Environmental Health and Safety at Alkermes
Originally published in Alkermes September 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report
Environmental Health, Safety and Security
Alkermes is committed to operating in a manner that protects our employees, our environment and our communities. We implement a variety of EHSS risk management strategies to help ensure compliance with EHSS policies and protocols, proactively reduce EHSS risk and drive awareness of our environmental impacts and priorities. The core goals established by our EHSS function include working to:
- Preserve and protect the health, safety and well-being of our employees;
- Meet or exceed applicable environmental, health and safety regulations and statutory obligations for the regions in which we operate;
- Protect the environment and promote sustainability in our operations; and
- Secure our infrastructure and support the manufacture and supply of our medicines for patients.
Our operations are supported by teams of highly qualified and experienced EHSS professionals who provide strategic oversight and governance of EHSS activities and evaluate and establish appropriate EHSS performance goals for our operations.
Our EHSS strategy is integrated across our business, including in our R&D, manufacturing, facilities, external operations, commercial and general and administrative functions. This strategy is supported by numerous EHSS initiatives ranging from our high-level, systemic compliance and risk management frameworks to programs focused on creating a culture of EHSS risk awareness and active workforce engagement.
Risk Management System (RMS) Framework
We maintain a robust, enterprise-wide EHSS Risk Management System (RMS), based on the structured principles of the international standards ISO 14001:2015 (environmental management) and ISO 45001:2018 (occupational health and safety management). Our RMS framework is designed to rapidly identify existing and emerging risks and assign appropriate resources for effective mitigation of such risks at each of our operating facilities. This framework enables us to:
- Comply with statutory and regulatory requirements and Alkermes’ internal policies, and adhere to the terms of our environmental permits and licenses;
- Proactively identify and prioritize EHSS risks and potential mitigations for internal and external operations;
- Maintain effective emergency and crisis response preparedness;
Conduct periodic audits for system effectiveness; and - Drive continuous improvement in our risk management and mitigation program.
Our Risk Prevention Model
As part of our proactive risk management efforts, we have developed and employ a preventive EHSS risk model to:
- Identify opportunities for ongoing improvement across our enterprise;
Align corporate EHSS objectives and priorities; - Drive local strategies, goals and objectives at the facility level;
- Promote appropriate allocation of resources to support timely and effective risk mitigation; and
- Identify “leading” rather than “lagging” indicators of risk to potentially avert those risks before they impact our employees, our local communities or our enterprise.
Collaborative and Risk-focused Engagement (CaRE™)
Our culture is one of collaboration, compliance and trust. We ask our employees to help us promote and sustain a healthy, safe and productive environment. CaRE is our proprietary risk mitigation program designed to instill collective ownership of, and accountability for, safety and environmental stewardship by employees across our facilities.
CaRE empowers employees to proactively identify and address risks in order to help drive continuous improvement in risk mitigation and operational performance and is a vital tool in helping to drive a culture of sustainability and EHSS engagement across the Company.
Components of the program that help encourage high levels of employee engagement and contribute to our low incident rates include:
- Workplace “walkthroughs” by cross-functional leaders to improve risk awareness, encourage proactive action and foster open and honest discussions with employees;
- Self-assessment tools that encourage autonomous risk assessment and risk-based decision-making prior to commencing work activities;
- Our “Good Save” system designed to help identify and resolve workplace hazards and risks;
- Data collection and management that support risk mitigation and measurement efforts; and
- Positive recognition for employees who are actively engaged in our CaRE programs in order to amplify and encourage participation in support of our collective goal of risk mitigation and continuous improvement.
Employee Health and Safety Highlights
It is essential that we maintain workplaces that are safe and protective of the health and well-being of our people. This is a shared responsibility, supported by the personal commitment and awareness of our leaders and employees. We adhere to all health and safety standards set by regulators in the locations in which we operate, and routinely monitor our sites and conduct employee trainings in order to reduce the risk of workplace accidents.
In 2022, both our rate of reportable employee injuries and our lost time injury rate remained below industry averages, as shown on the chart above.
