Our Commitment to Occupational Health and Safety
At CVS Health, we are committed to the health, safety, and well-being of our colleagues, customers, contractors, vendors, and other key stakeholders. Our occupational health and safety (OHS) program is applicable to our entire operations, including employees as well as clients, contractors, suppliers, and other visitors to our facilities.
We remain focused on maintaining safe workplace conditions and are committed to continuously improving the performance of our OHS management system, which leverages a “Plan, Do, Check, Act” cycle to ensure policies and procedures are not only compliant with applicable rules and regulations, but also to verify site level implementation. We work to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, safety procedures and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards across our supply chain.
To ensure compliance, we consult with workers, and where applicable, workers’ representatives, and regularly monitor and evaluate our progress in reducing and preventing health issues and risks against targets.
Our OHS Management system includes risk and hazard assessments to identify what could cause harm in the workplace. When needed, we establish OHS prioritization and action plans to improve health and safety efforts, reduce potential risks, and ensure strong responses to emergency situations. CVS Health uses a number of tools to identify, escalate, and address workplace hazards including: daily assessments, internal assessments and audits, external third-party audits. Hazards or compliance issues identified by any of the above will be addressed using one or more of the following: correction of unsafe or non-compliant conditions, administrative controls including signage, the development of new and revised work practices or procedures, retraining, disciplinary action, and interim controls, where appropriate.
Injuries and incidents are reported through a third-party operated 24/7/365 hotline. Where appropriate, the CVS Health Environmental, Health & Safety team will investigate potentially serious colleague injuries and illnesses to determine root cause and to assist site managers in identifying and correcting potentially hazardous conditions.
OHS Policies and procedures are developed by the CVS Health Environmental, Health & Safety Department and made available to all colleagues through our Policies and Procedure portal. Site level employees are trained, and site managers are actively involved with colleagues in implementing the applicable elements of the OHS Program. Colleagues receive training in hazards that may be present in CVS Health facilities through our learning management system.
Our OHS commitment has been endorsed by our Chief Executive Officer, Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors. Our Board and Executive Leadership Team receive periodic updates on OHS matters and our performance against key program metrics, including Accident Frequency Rate, Workers Compensation Injury Rates, Lost Time Days, Injury Trends, Root Cause Analysis, Regulatory Activity and Inspection Data, etc. The CVS Health Environmental, Health & Safety Department is responsible for developing, periodically reviewing, and communicating updates to business unit leadership.