An equal and safe workplace

We aim to offer everyone the opportunity to develop at the company and incorporate a focus on equality in relation to salary, career development and recruitment into our work. Skills, ambition and potential are to govern our employees’ opportunities, regardless of their background.

A safe and inspiring work environment contributes to health and well-being as well as to a more efficient company. Our efforts to ensure we offer a safe workplace for all are linked to fundamental work environment initiatives, and we have a zero-tolerance policy regarding harassment. These initiatives are based on targeted and systematic preventive work whereby we identify risks, take decisions on measures and implement training courses and technical improvements.

Thule Group aims to provide safe and healthy workplaces. We want our employees to be part of a strong team characterized by a focus on high quality and a comprehensive approach to sustainability, where we all continuously contribute with identifying smarter ways to work. Together, we are creating a work environment that not only promotes safety, but positive collaboration, job satisfaction and a balance between work and leisure.

The significant volume increases in 2021 required more employees and a 31 percent increase in the number of production hours. At the same time, the number of accidents fell 10 percent, from 19.7 accidents per million hours worked to 17.8. The total number of workplace accidents increased from 86 to 106, of which 64 (47) were accidents with more than 8 hours of sickness absence. At the same time, the number of lost days per million hours worked fell from 97 to 96.

Our safety program, Safety First, provides the basis for structural investments and thorough day-to-day work. Interactive educational material is mandatory for plant management, production managers and supervisors. Issues about the work environment, from a physical, social and mental health perspective, are also addressed by our local Health & Safety committees. In the latter half of 2021, we launched new safety training digitally, in three episodes. The rollout, which began in the end of the year, will continue throughout all of 2022 and will be a continuous part of training for new production staff.

Equal opportunities to develop

We aim to offer everyone equal opportunities to develop at the company and incorporate an equality-centric approach to recruitment, salary and career development. Skills, ambition and potential are to govern our employees’ opportunities, regardless of gender, age and background. In 2021, women comprised 43 (44) percent of the company’s work force. The management circle comprises 28 (27) percent women and during 2021, new long-term targets for 2030 were also set in this area, to further improve the balance and achieve an equal distribution of women and men in our workforce.

Our goal is to have at least 40 percent representation among both genders no later than 2030. Thule Group is already equally appealing to women and men, which is a positive development that has been strengthened through our proactive efforts and a diversified product portfolio. This development is also affected by the increasing number of women graduating from colleges and universities with the expertise we need and we are hiring an increasing number of women engineers.

Policy against discrimination and harassment

We have a zero-tolerance policy toward all forms of harassment and discrimination. During the year, there were two cases of harassment, which were followed up by local management and the Group’s HR function, and one of these cases resulted in termination. Our anti-discrimination and harassment policy clearly specifies how we manage these issues. All reported cases are handled by the local Health & Safety committee.
Read more about our anti discrimination policy and our whistle blowing line here.