Occupational Safety & Continuous Improvement

Occupational Safety & Health

Occupational safety, health and well-being are paramount at Avient because we understand the value of good performance in these areas to our people, their families, collective morale, operational costs, our contractors, the communities in which we operate, and our reputation. As such, we ensure that our operations meet both legal and best-in-class standards.

Our “safety first” culture was built not through words, but through dedication, continuous improvement, and action. Throughout Avient’s history, systems have been in place that underscore our commitment to the occupational health, safety, and well-being of our associates.

Avient believes that participation of all associates at all levels of the organization are required to reduce risk to acceptable levels. For this reason, we have built an actively caring and attentive culture, where input on safety and health topics is encouraged and expected. To enhance associate participation in our safety & health systems, goals have been set through our Annual Incentive Plan which includes a safety based metric that measures the percentage of associates that participate in a safety engagement. These safety engagement activities can range from submitting a safety suggestion, identifying a hazard, to leading a safety meeting or helping a customer with a safety issue.

Each associate has the freedom and expectation to communicate hazards and remove themselves from unsafe situations, without the fear of reprisal. Safety committees exist at our manufacturing sites and represent all associates employed in production. Where there is a need for new internal standards or updates to existing ones, working groups comprised of regional and corporate EH&S experts are established. We then develop and communicate the draft to internal stakeholders, soliciting feedback, and considering revisions before the standard is finalized and approved. All standards are then published in the EH&S information management system and made available to all associates.

Under our EH&S MS, Avient has rolled out multifaceted trainings and tools to achieve our ultimate goal of zero recordable injuries in the workplace. Examples include Global Safety Days, Residual Risk Reduction (R3), and our annual Safe Areas of Focus & Emphasis (SAFE Program). These programs incorporate improvements to safety leadership, behavioral safety, various safety suggestion mechanisms, internal and external audit systems, and measurable performance indicators. The importance of associate participation in safety management systems is a common thread throughout our systems at Avient.

Our R3 initiative helps associates identify and weigh risk to lead them to a safer decision or action.

Continuous Improvement

We have set ambitious internal goals for safety, health, and environmental protection, and we regularly conduct audits to monitor our performance and progress toward these goals. We also track physical security incidents and manage those through the EH&S MS. The management system audits are conducted by leaders from corporate and the various operations, in conjunction with third party experts where necessary, and consist of site visits to validate compliance to internal standards and regulatory requirements. The audits identify areas where corrective and preventive measures are necessary to further reduce risks.

Companies acquired by Avient go through a rigorous EH&S integration process. This process is designed to ensure new sites operate in accordance with our high standards and to capture opportunities for Avient to improve our standards based on the acquired company’s experience. Part of this process is to help sites develop their own EH&S Maturity Road Map that guides them through the implementation of our standards through a risk based approach.

After all health, safety, security or environmental incidents, Avient conducts an investigation to identify root causes, implement corrective actions and validate measures to prevent reoccurrence are enduring. Specific investigation methodologies are provided and described in Avient’s Incidents, Accidents & Safety Reporting module of our information management system. This process ensures that all incidents are fully documented, communicated and properly managed by EH&S and business unit leadership in a timely manner.