Human rights

See section on "Policy declaration"

Together with independent external experts, Bucher Industries conducted a risk assessment in the reporting period that looked at human rights along the value chain, and identified and prioritised potential risks to human rights. The prioritised salient human rights are listed in the Bucher Human Rights Statement: the prevention of child labour, forced labour and oppression, as well as occupational health and safety, freedom of association, the right to equality, the right to privacy, fair wages and working conditions, conflict minerals, and bribery and corruption. It has generally been established that we do not operate in critical sectors. This means that there is a higher likelihood of salient human rights either upstream or downstream in the supply chain, particularly beyond Tier 1 suppliers but a significantly lower likelihood of negative impacts in Bucher Industries’ own operations.

On the basis of this risk assessment, Bucher Industries has enacted a policy on due diligence obligations in dealings with suppliers. This policy, which is binding for the divisions, outlines the responsibilities and processes governing how we identify risks to human rights in the supply chain and bring to an end, prevent or minimise potential violations. The due diligence management system specified in this policy sets out the measures and tools (such as risk classification for suppliers, supplier screening and on-site audits, a code of conduct for suppliers and templates for contractual clauses, remedial measures, suspension and termination of supplier relations, monitoring and corrective measures, training). It also outlines the internal reporting, ad hoc reporting, documentation, processes with respect to conflict minerals, and the consequences associated with violations of this policy. As an early warning mechanism for identifying risks, Bucher Industries provides an online whistleblower system. See the section on "Complaints mechanism and remedial action"

A human rights roadmap that covers the most important measures, goals and responsibilities has been approved by the board of directors and will be monitored by the Group Compliance Officer. The roadmap will be updated and revised annually and as required in order to address potential new risks to human rights and continuously improve Bucher Industries’ HRDD Framework. Where possible, prevention and mitigation measures relating to human rights will be integrated into the divisions’ processes, incentive schemes, training programmes, policies, management systems and decisionmaking mechanisms.

Implementation of the human rights roadmap will be monitored and tracked, e.g. on the basis of feedback from relevant internal and external stakeholders, which is used to inform and support continuous improvement and to ensure the effectiveness of Bucher Industries’ HRDD Framework. We report on the results, progress and further measures relating to the HRDD Framework on an annual basis as part of our annual report and on our website.

Bucher Industries places great emphasis on pursuing a culture of shared responsibility. Anyone with a concern relating to a possible violation of human rights may freely express this on a confidential basis, without any fear of reprisal. We maintain an online whistle­blower system, which enables employees and potentially affected internal and external stakeholder groups to express their concerns about potential problems relating to compliance and human rights, including possible violations of the Bucher Human Rights Statement and the Bucher Code of Conduct. Should any negative impact on human rights be determined in relation to Bucher Industries’ business activities or involvement in said business activities, we are committed to taking measures in a timely and transparent manner in order to fairly resolve these issues. Should Bucher Industries identify any impact that is directly associated with its business relationships, we will use our influence to encourage our business partners (and our suppliers in particular) to respect human rights, whether through collaboration and support, plans for corrective measures, suspension or termination of the business relationship in exceptional cases. In the reporting period, no concerns relating to human rights topics were reported or expressed.