Corporate Responsibility Report 2008

Case studies

Diversity and inclusion

Women in Science Event

We have created a global programme within GSK R&D which encourages and celebrates women in science, the Women In Science Event (WISE).

The programme started in 2004 in the UK, bringing women scientists together for a day-long event for networking, education and knowledge-sharing opportunities and has since developed in scope and attendance.

In 2007 the annual event was held simultaneously at our sites in Stevenage and North Carolina, with a series of speakers, workshops and simultaneous broadcast of the keynote speaker, an internationally renowned female scientist, to both sites.

In 2008 we held events in the UK and at two US sites in North Carolina and Delaware, with a keynote speaker and networking opportunities. We plan hold a further event in late 2009.

Additional speaking and networking events are arranged throughout the year in the UK and US, featuring leading female scientists from GSK.

Scientific Women’s Scholarship programme

The Scientific Women’s Scholarship programme has been in place since 1993. This programme has offered a unique combination of scholarships and mentor relationships with professional women scientists. Supported by an endowment fund, the programme is open to 29 US colleges and universities.

In 2008, 58 women scholars were selected to participate in the programme with GSK in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Fifty-five GSK mentors worked with the scholars to pass on their dedication, energy and passion for science to this new generation of students.

The scholars are paired with professional women scientists at GSK who serve as their mentors. These women take the scholars under their wing, provide them with expert advice and share their experiences and lessons learned over the years.

GSK volunteer mentors also work to secure internship funding and opportunities for their scholars. The internships offer insight into careers and give the scholars hands-on experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

Supporting adult literacy

Our manufacturing sites in Nabha and Rajamundy, India, are taking action to improve literacy rates among their employees. At the beginning of 2007, around ten per cent of workers could not read or write and had to use a thumb print instead of signing their name.

The sites set a goal for all employees to be able to sign their name. Employees at the Nabha factory took nearly 10,000 hours of training in total, including sessions on how to read and write in Punjabi and English. As a result of the initiative, 154 people learned to read and write and all employees are now able to sign their name.

Sessions also included areas such as family relations, AIDS awareness, good health practices and domestic safety and budgeting.

The project received an honourable mention in the Employee Attraction, Development and Retention category at the 2008 Multicultural Marketing and Diversity Awards.

Occupational health and safety

Contractor competition improves safety during shutdown

GSK’s Slough site, which makes Lucozade and Horlicks powders, holds an annual shutdown to clean and maintain manufacturing equipment.

The site’s EHS team developed a programme to reduce the number of accidents occurring during the shutdown, a time of increased risk to employees and contractors when they undertake non-routine engineering activities in a short period of time. The team reviewed the log of accidents and near-misses from previous shutdowns, and held briefing meetings with supervisors and contractors to raise awareness of risks. It then ran a competition to identify and reward contractors with the best safety performance.

The initiative has contributed to a 70% reduction in minor accidents during shutdown, and there have been no reportable incidents since the competition began in 2007.

This project won third place in the 2008 CEO’s EHS excellence awards in the Safety Initiative category.