Workplace Safety

Our Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Policy establishes OHS requirements for the Cisco workplace to maintain compliance with the applicable local, state, federal, and international OHS regulations.

How We Manage Safety

We developed a comprehensive risk assessment program to identify, control, and reduce hazards both within the workplace and the wider environment. We create awareness of our safety programs through employee induction and ongoing training.

OHS is managed at the country level. Country-level leadership provides oversight, governance, and review related to OHS with support from Cisco’s Global Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) team and local specialists. Employees are involved in OHS management via OHS committees and other special interest safety groups. Management and employees are supported by an internal Global EHS team and specialist consultants, where required.

As part of our emergency preparedness, we have teams that are trained to administer first aid, help evacuate buildings, and provide other support.

• Around 3,000 employees are part of 150 Emergency Response teams worldwide.
• Emergency Response Plans are regularly reviewed.
• Annual Incident Management Drills keep employees prepared.
• If a disaster occurs, we inform employees and others through our intranet.
• Individuals in some countries can sign up for our Emergency Notification System, where they can indicate whether they are safe or need help.

We have a global accident and incident investigation program. We utilize a comprehensive online system to manage our accident, incident, and near-miss reporting and investigations.

Safety inspections and risk assessments are carried out to identify potential hazards. We manage any actions identified through our online safety management tool. This includes prioritizing actions based on the level of risk presented. Our OHS performance is regularly monitored by internal and third-party audits. Key performance indicators such as number of completed site inspections, near-miss reporting, and accident statistics are regularly monitored and reviewed. We set targets to improve performance, for example with safety-related training completion targets at our locations accredited to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 45001:2018.

Ergonomics

Cisco's ergonomic program is designed to support employees in creating comfortable and safe work environments. It includes training, self-evaluations, and professional assessments by ergonomists to help prevent discomfort and injuries by promoting effective workspace setup and posture, whether working in the office or remotely.

ISO 45001:2018

Safety continues to be a high priority at Cisco. We expanded the scope of the ISO 45001:2018 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 Australia, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom are certified to ISO 45001:2018 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 refer to our ISO 45001:2018 certificate.

Health and Safety Performance

Refer to Data and Assurance for historical information on our Health and Safety Performance.