• Home
• Responsibility
• CR Report 2005
• Environment
• Environmental  management
• Training and awareness

Training and awareness

Raising employees’ awareness of environment, health and safety issues and improving their skills through training are key parts of our EHS programme. Employees at all levels need to understand the EHS issues in their working environment. For example, employees who handle waste at GSK sites need to know about its properties, the regulations that govern its disposal, and which materials can be recycled.

We help employees deal with these issues through meetings, bulletins, and information on our intranet site, as well as specific training events

The intranet site, myEHS Community, contains links to a range of programmes, including the EHS Manager information system which contains policies, standards, guidelines, tools, training materials, examples of best practice and news. It also provides customised management reports on EHS performance by site. EHS training is also accessible through myLearning, GSK's online training service. For more information see myEHS.

Training
Training takes place at site level, in accordance with our EHS Standard on training. EHS requirements and programmes are routinely included in site induction training for new employees. We regularly assess additional needs to make sure they match employee responsibilities and local regulatory requirements.

In 2005 we carried out additional EHS management training for our Consumer Healthcare and Regional Pharma Supply organisations. We made site visits for one-on-one training, and sent EHS Essentials (a CD-based compliance tool) to 140 sales offices around the world to improve EHS awareness.

During 2005 we held regional meetings in the UK, Mexico, China and Spain for EHS and Employee Health professionals to share information and best practice. More than 120 employees from 79 sites took part. The meetings included training on EHS management system auditing, auditing of hazardous waste disposal sites, injury and illness reporting, ergonomic risk assessment, resilience and mental well-being.

EHS managers are encouraged to attend conferences and training programs sponsored by local environmental organisations and academic institutions.

Awareness
We use several means of raising awareness of EHS issues and complementing our training programmes:

• the Chief Executive Officer’s EHS Excellence Awards scheme recognises outstanding efforts in EHS and helps raise the profile of these issues around the business.
• We publish regular bulletins which are distributed to all sites for posting on bulletin boards. Three bulletins were circulated in 2005.
• We include articles on EHS in our internal magazine (GSK Spirit), our manufacturing magazine and site newsletters.
• We run an Environment Week every June (to coincide with the World Environment Day). Information kits are sent to all sites to help them develop ideas and plan activities. In 2005, over 11,000 GSK employees from more than 60 sites worldwide took part in Environment Week. Activities focused on issues as varied as biodiversity, sustainable purchasing and waste management.

We also encourage employees to consider environmental issues outside the workplace, such as minimizing household waste, energy and water conservation, and encouraging the use of fuel-efficient vehicles.

For more information see EHS Communication.

Back to top