At Clariane, health and safety at work is everyone’s business!

On World Day for Safety and Health at Work, celebrated on 28 April, Clariane reaffirms its commitment to providing its 63,000 employees with a working environment that is increasingly safe and respectful of their well-being. The Group takes a participatory approach, encouraging everyone to express their difficulties and needs to strengthen prevention, create working conditions conducive to professional fulfilment and limit the risk of accidents. This commitment is also backed by concrete actions: investment in continuing education, development of industrial relations, and awareness campaigns in the field, with the support of OSCAR, the Group's safety mascot.

A key issue for the quality of care and support

Clariane’s health and safety policy is fully integrated into the Group’s quality management standard. It is based on six fundamental pillars that guide all our actions:

• Working closely with social partners,
• Involving management teams at all levels,
• Identifying and limiting risks in the workplace,
• Training and raising awareness among staff about good practices,
• Drawing on data analysis to guide actions,
• And maintaining a culture of continuous improvement.

Led by the Human Resources Department, this policy is implemented in all the countries where Clariane operates, thanks to a structured network of managers and health and safety officers who are involved in the day-to-day running of our facilities.

As part of the ISO 9001 standard, Clariane applies the highest standards of health and safety at work, both for its employees and for the people we support

This commitment was confirmed at a European level, first in 2019 with the drafting and signing of the Occupational Health and Safety Charter, then in November 2022 with the signing of the first European protocol on the prevention of accidents at work and the promotion of health and safety at work. In France, an initial agreement on the prevention of accidents at work was signed in 2021.

98% of our care homes and healthcare facilities are ISO 9001 certified
*End of 2024

A dynamic of continuous improvement

Thanks to the collective commitment and determination of the Group to establish a genuine health and safety culture, the frequency rate of workplace accidents has been falling since 2021.

This improvement reflects the focus on training, awareness-raising and sharing best practices. In 2024, each of our countries increased its efforts to continue implementing our accident prevention and working conditions improvement policy.

Key initiatives include:

• In France: continued deployment of transfer rails to prevent musculoskeletal disorders among caregivers.
• In Italy: launch of a training programme focused on preventing aggressive behaviour to better protect teams facing sensitive situations.
• In Belgium: organisation of workplace health and safety awareness days to promote understanding and the sharing of experiences.
• In Germany: introduction of regular health and safety visits by management teams to strengthen support and dialogue on the ground.

Oscar, our mascot dedicated to prevention

Within our Group, we believe it is essential to treat everyone equally. By taking care of our staff, we enable them to take better care of our residents and patients.

That is why, in 2023, we launched Oscar, a mascot dedicated to health and safety at work. His role? To encourage prevention on a daily basis and help staff to adopt best practices in a fun and engaging way.

In 2024, three OSCAR campaigns were rolled out around specific themes: handling heavy loads, slip hazards, and aggression prevention.

This year, Oscar is back with four short prevention videos, filmed in key locations of our facilities – laundry rooms, residents’ rooms, kitchens and corridors – to illustrate the right behaviours to adopt.

These short, accessible videos are based on everyday situations and designed to help all our employees understand the prevention messages.

At Clariane, taking care of those who take care of others is what drives us. Thanks to the commitment of everyone – senior management, operational managers, staff, social partners and health and safety officers – and with the support of our mascot Oscar, we are pursuing our ambition to make every site a safer place to work, with greater attention to the well-being of all.