GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety 2018 contains disclosures for organizations to report information about their occupational health and safety-related impacts, and how they manage these impacts.
The Standard is structured as follows:
The rest of the Introduction section provides a background on the topic, an overview of the system of GRI Standards and further information on using this Standard.
Background on the topic
This Standard addresses the topic of occupational health and safety.
Healthy and safe work conditions are recognized as a human right and addressed in authoritative intergovernmental instruments, including those of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Health Organization (WHO): see the Bibliography.
Healthy and safe work conditions are also a target of the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations (UN) as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.1
Healthy and safe work conditions involve both prevention of physical and mental harm, and promotion of workers’ health.
Prevention of harm and promotion of health require an organization to demonstrate commitment to workers' health and safety. They also require the organization to engage workers in the development, implementation, and performance evaluation of an occupational health and safety policy, management system and programs that are appropriate to the organization’s size and activities.
It is essential that workers are consulted in the development of an organization’s occupational health and safety policy, and participate in the processes necessary to plan, support, operate, and continually evaluate the effectiveness of the occupational health and safety management system and programs.
Hazard identification and risk assessment, worker training, and incident identification and investigation are also key to planning, supporting, operating, and evaluating the occupational health and safety management system.
In addition to preventing harm, an organization can promote workers’ health by offering healthcare services or voluntary health promotion services and programs, which, for example, help workers improve their diet or quit smoking. These additional services and programs cannot serve as a substitute for occupational health and safety programs, services and systems that prevent harm and protect workers from work-related injuries and ill health.
All services and programs that aim to prevent harm and promote workers’ health are expected to respect workers’ right to privacy. Organizations are expected not to use workers' participation in such services and programs, or the health data derived therefrom, as criteria for their decisions regarding employment or engagement of workers, including termination, demotion, promotion or offering of prospects, compensation, or any other favorable or unfavorable treatment.
System of GRI Standards
This Standard is part of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards). The GRI Standards enable an organization to report information about its most significant impacts on the economy, environment, and people, including impacts on their human rights, and how it manages these impacts.
The GRI Standards are structured as a system of interrelated standards that are organized into three series: GRI Universal Standards, GRI Sector Standards, and GRI Topic Standards (see Figure 1 in this Standard).
Universal Standards: GRI 1, GRI 2 and GRI 3
GRI 1: Foundation 2021 specifies the requirements that the organization must comply with to report in accordance with the GRI Standards. The organization begins using the GRI Standards by consulting GRI 1.
GRI 2: General Disclosures 2021 contains disclosures that the organization uses to provide information about its reporting practices and other organizational details, such as its activities, governance, and policies.
GRI 3: Material Topics 2021 provides guidance on how to determine material topics. It also contains disclosures that the organization uses to report information about its process of determining material topics, its list of material topics, and how it manages each topic.
Sector Standards
The Sector Standards provide information for organizations about their likely material topics. The organization uses the Sector Standards that apply to its sectors when determining its material topics and when determining what to report for each material topic.
Topic Standards
The Topic Standards contain disclosures that the organization uses to report information about its impacts in relation to particular topics. The organization uses the Topic Standards according to the list of material topics it has determined using GRI 3.
Using this Standard
This Standard can be used by any organization – regardless of size, type, sector, geographic location, or reporting experience – to report information about its occupational health and safety-related impacts.
An organization reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards is required to report the following disclosures if it has determined occupational health and safety to be a material topic:
See Requirements 4 and 5 in GRI 1: Foundation 2021.
Reasons for omission are permitted for these disclosures.
If the organization cannot comply with a disclosure or with a requirement in a disclosure (e.g., because the required information is confidential or subject to legal prohibitions), the organization is required to specify the disclosure or the requirement it cannot comply with, and provide a reason for omission together with an explanation in the GRI content index. See Requirement 6 in GRI 1: Foundation 2021 for more information on reasons for omission.
If the organization cannot report the required information about an item specified in a disclosure because the item (e.g., committee, policy, practice, process) does not exist, it can comply with the requirement by reporting this to be the case. The organization can explain the reasons for not having this item, or describe any plans to develop it. The disclosure does not require the organization to implement the item (e.g., developing a policy), but to report that the item does not exist.
If the organization intends to publish a standalone sustainability report, it does not need to repeat information that it has already reported publicly elsewhere, such as on web pages or in its annual report. In such a case, the organization can report a required disclosure by providing a reference in the GRI content index as to where this information can be found (e.g., by providing a link to the web page or citing the page in the annual report where the information has been published).
Requirements, guidance and defined terms
The following apply throughout this Standard:
Requirements are presented in bold font and indicated by the word 'shall'. An organization must comply with requirements to report in accordance with the GRI Standards.
Requirements may be accompanied by guidance.
Guidance includes background information, explanations, and examples to help the organization better understand the requirements. The organization is not required to comply with guidance.
The Standards may also include recommendations. These are cases where a particular course of action is encouraged but not required.
The word ‘should’ indicates a recommendation, and the word ‘can’ indicates a possibility or option.
Defined terms are underlined in the text of the GRI Standards and linked to their definitions in the Glossary. The organization is required to apply the definitions in the Glossary.
In the context of the GRI Standards, the term ‘worker’ is defined as a person that performs work. Some GRI Standards specify the use of a particular subset of workers.
This Standard covers the following subset of workers, for whose occupational health and safety an organization is expected to be responsible:
See Table 1 for examples of employees and workers who are not employees according to the criteria of ‘control of work’ and ‘control of workplace’.
When the reporting organization does not have data available for all the workers specified in a disclosure, the organization is required to identify the types of worker excluded from the disclosures and explain why they have been excluded. See also Requirement 6 in GRI 1: Foundation 2021 for requirements on reasons for omission.
Workers who are employees
All employees are to be included by the organization in its reported data, regardless of whether the organization controls their work and/or workplace.
For employees, the organization is required to report the topic management disclosures (except Disclosure 403-7) and the topic disclosures.
Workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization
Workers who are not employees might include agency workers, contractors, self-employed persons, and volunteers, among other types of worker. Workers who are not employees might include those working for the organization, or for the organization’s suppliers, customers, or other business partners.
Note that the worker type does not determine whether the worker is to be included by the organization in its reported data. Workers, of any type, are to be included if the organization controls their work and/or workplace, because these forms of control position the organization to take action to eliminate hazards and minimize risks, to protect workers from harm.
Control of work implies that the organization has control over the means or methods, or directs the work performed with respect to its occupational health and safety performance. Control of workplace implies that the organization has control over the physical aspects of the workplace (e.g., access to the workplace), and/or the type of activities that can be performed in the workplace.
The organization might have sole control of the work and/or workplace, or share control with one or more organizations (e.g., suppliers, customers, or other business partners, such as in joint ventures). In cases of shared control, workers of the organization’s business partner are to be included in the reported data when there is a contractual obligation between the organization and the partner, and the organization shares control over the means or methods, or shares direction of the work performed, and/or over the workplace. In such cases, through contractual obligation, the organization can require the partner to, for example, use a less harmful chemical in its products or production process.
For workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization, the organization is required to report the topic management disclosures (except Disclosure 403-7) and the topic disclosures.
Workers who are not employees and whose work and workplace are not controlled by the organization, but the organization’s operations, products, or services are directly linked to significant occupational health and safety impacts on those workers by its business relationships
An organization is expected to be responsible for the occupational health and safety of employees and of workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace it controls. Beyond that, an organization might also be involved with occupational health and safety impacts as a result of its business relationships with other entities, such as entities in its value chain.
In cases where an organization has no control over both the work and workplace, it still has a responsibility to make efforts, including exercising any leverage it might have, to prevent and mitigate negative occupational health and safety impacts that are directly linked to its operations, products, or services by its business relationships.
In these cases, the organization is required, at a minimum, to describe its approach to preventing and mitigating significant negative occupational health and safety impacts and the related hazards and risks, using Disclosure 403-7 in the Topic management disclosures section.
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Table 1 Examples of employees and workers who are not employees according to the criteria of ‘control of work’ and ‘control of workplace’ |
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Control of work The organization has sole control of the work, or shares control with one or more organizations |
No control of work The organization has no control of the work |
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Control of workplace The organization has sole control of the workplace, or shares control with one or more organizations |
Examples: Employees of the reporting organization working at a workplace controlled by the organization. Contractor hired by the reporting organization to perform work that would otherwise be carried out by an employee, at a workplace controlled by the organization. Volunteers performing work for the reporting organization, at a workplace controlled by the organization. |
Example: Workers of an equipment supplier to the reporting organization who, at a workplace controlled by the organization, perform regular maintenance on the supplier’s equipment (e.g., photocopier) as stipulated in the contract between the equipment supplier and the organization. In this case, the organization has control over the workplace but not over the work done by the equipment supplier’s workers in its workplace. |
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No control of workplace The organization has no control of the workplace |
Examples: Employees of the reporting organization working at sites other than those controlled by the organization (e.g., at home or in a public area, on domestic or international temporary work assignments, or on business travels organized by the organization). Contractors hired by the reporting organization to perform work in a public area (e.g., on a road, on the street). Contractors hired by the reporting organization to deliver the work/service directly at the workplace of a client of the organization. Workers of a supplier to the reporting organization who work on the supplier’s premises, and where the organization instructs the supplier to use particular materials or work methods in manufacturing/delivering the required goods or services. |
Example: Workers of a supplier contracted by the reporting organization who work on the supplier’s premises using the supplier’s work methods. For instance, the reporting organization sources buttons and thread from a supplier, which are standard products of the supplier. The supplier’s workers make the buttons and thread at the supplier’s workplace. The organization, however, learns that the buttons are coated with a sealant that releases toxic gases when being applied by workers, thereby affecting their health. In this case, the organization has no control over both the work and workplace of the supplier’s workers, but its products are directly linked to significant occupational health and safety impacts on those workers by its business relationship with the supplier. |
An organization reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards is required to report how it manages each of its material topics.
An organization that has determined occupational health and safety to be a material topic is required to report how it manages the topic using Disclosure 3-3 in GRI 3: Material Topics 2021 (see clause 1.1 in this section). The organization is also required to report any disclosures from this section (Disclosure 403-1 through Disclosure 403-7) that are relevant to its occupational health and safety-related impacts.
This section is therefore designed to supplement – and not replace – Disclosure 3-3 in GRI 3.
1.1 The reporting organization shall report how it manages occupational health and safety using Disclosure 3-3 in GRI 3: Material Topics 2021.
1.2 The reporting organization should report any other leading indicators or measures used to inform the management and evaluation of the occupational health and safety performance.
If the operations of the reporting organization span a large number of countries or sites, it may group the topic management disclosures across countries or sites by relevant categories. For example, the organization may group information required in Disclosure 403-4-b on formal joint management-worker health and safety committees across sites with similar characteristics together; it does not have to report on each committee separately.
Guidance for clause 1.2
Leading indicators measure an organization’s performance in relation to the actions it takes to prevent work-related injuries and ill health. They are important because organizations cannot rely solely on lagging indicators, which might not give a true picture of their occupational health and safety performance due to issues such as long-latency ill health and underreporting.
Leading indicators are often unique or tailored to a specific organization. Examples of such indicators include the number of workers trained in hazard identification and incident reporting, the increase in reporting of hazards and incidents after implementation of reporting policy and processes and worker training, the frequency of health and safety inspections or audits, the average time it takes to implement the recommendations of an inspection or audit, and response times for the investigation and elimination of hazards.
References
See references [2], [4], [7], [8], [11], and [12] in the Bibliography.
The reporting organization shall report the following information for employees and for workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization:
Guidance for Disclosure 403-1
Disclosure 403-1 requires the reporting organization to list any legal requirements it has followed in implementing the occupational health and safety management system.
Recognized standards/guidelines for occupational health and safety management systems include international, national, and industry-specific standards.
When reporting on the occupational health and safety management system, the organization can also describe:
The reporting organization shall report the following information for employees and for workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization:
Guidance for Disclosure 403-2-a
When describing the processes used to identify hazards and assess risks on a routine and non-routine basis, and to apply the hierarchy of controls, the reporting organization can:
Guidance for Disclosures 403-2-b and 403-2-c
Protecting workers against reprisals involves putting policies and processes in place that provide them with protection against intimidation, threats, or acts that could have a negative impact on their employment or work engagement, including termination, demotion, loss of compensation, discipline, and any other unfavorable treatment. Workers might face reprisals on account of their decision to either remove themselves from work situations that they believe could cause injury or ill health, or for reporting hazards or hazardous situations to their workers’ representatives, to their employer, or to regulatory authorities.
Disclosure 403-2-c covers the right of workers to refuse or stop unsafe or unhealthy work. Workers have the right to remove themselves from work situations that they believe could cause them or another person injury or ill health.
The reporting organization shall report the following information for employees and for workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization:
1.3 The reporting organization should report the following additional information:
1.3.1 How the organization maintains the confidentiality of workers’ personal health-related information;
1.3.2 How the organization ensures that workers’ personal health-related information and their participation in any occupational health services is not used for any favorable or unfavorable treatment of workers.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-3
Occupational health services aim to protect the health of workers in relation to their work environment.
When describing how the quality of occupational health services is ensured, the reporting organization can explain whether the services are provided by competent individuals with recognized qualifications and accreditations, and whether it complies with legal requirements and/or recognized standards/guidelines.
When describing how it facilitates workers’ access to occupational health services, the organization can describe whether it provides these services at the workplace and during working hours; whether it arranges transport to health clinics or expedites service there; whether it provides information about the services, including in a language easily understood by workers; and whether it adjusts workloads to allow workers to make use of these services.
The organization can also report the metrics used to evaluate the effectiveness of these services, and the approaches used to raise awareness about them and encourage participation.
Guidance for clauses 1.3.1 and 1.3.2
Occupational health services are expected to respect workers’ right to privacy. Organizations are expected not to use workers' participation in such services and programs, or the health data derived therefrom, as criteria for their decisions regarding the employment or engagement of workers, including termination, demotion, promotion or offering of prospects, compensation, or any other favorable or unfavorable treatment. See reference [6] in the Bibliography.
References
See references [3] and [9] in the Bibliography.
The reporting organization shall report the following information for employees and for workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization:
1.4 The reporting organization should report whether and, if so, which occupational health and safety topics are covered in local or global formal agreements with trade unions.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-4-a
When describing the processes for worker participation in occupational health and safety, the reporting organization can include information on:
When describing the processes for providing access to and communicating relevant information on occupational health and safety to workers, the organization can report whether it provides information about work-related incidents and the actions taken in response.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-4-b
A common form of worker participation in occupational health and safety is through joint management-worker health and safety committees. In addition to direct participation of workers from all job levels in these committees, workers’ representatives, where they exist, might also be involved in these joint activities, as they might be authorized to make decisions about occupational health and safety, among other workplace decisions.
Where formal joint management-worker health and safety committees exist, the organization can also describe the level at which each committee operates within the organization, its dispute resolution mechanism, its chairing responsibilities, and how the committee members are protected against reprisals.
Disclosure 403-4-b requires a description of whether and, if so, why any workers are not represented by these committees. It does not require information on which workers are or are not members of such committees.
Guidance for clause 1.4
Agreements at the local level typically include topics such as provision of personal protective equipment; participation of workers’ representatives in health and safety inspections, audits, and incident investigations; provision of training and education; and protection against reprisals.
Agreements at the global level typically include topics such as compliance with the ILO’s International Labour Standards; arrangements or structures for resolving problems; and commitments regarding occupational health and safety standards and levels of performance.
The reporting organization shall report the following information for employees and for workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization:
Guidance for Disclosure 403-5
When describing the occupational health and safety training provided, the reporting organization can include information on:
The reporting organization shall report the following information for employees and for workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization:
1.5 The reporting organization should report the following additional information:
1.5.1 How the organization maintains the confidentiality of workers’ personal health-related information;
1.5.2 How the organization ensures that workers’ personal health-related information and their participation in any services or programs is not used for any favorable or unfavorable treatment of workers.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-6-a
Achieving universal health coverage, including financial risk protection; access to quality essential healthcare services; and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all, is one of the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Target 3.8).
Workers’ access to non-occupational medical and healthcare services might be facilitated, for example, through company clinics or disease treatment programs, referral systems, or health insurance or financial contributions.
When describing the scope of access to non-occupational medical and healthcare services provided, the reporting organization can specify the types of service to which access is facilitated and the types of worker that have access to them.
If the organization does not facilitate workers’ access to non-occupational medical and healthcare services because it operates in a country where the population already has access to high-quality and accessible services (e.g., through financial or other support), the organization can state this in its reported information.
If the organization does not facilitate access to non-occupational medical and healthcare services for workers who are not employees because the employer of those workers facilitates their access to these services, the organization can state this in its reported information.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-6-b
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all at all ages is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 3). This goal includes targets such as reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment, and promoting mental health and wellbeing; strengthening the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful consumption of alcohol; ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services; and ending epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases, and combating hepatitis, water-borne diseases, and other communicable diseases.
Disclosure 403-6-b covers voluntary services and programs aimed at addressing major non-work-related health risks among workers, including both physical and mental health-related risks. Examples of these risks include smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, HIV, and psychosocial factors.
Voluntary health promotion programs and services might include smoking cessation programs, dietary advice, offering of healthy food in the canteen, stress-reducing programs, provision of a gym, or fitness programs. A program or service is voluntary when it does not set mandatory personal targets, and if incentives are provided, these are not associated with the organization’s decisions regarding employment or engagement of workers.
Voluntary health promotion services and programs complement but cannot be a substitute for occupational health and safety services, programs and systems that prevent harm and protect workers from work-related injuries and ill health. Voluntary health promotion and occupational health and safety may be managed jointly by the organization, as part of an overall approach to ensuring the health and safety of workers.
When describing how it facilitates workers’ access to voluntary health promotion services and programs, the organization can explain whether it allows workers to make use of these during paid working hours. The organization can also report if these services and programs are available for family members of workers.
When describing its voluntary health promotion services and programs, the organization can also report:
Guidance for clauses 1.5.1 and 1.5.2
Non-occupational health services and programs are expected to respect workers’ right to privacy. Organizations are expected not to use workers' participation in such services and programs, or the health data derived therefrom, as criteria for their decisions regarding the employment or engagement of workers, including termination, demotion, promotion or offering of prospects, compensation, or any other favorable or unfavorable treatment. See reference [6] in the Bibliography.
References
See references [1], [14], and [15] in the Bibliography.
The reporting organization shall report the following information:
Background
In cases where an organization has no control over both the work and workplace, it still has a responsibility to make efforts, including exercising any leverage it might have, to prevent and mitigate negative occupational health and safety impacts that are directly linked to its operations, products, or services by its business relationships. For more guidance, see the Scope of ‘workers’ in this Standard section.
References
See reference [13] in the Bibliography.
The reporting organization shall report the following information:
Background
Occupational health and safety management systems can serve as an effective approach to managing and continually eliminating hazards and minimizing risks. It is a systems-based approach that seeks to integrate occupational health and safety management into overall business processes. A system typically moves through a ‘plan-do-check-act’ cycle, promoting leadership and practice through meaningful consultation and participation of workers from all job levels in the organization.
A systems-based approach, which encompasses fully integrated processes, can be a significant advancement over an approach that considers hazard identification, risk assessment, and incident investigation as isolated activities. Focusing on system deficiencies can enable an organization to identify deficiencies in its overall management of occupational health and safety; address resources, policy, and operational controls; and ensure continual improvement.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-8
This disclosure indicates what proportion of an organization’s employees, and workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization, are covered by an occupational health and safety management system based on legal requirements and/or recognized standards/guidelines. The list of legal requirements and/or recognized standards/guidelines used by the reporting organization in its occupational health and safety management system are reported using Disclosures 403-1-a-i and 403-1-a-ii in the Topic management disclosures section.
If not all workers are covered by the occupational health and safety management system, the organization can report whether any of the workers not covered are at high risk of work-related injury or ill health.
In addition to the information required by this disclosure, the organization can report the number and percentage of sites covered by an occupational health and safety management system based on legal requirements and/or recognized standards/guidelines.
The organization can also describe:
Audits by external parties may include both second-party and third-party audits. Second-party audits are usually performed by customers or others on behalf of customers, or by any other external parties that have a formal interest in the organization. Third-party audits are performed by independent organizations such as registrars (i.e., certification bodies) or regulators.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-8-b
Types of worker can be based on criteria such as full-time, part-time, non-guaranteed hours, permanent or temporary basis, type or degree of control (e.g., control of work or workplace, sole or shared control), and location, among others.
The reporting organization shall report the following information:
Compilation requirements
2.1 When compiling the information specified in Disclosure 403-9, the reporting organization shall:
2.1.1 exclude fatalities in the calculation of the number and rate of high-consequence work-related injuries;
2.1.2 include fatalities as a result of work-related injury in the calculation of the number and rate of recordable work-related injuries;
2.1.3 include injuries as a result of commuting incidents only where the transport has been organized by the organization;
2.1.4 calculate the rates based on either 200,000 or 1,000,000 hours worked, using the following formulas:
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Rate of fatalities as a result of work-related injury |
= |
Number of fatalities as a result of work-related injury Number of hours worked |
x [200,000 or 1,000,000] |
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Rate of high-consequence work-related injuries |
= |
Number of high-consequence work-related injuries (excluding fatalities) Number of hours worked |
x [200,000 or 1,000,000] |
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Rate of recordable work-related injuries |
= |
Number of recordable work-related injuries Number of hours worked |
x [200,000 or 1,000,000] |
2.2 The reporting organization should report the following additional information:
2.2.1 If the numbers and rates reported are significantly higher for certain types of injury, countries, business lines, or workers’ demographics (e.g., sex, gender, migrant status, age, or worker type), a breakdown of these data;
2.2.2 A breakdown of the number of recordable work-related injuries by type of incident;
2.2.3 If chemical hazards have been identified in Disclosure 403-9-c, a list of the chemicals;
2.2.4 The number of high-potential work-related incidents identified;
2.2.5 The number of close calls identified.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-9
This disclosure covers work-related injuries. Data on work-related injuries are a measure of the extent of harm suffered by workers; they are not a measure of safety.
An increase in the number or rate of reported incidents does not necessarily mean that there have been a greater number of incidents than before; it can indicate an improvement in the recording and reporting of incidents.
If an increase in the number or rate of reported incidents is the result of the organization’s actions to improve the reporting and recording of fatalities, injuries, and ill health, or its actions to expand the scope of its management system to cover more workers or workplaces, the reporting organization can explain this and report on these actions and their results.
Types of work-related injury can include death, amputation of a limb, laceration, fracture, hernia, burns, loss of consciousness, and paralysis, among others.
In the context of this Standard, work-related musculoskeletal disorders are covered under ill health (and not injuries) and are to be reported using Disclosure 403-10. If the organization operates in a jurisdiction where worker compensation systems classify musculoskeletal disorders as injuries, the organization can explain this and report these disorders using Disclosure 403-9. See references [5] and [16] in the Bibliography for a list of musculoskeletal disorders.
Injuries involving members of the public as a result of a work-related incident are not included in this disclosure, but the organization can report this information separately. For example, the organization can report incidents where a vehicle driven by a worker causes the deaths of other road users or incidents where visitors are injured during their visit to the organization’s workplace.
Guidance for reporting on high-consequence work-related injuries
As per the definition of recordable work-related injury, the organization is required to report all work-related injuries as part of the ‘number and rate of recordable work-related injuries’. In addition, the organization is required to separately report high-consequence work- related injuries, with a breakdown by:
The definition of ‘high-consequence work-related injury’ uses ‘recovery time’, instead of ‘lost time’, as the criterion for determining the severity of an injury. Lost time is an indicator of the loss of productivity for an organization as a result of a work-related injury; it does not necessarily indicate the extent of harm suffered by a worker.
‘Recovery time’, in contrast, refers to the time needed for a worker to recover fully to pre-injury health status; it does not refer to the time needed for a worker to return to work. In some cases, a worker might return to work before full recovery.
In addition to reporting information on high-consequence work-related injuries based on recovery time as required by this disclosure, the organization can also report the number and rate of work-related injuries that resulted in lost-workday cases, the average number of lost days per lost-workday case, the number of lost workdays, and the absentee rate.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-9-c
This disclosure covers work-related hazards that pose a risk of high-consequence injury if not controlled, even when there are control measures in place. The hazards might have been identified proactively through risk assessment, or reactively as a result of either a high-potential incident or a high-consequence injury.
Examples of work-related hazards causing or contributing to high-consequence injuries include excessive workload demands, tripping hazards, or exposure to flammable materials.
If the identified work-related hazards vary significantly across different locations, the organization may group or disaggregate these by relevant categories, such as by geographical area or business line. Similarly, if there are a high number of hazards, the organization may group or categorize them to facilitate reporting.
When reporting how it has determined which work-related hazards pose a risk of high-consequence injury using Disclosure 403-9-c-i, the organization can describe the criteria or threshold used to determine which hazards pose such a risk and which do not. The processes to identify hazards and assess risks, and to apply the hierarchy of controls, are reported using Disclosure 403-2-a.
Disclosure 403-9-c-ii does not require reporting which work-related hazards have caused or contributed to which high-consequence injuries during the reporting period; it requires the aggregate analysis of all work-related hazards that resulted in high-consequence injuries.
If a work-related incident resulting in a high-consequence injury is still under investigation at the end of the reporting period, the organization can state this in its reported information. The organization can report on actions taken during the reporting period to eliminate hazards and minimize risks that were identified, or to address work-related incidents that took place, in prior reporting periods.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-9-d
This disclosure covers any actions taken or underway to eliminate other work-related hazards and minimize risks (i.e., not covered in Disclosure 403-9-c) using the hierarchy of controls. This disclosure can include actions taken in response to non-high-consequence work-related injuries, and work-related incidents with low probability of causing high-consequence injuries.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-9-f
Types of worker can be based on criteria such as full-time, part-time, non-guaranteed hours, permanent or temporary basis, type or degree of control (e.g., control of work or workplace, sole or shared control), and location, among others.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-9-g
If the organization follows the ILO code of practice on Recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases, it can state this in response to Disclosure 403-9-g.
If the organization does not follow the ILO code of practice, it can indicate which system of rules it applies in recording and reporting work-related injuries and its relationship to the ILO code of practice.
If the organization cannot directly calculate the number of hours worked, it may estimate this on the basis of normal or standard hours of work, taking into account entitlements to periods of paid leave of absence from work (e.g., paid vacations, paid sick leave, public holidays) and explain this in its reported information.
When the organization cannot directly calculate or estimate the number of hours worked (e.g., because the workers performed non-routine work during an emergency situation, or because the performed work was not paid for by the hour), it is required to provide a reason for this omission as set out in GRI 1: Foundation 2021. See Requirement 6 in GRI 1 for requirements on reasons for omission.
Guidance for clause 2.1.3
Clause 2.1.3 requires the organization to include injuries as a result of commuting incidents in cases where the transport has been organized by the organization (e.g., company or contracted bus or vehicle). The organization can report other commuting incidents separately; for example if this information is to be reported under local law.
Guidance for clause 2.1.4
Clause 2.1.4 requires the organization to calculate the rates based on either 200,000 or 1,000,000 hours worked.
Standardized rates allow for meaningful comparisons of statistics, for example between different periods or organizations, or help account for differences in the number of workers in the reference group and the number of hours worked by them.
A rate based on 200,000 hours worked indicates the number of work-related injuries per 100 full-time workers over a one-year timeframe, based on the assumption that one full-time worker works 2,000 hours per year. For example, a rate of 1.0 means that, on average, there is one work-related injury for every group of 100 full-time workers over a one-year timeframe. A rate based on 1,000,000 hours worked indicates the number of work-related injuries per 500 full-time workers over a one-year timeframe.
A rate based on 200,000 hours worked might be more suitable for small organizations.
In addition to standardized rates, this disclosure requires the organization to report absolute data (i.e., numbers), to allow information users to calculate the rates themselves using other methodologies if needed.
Guidance for clauses 2.2.1 and 2.2.2
Target 8.8 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals aims to ‘protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment’. Some groups might be at increased risk of work-related injury due to demographic factors such as sex, gender, migrant status, or age; it can thus be beneficial to break down data on work-related injuries by these demographic criteria. See reference [14] in the Bibliography.
ILO Convention 143 ‘Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention’ defines ‘migrant worker’ as ‘a person who migrates or who has migrated from one country to another with a view to being employed otherwise than on his own account and includes any person regularly admitted as a migrant worker’. See ILO Convention 143 for more guidance.
If the data on work-related injuries are driven primarily by certain types of injury (e.g., amputation, paralysis) or incident (e.g., explosion, road accident), the organization can provide a breakdown of this information.
References
See reference [10] in the Bibliography.
The reporting organization shall report the following information:
Compilation requirements
2.3 When compiling the information specified in Disclosure 403-10, the reporting organization shall include fatalities as a result of work-related ill health in the calculation of the number of cases of recordable work-related ill health.
2.4 The reporting organization should report the following additional information:
2.4.1 If the numbers reported are significantly higher for certain types of ill health, countries, business lines, or workers’ demographics (e.g., sex, gender, migrant status, age, or worker type), a breakdown of these data;
2.4.2 If chemical hazards have been identified in Disclosure 403-10-c, a list of the chemicals;
2.4.3 The number of employees and workers who are not employees but whose work and/or workplace is controlled by the organization, exposed to each hazard identified in Disclosure 403-10-c.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-10
Work-related ill health can include acute, recurring, and chronic health problems caused or aggravated by work conditions or practices. They include musculoskeletal disorders, skin and respiratory diseases, malignant cancers, diseases caused by physical agents (e.g., noise-induced hearing loss, vibration-caused diseases), and mental illnesses (e.g., anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder). This disclosure covers, but is not limited to, the diseases included in the ILO List of Occupational Diseases. In the context of this Standard, work-related musculoskeletal disorders are covered under ill health (and not injuries) and are to be reported using this disclosure. See references [5] and [16] in the Bibliography.
This disclosure covers all cases of work-related ill health notified to the reporting organization or identified by the organization through medical surveillance, during the reporting period. The organization might be notified of cases of work-related ill health through reports by affected workers, compensation agencies, or healthcare professionals. The disclosure may include cases of work-related ill health that were detected during the reporting period among former workers. If the organization determines, for example through investigation, that the notified case of work-related ill health is not due to exposure whilst working for the organization, it can explain this in its reported information.
This disclosure covers both short-latency and long-latency work-related ill health. Latency refers to the time period between exposure and the onset of ill health.
Many cases of long-latency work-related ill health go undetected; if detected, they might not necessarily be due to exposures with one employer. For example, a worker might be exposed to asbestos while working for different employers over time, or might suffer from a long-latency disease that turns fatal many years after the worker has left the organization. For this reason, data on work-related ill health are to be complemented with information on work-related hazards.
In some situations, an organization might not be able to collect or publicly disclose data on work-related ill health. The following are examples of these situations:
In these situations, the organization is required to provide a reason for omission of these data as set out in GRI 1: Foundation 2021. See Requirement 6 in GRI 1 for requirements on reasons for omission.
Cases of ill health involving members of the public as a result of a work-related incident are not included in this disclosure, but the organization can report this information separately. An example of such an incident is when a chemical substance spill causes ill health among members of a nearby community.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-10-c
This disclosure includes exposures to the 'International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Group 1’ (carcinogenic to humans), ‘IARC Group 2A’ (probably carcinogenic to humans), and ‘IARC Group 2B’ (possibly carcinogenic to humans) agents. See references [17] and [18] in the Bibliography.
See Guidance for Disclosure for 403-9-c for more information on reporting on hazards.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-10-d
Types of worker can be based on criteria such as full-time, part-time, non-guaranteed hours, permanent or temporary basis, type or degree of control (e.g., control of work or workplace, sole or shared control), and location, among others.
Guidance for Disclosure 403-10-e
If the organization follows the ILO code of practice on Recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases, it can state this in response to Disclosure 403-10-e.
If the organization does not follow the ILO code of practice, it can indicate which system of rules it applies in recording and reporting work-related ill health and its relationship to the ILO code of practice.
Guidance for clause 2.4.1
If the data on work-related ill health are driven primarily by certain types of ill health or disease (e.g., respiratory diseases, skin diseases) or incident (e.g., exposure to bacteria or viruses), the organization can provide a breakdown of this information.
See also Guidance for clauses 2.2.1 and 2.2.2.
References
See references [5], [10], and [16] in the Bibliography.
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This glossary provides definitions for terms used in this Standard. The organization is required to apply these definitions when using the GRI Standards.
The definitions included in this glossary may contain terms that are further defined in the complete GRI Standards Glossary. All defined terms are underlined. If a term is not defined in this glossary or in the complete GRI Standards Glossary, definitions that are commonly used and understood apply.
entity with which the organization has some form of direct and formal engagement for the purpose of meeting its business objectives