Workplace safety
Our occupational health and safety programs are based on global and industrywide standards that help manage safety risks employees may face wherever they work.
As we continue to support the business and strive to improve our safety culture, we're focusing on adaptation and continuous improvement to ensure our people have the information, tools, support, and expertise to work safely.
Our Occupational Health and Safety Policy:
Purpose
This policy establishes Occupational Health and Safety requirements for the Cisco workplace to comply with local, state, federal and international OHS regulations. This policy describes actions to be taken to ensure Cisco is providing a safe and healthy working environment.
Overview
Cisco’s occupational health and safety program establishes a framework for compliance, communication, and a safe work environment for all Cisco’s workers.
Scope
This policy applies to all staff, contractors, visitors, and other personnel at Cisco workplaces or those undertaking work activities on behalf of the company. All staff, contractors, visitors and other personnel at a Cisco workplace or individuals undertaking work on behalf of the business have a role in ensuring a safe work environment.
Policy Statement(s)
It is Cisco's policy to:
Provide a safe and healthy work environment for its workforce and endeavor to prevent injuries and cases of work-related ill health.
Comply with relevant legal and other requirements in relation to occupational health and safety issues.
Provide adequate control of the health and safety risks arising from our work activities and equipment while maintaining working environments that are safe, have adequate facilities, and arrangements for well-being.
Consult with our employees on matters likely to affect health, safety, or well-being.
Provide appropriate information, training, and supervision to ensure employees and contractors can undertake their work duties in a competent, safe, and efficient manner.
Continuously improve occupational health and safety through development of safety management systems, processes, and programs via realistic objectives in line with resources.
Review and revise this policy as necessary at regular intervals.
How we manage safety:
We have developed a comprehensive risk assessment program that serves the purpose of identifying, controlling, and reducing hazardous situations both within the workplace and the wider environment.
We create awareness of our safety programs through employee induction and ongoing training. Employees are involved in health and safety management via H&S Committees and other special interest safety groups.
As part of our emergency preparedness, we have teams that are trained to administer first aid, help evacuate buildings, and provide other support. Emergency Response Plans are regularly reviewed.
Management and employees are supported by an internal Health and Safety team and specialist consultants, where required.
We have a global accident and incident investigation program, we utilise a comprehensive online system to manage our accident, incident and near miss reporting and investigations.
Regular safety inspections are carried out to identify any potential hazards. We manage any actions identified through our online safety management tool. Our Health and Safety performance is regularly monitored by internal and 3rd party audits. Key performance indicators such as number of completed site inspection, near miss reporting and accident statistics are regularly monitored and reviewed. We set targets to improve OHS performance for example safety related trainings completion targets at our locations accredited to ISO 45001.
Ergonomics
Cisco employees and contractors continued to adapt to a hybrid work model and benefited from program enhancements designed to support their work at home or in the office. As a result, we observed an increase in the utilization of virtual assessments conducted by professional ergonomists. This allowed us to support employees' ergonomic needs and minimize COVID-19 exposure risks.
ISO 45001
Safety continues to be a high priority at Cisco. We expanded the scope of the ISO 45001 certification to promote our safety culture and provide greater assurance to our customers and partners that Cisco's products and services are delivered in a safe manner. Currently, Cisco’s key locations in Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom are certified to ISO45001:2018 standard. There are plans to expand to additional locations in the coming years based on our business and client needs.
For detailed information, including the scope of the management system, please see the certificates below:
Click here to download our ISO45001 Certificate for Australia
Click here to download our ISO45001 Certificate for United Kingdom
Click here to download our ISO45001 Certificate for Germany
Health and safety performance (fiscal 2016–fiscal 2022)
Due to the pandemic, the majority of Cisco employees and contractors worked remotely, leading to reduced workplace injuries and incidents and an improvement in our overall health and safety performance.
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. OSHA Recordable Number of Incidents*200,000/hours worked | 2016: 0.11 | 2017: 0.11 | 2018: 0.08 | 2019: 0.08 | 2020: 0.04 | 2021: 0.02 | 2022: 0.05 |
| U.S. all injuries*200,000/hours worked | 2016: 0.31 | 2017: 0.28 | 2018: 0.24 | 2019: 0.24 | 2020: 0.16 | 2021: 0.06 | 2022: 0.09 |
| U.S. lost time days*200,000/hours worked | 2016: 1.96 | 2017: 1.34 | 2018: 0.95 | 2019: 2.39 | 2020: 0.07 | 2021: 0.003 | 2022: 2.03 |
| U.S. lost time incidents*200,000/hours worked | 2016: 0.04 | 2017: 0.03 | 2018: 0.03 | 2019: 0.04 | 2020: 0.002 | 2021: 0.003 | 2022: 0.03 |
| Global all injuries*200,000/hours worked | 2016: 0.23 | 2017: 0.27 | 2018: 0.23 | 2019: 0.30 | 2020: 0.30 | 2021: 0.08 | 2022: 0.11 |
| US OSHA Recordable Incident Rate—Industry Average for NAICS Code 54151 | 2016: 0.20 | 2017: 0.02 | 2018: n/a | 2019: n/a | 2020: n/a | 2021: n/a | 2022: n/a |
| Work-related employee fatalities | 2016: 0 | 2017: 0 | 2018: 0 | 2019: 0 | 2020: 0 | 2021: 0 | 2022: 0 |
Emergency response
An important component of safety is emergency preparedness. 2758 employees are part of 133 Emergency Response Teams worldwide. Teams are trained to administer first aid, help evacuate buildings, and provide other support. Annual Incident Management Drills keep all employees prepared. If a disaster occurs, we inform employees and others through our intranet. Individuals in some countries can also sign up for our Emergency Notification System, where they can indicate whether they are safe or need help.
COVID-19 safety
During fiscal 2022, Cisco continued taking actions to protect our employees, customers, and partners and ensure their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic and during the return to office as local limitations were lifted. Our Environmental, Health and Safety team closely monitored the pandemic in each region, reviewed applicable regional health and safety requirements, assessed risks, and developed comprehensive safety control plans and training. Hybrid work allows most of our employees to perform their job duties wherever they are. For those who need to come to the office, we have assessed COVID-19 risks and implemented control plans to minimize workplace exposures. For those working from home, we are providing guidance on how best to stay safe and well.