In compliance with regulations in force and with the most important national standards, Intesa Sanpaolo adopted an Occupational Health and Safety Management System, identifying within its organizational structure, responsibilities, procedures, processes and resources for implementing the corporate policy on the protection of employees. Risks to the health and safety of employees are evaluated according to a multidisciplinary approach, considering the combined effect of the environment, processes and equipment with the subjective conditions of workers.

Constant workplace monitoring, the reporting of risks, accidents and incidents and the annual programme for risk mitigation allowed the Risk Assessment Report be kept up to date and available to all employees.

The risk management process adopted at Group sites, in close association with relevant company functions, made it possible to reduce risks overall. As in previous years, measures adopted in 2016 led to a reduction of around 20% in critical factors.

In relation to the new branch concept, the Safety Department evaluated the impact of solutions adopted, in terms of employee health and safety. In particular, issues connected with environmental factors and namely the microclimate, lighting and noise, as well as the ergonomics of new workstations, were assessed. The assessment process continued with the on-site evaluation of pilot branches in Milan, Rome and Turin, using highly specialized personnel. The assessment of ergonomics checked compliance with regulations. A questionnaire on staff's perception of the ergonomics of workstations was also given out at pilot branches. Compliance with microclimate requirements was also assessed through environmental monitoring at the pilot branches.

This approach made it possible to turn evidence into concrete proposals for improvement, which in turn were shared with the working group and in particular with the department in charge of property planning. Identified solutions have been adopted at the new concept branches being developed.

The same level of involvement and assessments took place starting from the last quarter of 2016 for the “New Office Concept for Governance Entities” project, which the Company has launched to trial innovative layouts, for management areas as well.

Accidents

Accidents 

Assessment of work-related stress risk

To mitigate work-related stress risk arising from critical areas identified during assessment activities, specific measures were defined in 2016 (summarised in the Risk Assessment Report), by context and work content, referring also to agreements signed in October 2015 by Intesa Sanpaolo and trade union organisations. During the year, the effectiveness of measures taken for critical aspects identified during the in-depth assessment, was analysed.

A specialist from the Department of Clinical and Community Science, Milan University, conducted 5 control Focus groups involving 43 colleagues, to further investigate the changes perceived by these people during the year, following measures adopted by the company after the agreements were signed.

As regards Online Branches, and as part of activities to revise the stress risk assessment, the Bank decided to repeat the in-depth assessment stage using specific questionnaires produced by Clinica del Lavoro di Milano Luigi Devoto – a centre specialising in occupational medicine (which oversaw the first assessment), as well as the subsequent focus groups held by psychologists from this centre. Activities already involved the Lecce and Milan offices in 2016, with a total of 6 focus groups, and 2017 planning is now underway. One of the objectives is to check the effectiveness of measures adopted by the Bank in terms of a greater variety of work duties, greater opportunities for professional growth, the possibility to change entity, switching from the Online Branch to retail branches and vice versa, improved environmental comfort, with a review of office layouts and the use of relaxation areas.

Regarding the overall assessment concerning work-related stress situations at the Intesa Sanpaolo Group and in order to identify any mitigation measures, the results of the epidemiological report of the last three years were taken into account. This report documents the general health of more than thirteen thousand employees (in 2016 alone, company-appointed doctors performed more than 6,000 health inspections and in 98% of cases these inspections were completed with a fit for work rating and in 2% of cases the fit for work rating was pending).

Working safely

With regard to the protection of employees and customers by taking action to prevent branch robberies and manage employees in emergency situations, personal protection continued to be the key principle behind all initiatives undertaken to protect branches from the risk of robbery. A number of activities were carried out for the systematic prevention of risks and the mitigation of existing and potential vulnerabilities, through the consolidation and innovation of technological security measures, plus the development of information tools and a culture of integrated security as well as the publication of operating procedures.

The analysis of robbery risk at branches continued: following improvements to security systems already in place, the level of protection at high risk sites and specific branches was followed up.

Robberies have been on the decrease for several years now. In 2016, the number of “professional” robberies (that produce the greatest impact in economic terms and on staff) went down.

Number of robberies

Number of robberies

Prevention activities already adopted with specific action plans to modernise branch security systems (with particular attention paid to branches with safety deposits and security boxes), and a plan to replace security guard services with technological services, helped to achieve results that met expectations.

As part of the “post-robbery support” programme, 63 specialist sessions were held by qualified doctors and psychologists from Milan University, involving around 200 members of staff. Initial counselling was held, with “debriefing techniques” i.e. understanding what happened, what worked and what did not, and managing the potential trauma of personnel; a second “follow-up” stage then took place to assess the re-stabilisation of pre-event emotional and psychological conditions. Since 2016, medical assistance has been provided in the case of all attempted or actual robberies, regardless of their severity. The psychological support programme was also extended to cases where colleagues have been attacked, as well as for natural disasters, such as the recent earthquakes in Italy.

Activities continued to implement the database prepared in 2015 on information about personnel involved in robberies, also in the case of relocation to other branches, to identify and pay particular attention to victims of several robberies, planning tailor-made support and focussing in particular on situations that could more easily turn into post-trauma stress disorder. For very severe cases, because of injury or severe involvement by employees, specialist psychologists from Milan University are called in immediately to provide an even more structured support programme. In all cases, the local company-appointed doctor is available to assist requesting employees, with medical examinations to assess if they are fit for work, following the traumatic event.

During 2016, the security information programme continued, with domestic network updates, classroom courses and online training sessions, as well as the alignment of contents with new risks.

In managing events related to natural disasters and crisis events, activities to maintain and consolidate oversight, business continuity solutions and crisis management mechanisms confirmed their effectiveness, allowing for service continuity and customer and staff protection. As regards specific aspects of business continuity, activities continued to expand the model to include Banks and Group Companies. In particular, the new Group Business Continuity Management (BCM) model, aligned with requirements of the Bank of Italy Circular of 285/13 which requires an extensive approach to defining organisational and business continuity measures commensurate with risk levels was extended to include international banks. In keeping with projects started in 2015, training workshops were held for BCM officers from all international banks.