Workplace safety
As we continue to support the business and strive to improve our safety culture, we’re focusing on adaptation and continuous improvement to provide our people with the information, tools, support, and expertise to work safely.
Our Occupational Health and Safety Policy
Purpose
This policy establishes Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) requirements for the Cisco workplace to maintain compliance with applicable local, state, federal, and international OHS regulations. It supports Cisco's duty of care and efforts to provide a safe and healthy workplace.
Overview
Cisco’s OHS program establishes a framework for compliance, communication, and a safe work environment for all Cisco’s workers.
Scope
This policy applies to all staff, contractors, visitors, and other personnel at Cisco workplaces or those undertaking work activities on behalf of the company. All staff, contractors, visitors, and other personnel at a Cisco workplace or individuals undertaking work on behalf of the business have a role in ensuring workplace safety.
Policy Statement(s)
It is Cisco’s policy to:
- Provide a safe and healthy work environment for our workforce and endeavor to prevent injuries and cases of work-related ill health
- Comply with relevant legal and other requirements in relation to OHS issues
- Provide adequate control of the health and safety risks arising from our work activities and equipment, while maintaining working environments that are safe and have adequate facilities and arrangements for wellbeing
- Consult with our employees on matters likely to affect health, safety, or wellbeing
- Provide appropriate information to our contractors and employees, and train and supervise employees so all can undertake their work duties in a competent, safe, and efficient manner
- Continuously improve OHS through development of safety management systems, processes, and programs via realistic objectives in line with resources
- Review and revise this policy as necessary at regular intervals
How we manage safety
We have developed a comprehensive risk assessment program that serves the purpose of identifying, controlling, and reducing hazardous situations both within the workplace and the wider environment.
We create awareness of our safety programs through employee induction and ongoing training.
Health and safety (H&S) is managed at country level. Country-level leadership provides oversight, governance, and review related to H&S with support from Cisco’s Global H&S team and local specialists. Employees are involved in H&S management via H&S committees and other special interest safety groups. Management and employees are supported by an internal H&S team and specialist consultants, where required.
As part of our emergency preparedness, we have teams that are trained to administer first aid, help evacuate buildings, and provide other support. Emergency Response Plans are regularly reviewed.
We have a global accident and incident investigation program. We utilize a comprehensive online system to manage our accident, incident, and near miss reporting and investigations.
Safety inspections and risk assessments are carried out to identify potential hazards. We manage any actions identified through our online safety management tool. This includes prioritizing actions based on the level of risk presented. Our H&S performance is regularly monitored by internal and third-party audits. Key performance indicators such as number of completed site inspections, near miss reporting, and accident statistics are regularly monitored and reviewed. We set targets to improve performance, for example with safety-related training completion targets at our locations accredited to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 45001:2018.
Ergonomics
Cisco employees and contractors continue to adapt to a hybrid work model and benefit from program enhancements designed to support their work at home or in the office. As a result, we observe an increase in the utilization of virtual assessments conducted by professional ergonomists. This allows us to support employees’ ergonomic needs wherever they are located.
ISO 45001:2018
Safety continues to be a high priority at Cisco. We expanded the scope of the ISO 45001:2018 certification to promote our safety culture and provide greater assurance to our customers and partners that Cisco’s products and services are delivered in a safe manner. Currently, Cisco’s key locations in Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom are certified to ISO 45001:2018 standard. There are plans to expand to additional locations in the coming years based on our business and client needs.
For detailed information, including the scope of the management system, please see the certificates below:
Click here to download our ISO 45001:2018 Certificate for Australia
Click here to download our ISO 45001:2018 Certificate for United Kingdom
Click here to download our ISO 45001:2018 Certificate for Germany
Health and safety performance
Due to the pandemic, the majority of Cisco employees and contractors worked remotely, leading to reduced workplace injuries and incidents and an improvement in our overall H&S performance.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. OSHA Recordable Number of Incidents*200,000/hours worked | 2020: 0.04 | 2021: 0.02 | 2022: 0.05 | 2023: 0.04 | 2024: 0.04 |
| U.S. all injuries*200,000/hours worked | 2020: 0.16 | 2021: 0.06 | 2022: 0.09 | 2023: 0.09 | 2024: 0.10 |
| U.S. lost time days*200,000/hours worked | 2020: 0.07 | 2021: 0.003 | 2022: 2.03 | 2023: 2.22 | 2024: 1.12 |
| U.S. lost time incidents*200,000/hours worked | 2020: 0.002 | 2021: 0.003 | 2022: 0.03 | 2023: 0.03 | 2024: 0.02 |
| Global all injuries*200,000/hours worked | 2020: 0.30 | 2021: 0.08 | 2022: 0.11 | 2023: 0.11 | 2024: 0.13 |
| U.S. OSHA Recordable Incident Rate—Industry Average for NAICS Code 54151 | 2020: 0.10 | 2021: 0.30 | 2022: 0.30 | 2023: 0.10 | 2024: TBD |
| Work-related employee fatalities | 2020: 0 | 2021: 0 | 2022: 0 | 2023: 0 | 2024: 0 |
Emergency response
An important component of safety is emergency preparedness. 2945 employees are part of 128 Emergency Response Teams worldwide. Teams are trained to administer first aid, help evacuate buildings, and provide other support. Annual Incident Management Drills keep employees prepared. If a disaster occurs, we inform employees and others through our intranet. Individuals in some countries can also sign up for our Emergency Notification System, where they can indicate whether they are safe or need help.