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Ensuring Employee Safety and Health


Ensuring Employee Health & Safety

3M has a long history of safeguarding the health and safety of our employees. Our Corporate Safety and Health Policy, Safety and Health Committee, Global Safety and Health Plan, Global Safety and Health Plan Self Assessment and Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Management System work together to help maintain the safety and health of 3M employees and provide a safe and healthy workplace worldwide. Our goal is to implement sustainable safety and health systems to bring about continuous improvement towards zero incidents.


Global Safety and Health Plan

3M's Global Safety and Health Plan is designed to prevent injuries and illnesses; unplanned events, such as fires and explosions; and to promote 24-hour safety and health. The Plan is composed of 37 elements, which are divided into the following seven categories: management system elements, process elements, procedural elements, medical elements, chemical hazard elements, physical hazard elements, and combined chemical and physical hazard elements. These elements cover a broad range of health and safety issues such as emergency preparedness, electrical safety, and record keeping. By implementing the Global Safety and Health Plan, 3M locations develop safety and health management systems, identify gaps in their safety and health programs and performance, and develop plans to close gaps and drive improvement in their safety and health performance.


3M's Global Safety and Health Plan Self Assessment complements the Global Safety and Health Plan by allowing locations to assess their current status versus health and safety systems requirements. It is a basic building block for documenting and developing safety and health issues within the EHS Management System framework.


Safety and Health Plan Highlights


  • Helps 3M operations organize, implement and continuously improve their safety and health activities.
  • Requires each location to develop and maintain a plan to ensure compliance with all appropriate government regulations and 3M standards.
  • Requires self-assessments and a prioritized action program with target completion dates.
  • Encourages regular updates to reflect new regulations, processes, performance, and external audits or reviews.

Safety and Health Committees

Safety and Health Committees are established to assist in the implementation and help oversee that safety and health systems and procedures are followed, promoted and continuously improved. These committees are made up of representatives from the non-supervisory work force, representation from all departments or areas in the organization, and are chaired by the location manager or an individual reporting directly to the location manager. The Committees are established at most locations, including manufacturing, logistics, warehouses, pilot plants and R&D facilities, involving essentially all employees working at 3M facilities. The remaining employees are generally administrative and sales employees.


3M's EHS Scorecard

3M's EHS Scorecard, an important part of our EHS Management System, tracks our safety and health progress at the facility, division/subsidiary and corporate levels. In the EHS Scorecard, health and safety metrics cover all critical performance issues of our operations. The metrics are designed to improve the health and safety of 3M's operations by tracking the implementation of leading indicators such as health and safety planning and program implementation. In some cases, 3M sets targets to further drive safety and health improvements.


Examples include:


  • Completion of annual ventilation planning;
  • Implementation of medical surveillance programs; and
  • Performance on Global Safety and Health Plan Self Assessments.

Non-3M Employee Safety and Health

It is 3M's intent to protect all visitors, vendors, contractors, and contract workers while visiting or working at 3M locations. Consequently, 3M holds all non-3M employees working at 3M locations and other visitors to the same safety and health requirements that it holds 3M employees.