We are committed to ensuring our people are valued and human rights are respected throughout our operations. In particular, the health and safety of employees, contractors, and visitors to our sites is our highest priority, given the nature of our processes.
We want INEOS to be a safe and rewarding place to work
We are committed to ensuring our people are valued and human rights are respected throughout our operations. In particular, the health and safety of employees, contractors, and visitors to our sites is our highest priority, given the nature of our processes.
It is also of great importance to us to maintain a working environment of mutual trust where all employees are treated with respect, compensated fairly based on local market conditions, and entitled to reasonable working hours.
All our employees and contractors, across our businesses, are required to follow our Code of Conduct, which governs how we manage health and safety, workers’ rights, equal opportunity in the workplace, working conditions, career management, training, harassment, and personal conduct. Our group-wide management of health and safety is also governed by our dedicated SHEQ policy, 7 life-saving rules, 20 principles of behavioural and process safety, and INEOS Group Guidance Notes.
As stated in our Code of Conduct, INEOS respects the rights in the International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We recognise employees’ right to collective bargaining and freedom of association, and we work to prevent any instances of forced or compulsory labour, child labour, or employment discrimination throughout our operations. All our businesses and employees must uphold these standards and report suspected violations as a priority.
In every country in which we operate, we abide by local, regional, and national laws regarding human rights. All our employees have the right to join labour unions, works councils, participate in collective bargaining or equivalent initiatives. On average, around 43% of INEOS employees globally are covered by a collective labour or bargaining agreement (CLA/CBA), which provides a formal framework for constructive engagement on fair terms and conditions of employment. The regional distribution of this coverage is as follows: 54% in EMEA countries, 13% in the Americas, and 32% in the APAC region. This reflects the diversity of labour markets and legal frameworks in different countries. These numbers vary from last year as a consequence of implementing improved data collection.
INEOS’ European sites participate in European Works Council (EWC) meetings twice a year and produce an annual report for the EWC. Committees and CLAs/CBAs are in place addressing employee and contractor health and safety, wages and working benefits, working conditions, recruitment, training and development, diversity, and equality, and more. In addition to works councils, some sites use union delegations, formal or informal team meetings, and safety committees to communicate with employees.
Employees who are not covered by CLAs/ CBAs, are covered by local employment laws to determine working conditions. Our sites have also put in place employee forums to ensure these employees can raise concerns through elected employee representatives.
Safety is the top priority for everyone in INEOS
Our goal is zero injuries and product spills, which we pursue through rigorous application of best practices and a positive safety culture that recognises that all accidents are preventable. Health and safety of our employees, contractors, and site visitors is the highest priority for INEOS. Collectively and individually, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of health and safety.
We meet or exceed regulatory requirements and do not compromise our standards for commercial benefit or any other reason. Although our safety record already ranks among the best in the industry, we believe there is always room for improvement.
We take three approaches:
Our safety principles are captured in the INEOS 20 Principles, which cover both people safety and plant operational safety. Performance against these is audited regularly on every site in INEOS, and any gaps or opportunities for improvement logged and actioned. These are backed up by (i) our Life Saving Rules, which are mandatory and must never be broken, and (ii) a “near miss” reporting system for all employees, which is designed to capture issues or circumstances which may lead to unsafe conditions if left uncorrected. Finally, at all our sites we invest in continuous improvement of infrastructure and the working environment and audit standards annually.
Our common standards and practices are set out in INEOS Group Guidance Notes (IGGN), which also cover rules for Permits to Work, Inspection of Equipment, and Management of Change. These are available to all employees on the company intranet. Learnings from any incidents are communicated across the company through a system of alerts.
Each business unit reviews health and safety performance on a monthly basis to the Executive Committee, where the business Chief Executive has ultimate accountability for performance.
The shareholders of INEOS are updated on SHE performance monthly at business Exco meetings, quarterly at Functional Exco meetings and annually through our letter of assurance (LOA) process which requires each business to provide an annual report.
Over the past decade, the INEOS approach to safety has resulted in a fivefold decrease in the injury rate among employees and contractors. When it comes to safety, health, and environment, we treat employees and contractors alike, which is why we report on their combined performance when working on our sites.
We support and encourage a healthy lifestyle for our employees
INEOS is committed to supporting employees’ physical health and mental wellbeing and promoting work-life balance. Some of our businesses and sites conduct surveys and annual reviews to determine the satisfaction of our employees in this important area.
We have equipped many of our main manufacturing sites and offices with gyms. Most of these are on site but, where this is not possible, we subsidise access to local gyms close to our facilities. Employees are free to use the gym to follow their own fitness programmes or sign up to classes at their location. During the COVID pandemic many classes were given online and made available to all INEOS employees and families worldwide.
INEOS Energy Station is an online health and wellbeing platform for all INEOS employees and their friends and family to follow fitness, health, and lifestyle tips, and share experiences. Through the platform, INEOS employees can book classes at any of the INEOS gyms and to sign up to companywide events and challenges. The platform is open to all and was particularly valuable for engaging employees in a wide range of activities when many had to work from home due to country restrictions during the pandemic. The platform has 9’000 users from across all INEOS regions.
We rely on the creativity, diversity, knowledge, passion, and expertise of our people to drive sustainable business success and achieve a competitive advantage. We value fresh thinking and new ways of doing things. Our core guiding principle is to ‘value and respect’. INEOS encourages an entrepreneurial culture where talent is fostered and developed, and where people are rewarded for taking accountability and delivering both as individuals and within teams. We believe in a healthy body and a healthy mind and support our employees to stay active. Our aim is to provide an environment where everyone can develop to their full potential. INEOS is well known for its entrepreneurial spirit, and we encourage an adaptable, agile, and forward-looking approach to the way we do business.
We want to develop that innate willingness to learn and push towards increasingly ambitious goals, which means attracting a diverse range of the highest quality candidates for each available position, with recruitment based on merit following the principles of equal opportunity. Through our transparent and fair recruitment process (Careers | INEOS Group), all candidates are kept up to date on the evolution of their application and are objectively reviewed at each stage. We ensure that the staff who undertake our recruitment activities have gone through adequate training.
At each of our locations, where possible, we directly recruit local talent. These local opportunities are supplemented by group-wide initiatives such as our Graduate Engineering Programmes and our European Commercial Programme.
Graduates are assigned a senior manager as a mentor and attend corporate events in the first and third years of the programme. These provide valuable networking opportunities and allow our graduates to meet senior leaders from across INEOS. Candidates participate in interactive sessions and hands-on learning to further develop their understanding of financial management, leadership, and business strategy. We also focus on personal health at the year 3 event, with learning sessions on the importance of exercise, nutrition, sleep, and wellbeing.
During their third year at INEOS our graduates are invited to take part in an adventure of a lifetime: IN NAM. This is the ultimate personal and team challenge aimed to show what is possible when you take the mental brakes off. Graduates are given world class support during the nine months leading up to IN NAM, on their personal and team approach, with past IN NAM graduates and senior executives joining in.
Graduates and young professionals are invited to join the young Climate and Energy Network, which gives them a voice within the company to shape our future direction and make a difference to how INEOS operates today, to 2050, and beyond.
We have a fixed pay element set annually and linked to individual performance in a given role, and a variable pay element linked to business performance on safety and other goals.
INEOS holds remuneration committee meetings at each level in the organisation. For senior executives, the committee is chaired by INEOS’ Chairman and comprises other shareholders, the Group HR Director, and the relevant business CEO. For senior management, the committee is chaired by the Group HR Director and comprises the Business CEO, the Business Executive team, and the Business HR Director. For more junior employees in a business, the Committee is chaired by the Business CEO and comprises the Business Executive team, relevant senior managers, and the Business HR Director. In addition, the Group HR Director provides assurance that similar standards are being applied across all INEOS businesses, using external references as appropriate.
The actual reward structure varies by country and business, but in all cases, we ensure that our overall compensation is competitive in the appropriate market.
Senior managers through to board members, are rewarded using global benchmarks to ensure consistent treatment at this level and to aid movement and progression within INEOS.
INEOS is a global company that values diversity. We respect the rights, values, and dignity of all our employees, customers, contractors, vendors, and other stakeholders. All our employees, wherever they are in the world, know that they must hold themselves to the highest standards of ethics, integrity, openness, and accountability.
Our INEOS Speak Up! whistleblowing service allows employees to share concerns anonymously if they believe anyone representing INEOS is not acting consistently with these values. Speak Up! is accessible via an independent third party online or through a 24/7 toll-free phone number.
All employees understand that they have a duty to ensure that decisions regarding recruitment, selection, development, and advancement are based on merit, qualifications, demonstrated skills, and achievements. We practice equal opportunity without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, age, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or political affiliation, and do not allow these considerations to influence our judgment or treatment of others.
INEOS respects the rights in the International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We recognise the right to collective bargaining and freedom of association, and we work to prevent any instances of forced or compulsory labour, child labour, or employment discrimination in our value chains. We require our suppliers to protect human rights and ensure their employees are safe and well treated.
We work with responsible suppliers that comply with applicable laws and adhere to internationally recognised environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, including those set forth in our Code of Conduct and SHEQ policy. INEOS believes that workers in the value chain deserve a fair and ethical workplace and must be treated with dignity and respect. Through our Supplier Code of Conduct, we require our suppliers to protect human rights and provide a safe and fair working environment for employees by meeting standards in the following areas:
INEOS takes a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery in the supply chain. Most of INEOS' activities are carried out in the EU and US and can be considered at lower risk of modern slavery. But we recognise our responsibility to engage with value chain partners and staff, and alert them to the risks of slavery, however small, in their businesses and supply chains and help them act on it.
Our Supplier Code of Conduct defines and summarises what we expect of our suppliers, suppliers' subsidiaries and affiliates, their subcontractors or other business partners' contractors and agents, regardless of location or background in terms of CSR.
The Group-wide Supplier Code of Conduct is part INEOS' commitment to CSR; it can be found on our website in 22 languages. Each of our businesses, covering all INEOS sites worldwide, is expected to present the code and an associated questionnaire, available in 11 different languages, to all suppliers to monitor their CSR and ESG performance. All replies are automatically updated into a central database accessible to all INEOS businesses.
INEOS is committed to being a responsible neighbour and supporting local communities around our sites. We recognise that this underpins our licence to operate and is essential to the long-term prosperity of our business.
All INEOS businesses are required to operate according to robust SHE standards made clear in our Code of Conduct and SHEQ policy, both of which are designed to prevent incidents that could harm people in the vicinity of our sites or pollute the local environment. We consult communities about any development, and we seek to collaborate with neighbouring companies to strengthen local economies, use resources efficiently, and minimise waste. We have played a leading role in developing strong industrial clusters in Antwerp in Belgium, Cologne in Germany, Lavera in France, Grangemouth and Hull in the UK, Houston in the US, and Rafnes in Norway.
To minimise disturbance to local communities, we ensure that noise and odour pollution is kept to the lowest possible level around our facilities. Our sites perform regular measurements, either in their own right or through a third party, to make sure that any nuisance does not exceed the thresholds set by local legislation.
In addition to managing the impact of our sites on communities, INEOS is committed to supporting local causes and projects, with a focus on children, health, education, and access to grassroot sports. By working with schools, universities, hospitals, sports teams, local government, and charities we aim to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers and promote general physical health, wellbeing, and fitness. As well as providing funding, our employees contribute time and expertise directly to local projects.
