assessment that helps employees better understand how their lifestyle choices, family history and other factors impact their health. Employees set health goals, create action plans and track their progress. The company’s target is for 25 percent of employees globally to complete the assessment in 2009. Using the aggregate results, Baxter will target programs to address risk and need.
In addition, in 2008 Baxter’s seasonal influenza prevention program vaccinated 37 percent of employees worldwide, compared to 29 percent the previous year.
2015 GOAL
- Implement best-in-class programs designed to protect the safety and improve the health of employees that result in performance in the top three of industry peers.1
1 Out of 14 healthcare companies reporting global safety data to ORC Worldwide, Baxter placed fourth in cases with days lost rate in 2007. ORC Worldwide is an international management and human resources consulting firm. 2008 data not available as of June 2009.
