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Audits

GlaxoSmithKline aims to conduct an Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) audit at each operational site once every three to four years with more frequent visits for selected sites, depending on risks and issues raised by previous audits. An EHS audit is a key element of the continuous improvement process and assesses implementation and conformance with the Global EHS Standards and with key legislation. In 2004 the EHS Audit process and scoring system was further refined based on experience and feedback. All auditors have broad EHS experience and knowledge and as a minimum are certified as lead auditors against the international ISO 14001 Environmental Management standard.

In 2004, auditors assessed 33 sites including three key office locations. The level of performance against many of our environmental standards was better than performance against some of the health and safety standards. Specifically, aspects related to employee health and handling of chemical agents were identified for improvement. As part of the continuous improvement process, auditors monitor progress on actions arising from audit findings. The development of the myEHS web-based tool to assist with auditing continued in 2004 and a version was tested at two audits. The myEHS audit software will be used for all audits and associated action tracking in 2005.

Certification of EHS Management Systems
During 2002 and 2003, CEHS conducted a pilot certification programme with our manufacturing operations to determine the feasibility of obtaining company-wide certification to the international standards on environmental management systems (ISO 14001) and health and safety management systems (OHSAS 18001). Under the pilot programme, six manufacturing sites achieved certification to international standards ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. In 2004, five additional sites successfully completed the process and one site failed to renew its certification. In total, there are now 22 manufacturing sites (one only certified its utilities area) within GlaxoSmithKline with management system certification with more expected in 2005. Seven sites are certified to ISO 14001 only and 15 sites are certified to both ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. The certified sites are in China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Turkey and the UK. We plan to continue certifying individual volunteer sites and work toward the ultimate goal of global certification based on a sample of sites.