Health and well-being key performance indicators in corporate sustainability disclosure. A review of sustainability reports from a sample of major European companies
Keywords:
sustainability reporting, health and well-being, key performance indicators, GRI Standards, ISO 45001, emo, Employee well-beingAbstract
Background and aim: Health and Well-Being (HWB) measurement represents a key issue for companies in all sectors and a core element of social sustainability, according to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite its importance for companies and in sustainability reporting, the topic has not been investigated yet from a cross-sectoral perspective. Therefore, this research aims to assess if health and well-being are disclosed in sustainability reports of the largest European companies.
Methods: The disclosure of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) has been investigated and compared according to the main international frameworks of sustainability. The research focused on sustainability reporting from a sample of the 30 largest companies in three methodological steps. First, the inclusion of HWB issues has been analyzed, identifying references to the SDGs and ISO 45001 within the documents. A second level of analysis considered the adoption of the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) Standards, with particular attention to Health metrics (GRI:403). The third level of analysis aimed at researching health and well-being performances, linked to specific KPIs from two selected case studies.
Results: The review highlighted that all 30 companies generally refer to SDG 3 and SDG 8 in their sustainability reporting while 83%(n=25) of them also apply either Occupational Health and Safety ISO 45001 or Health metrics in GRI Standards; 22 (73%) companies adopted both GRI as the sustainability reporting standard and disclosed the adoption of ISO 45001 management system. Only in two cases, an additional structured framework for HWB is reported highlighting the need for more comprehensive KPIs, especially for employee’s well-being.
Conclusions: The study highlighted that health indicators disclosure is generally limited to GRI Standards disclosure. To achieve greater transparency in sustainability reporting, there is a need to further investigate the issue.
(www.actabiomedica.it)
References
Zsóka Á, Vajkai É. Corporate sustainability reporting: Scrutinizing the requirements of comparability, transparency and reflection of sustainability performance. Society and Economy. 2018; 40(1). doi: 10.1556/204.2018.40.1.3e.
World Health Organization (WHO). Preamble to the constitution of the world health organization. New York, Official Records of the World Health Organization. 1946. n.2, p 100.
Capolongo S, Buffoli M, Oppio A, Petronio M. Sustainability and Hygiene of building: future perspectives. Epidemiol Prev. 2014;38(6): 46-50.
Signorelli C, Capolongo S, Buffoli M, et al. Italian Society of Hygiene (SItI) recommendations for a healthy, safe and sus-tainable housing. Epidem Prev. 2016; 40(3–4):265–270. doi: 10.19191/EP16.3-4.P265.094.
Tripartite and UNEP support OHHLEP’s definition of ‘One Health’. World Health Organization; 2021 [Accessed 12 February 2023]. Available from: (https://www.who
.int/news/item/01-12-2021-tripartite-and-unep-support
-ohhlep-s-definition-of-one-health).
Adams JM. The Value of Worker Well-Being. Public Health Rep. 2019;134(6):583-586. doi:10.1177/00333
World Health Organization. International joint estimates of the work-related burden of disease and injury, 2000-2016: global monitoring report: Geneva: World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization; 2021.
KPMG. The time has come. Survey of sustainability reporting; 2020 [(Accessed 09 February 2023] KPMG. Available from: https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2020/11/the
-time-has-come-survey-of-sustainability-reporting.html.
Eizenberg E, Jabareen Y. Social Sustainability: A New Conceptual Framework. Sustainability. 2017; 9(1):68. doi: 10.3390/su9010068.
Proper KI, van Oostrom SH. The effectiveness of workplace health promotion interventions on physical and mental health outcomes - a systematic review of reviews. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2019; Nov 1;45(6):546-559. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3833.
Alonso-Nuez MJ, Cañete-Lairla MÁ, García-Madurga MÁ, et al. Corporate social responsibility and workplace health promotion: A systematic review. Front Psychol. 2022; 13;13:1011879. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1011879
Capolongo S, Buffoli M, Oppio A, Nachiero D, Barletta MG. Healthy indoor environments: how to assess health perfor-mances of construction projects. Environ Eng Manag J 2013;12(S11): 209-212.
Capolongo S, Buffoli M, Oppio A, Rizzitiello S. Measuring hygiene and health perfomances of buildings: a multidimen-sional approach. Ann. Ig. 2013; 25(2):151-7. doi: 10.7416
/ai.2013.1917.
Grawitch MJ, Gottschalk M, Munz DC. The path to a healthy workplace: A critical review linking healthy workplace practices, employee well-being, and organizational improvements. Consult Psychol J Pract Res 2006;58(3), 129–147. doi: 10.1037/1065-9293.58.3.129.
Al-Jubari I, Mosbah A, Salem S.F. Employee Well-Being During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Adaptability, Work-Family Conflict, and Organizational Response. SAGE Open. 2022; 12(3) doi: 10.1177/21582440221096142.
Aldana SG. Financial impact of health promotion programs: a comprehensive review of the literature. Am J Health Pro-mot. 2001;15(5):296-320. doi: 10.4278/0890-1171-15.5.296.
Di Fabio A. Positive Healthy Organizations: Promoting Well-Being, Meaningfulness, and Sustainability in Organizations. Front Psychol. 2017 Nov 14;8:1938. doi: 10.3389
/fpsyg.2017.01938.
Chowdhury EH, Backlund Rambaree B, Macassa G. CSR Reporting of Stakeholders’ Health: Proposal for a New Per-spective. Sustainability. 2021, 13, 1133. doi:10.3390
/ su13031133.
Evangelinos K, Fotiadis S, Skouloudis A, et al. Occupational health and safety disclosures in sustainability reports: An overview of trends among corporate leaders. Corp Soc Resp Env Ma. 2018; 25: 961– 970. doi:10.1002/csr.1512.
Dura C. Occupational health and safety integration in corporate social responsibility policies within B.R.D. - G.S.G. Ann Univ Petroşani Economics 2014; 14 (1): 59-70.
Koskela M. Occupational health and safety in corporate social responsibility reports. J Safety Res 2014; 68:294-308. doi: 10.1016/j.ssci.2014.04.011.
Pronk NP, Malan D, Christie G, Hajat C, & Yach, D. Health and well-being metrics in business: The value of integrated reporting. J Occup Environ Med. 2018; 60(1), 19. doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000001167.
Macassa G, McGrath C, Tomaselli G, Buttigieg SC. Corporate social responsibility and internal stakeholders’ health and well-being in Europe: a systematic descriptive review. Health Promot Int. 2021 Aug 24;36(3):866-883. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daaa071.
EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group). Current non-financial reporting formats and practices. 2021; [Accessed 10 February 2023]. Available from: https://www.efrag.org/Assets/Download?assetUrl=%2Fsites%2Fwebpublishing%2FSiteAssets%2FEFRAG%2520PTF-NFRS_A6_FINAL.pdf.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Foundation: 2016 GRI Standards; 2016 [Accessed 10 February 2023]. Available from: https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/media/1036
/gri-101-foundation-2016.pdf.
National Safety Council. Connecting Sustainability with workplace safety and health. Position Paper; 2022 [Accessed 06 February 2023]. Available from: https://www.nsc.org
/getattachment/c5124534-153f-4610-9d25
-4d33179417d6.
Global Reporting Initiative, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Linking the GRI Standards and the Culture of Health for Business (COH4B) Framework. GRI – Standards; 2021 [Accessed 10 February 2023]. Available from: https://www
.globalreporting.org/public-policy-partnerships/strategic
-partners-programs/culture-of-health-for-business/.
UN General Assembly. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; 2015 [Accessed 10 February 2023] A/RES/70/1. Available from: https://www
.refworld.org/docid/57b6e3e44.html.
KPMG. Big shifts, small steps. Survey of sustainability reporting. 2022 [Accessed 06 February 2023]. Available from: https://kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights/2022/09
/survey-of-sustainability-reporting-2022/sdg.html.
European Commission. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2013/34/EU, Directive 2004/109/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC and Regulation (EU) No 537/2014, as regards corpo-rate sustainability reporting. Official J Eur Union 2021;537):1–65.
International Organization for Standardization. Occupational health and safety management systems — Requirements with guidance for use. Geneva: ISO; 2018 [Accessed 10 February 2023]. Available from https://www
.iso.org/iso-45001- occupational-health-and-safety.htmln.
World Health Organization (WHO). Regional Office for Europe. Workplace Health in the Public Health Perspective; 2003 [Accessed 26 March 2023]. Available from: //apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/107463/E78318.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Population and employment by main activities; 2021[Accessed 25 March 2023]. Available from: https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=SNA_TABLE3.
Peters SE, Dennerlein JT, Wagner GR, Sorensen G. Work and worker health in the post-pandemic world: a public health perspective. Lancet Public Health. 2022;7:e188-e194. doi:10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00259-0
Backhaus I, Sisenop F, Begotaraj E, et al. Resilience and Coping With COVID-19: The COPERS Study. Int J Public Health. 2021; 66:1604007. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2021.1604007
McKinsey&Company. Great Attrition or Great Attraction; 2023 [Accessed 27 March 2023]. Available from:
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people
-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/great
-attrition-or-great-attraction-the-choice-is-yours#/.
Macassa G, Rashid M, Rambaree BB, Chowdhury EH. Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting for Stakeholders’ Health and Wellbeing in the Food and Beverage Industry: A Case Study of a Multinational Company. Sustainability. 2022; 14(9):4879. doi: 10.3390/su14094879
Buffoli M, Capolongo S, di Noia M, Gherardi G, Gola M. Healthcare sustainability evaluation systems. In: Capolongo S, Bottero MC, Buffoli M, Lettieri E. (eds.) Improving Sustainability During Hospital Design and Operation: A Multidisci-plinary Evaluation Tool. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Briefs in Applied Sciences and Technology; 2015. p.23-30. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-14036-0_3
Brambilla A, Morganti A, Lindahl G, Riva A, Capolongo S. Complex Projects Assessment. The Impact of Built Envi-ronment on Healthcare Staff Wellbeing. In: Gervasi O, Murgante B, Misra S, Garau C, Blečić I, Taniar D, et al. (eds.) Computational Science and Its Applications – -ICCSA 2020. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2020. p. 345–354. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-58814-4_24
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Michele Dolcini, Andrea Brambilla, Marco Gola, Stefano Capolongo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Transfer of Copyright and Permission to Reproduce Parts of Published Papers.
Authors retain the copyright for their published work. No formal permission will be required to reproduce parts (tables or illustrations) of published papers, provided the source is quoted appropriately and reproduction has no commercial intent. Reproductions with commercial intent will require written permission and payment of royalties.
How to Cite
