Health and well-being

We work closely with our employees and external occupational health organizations to support the wellbeing of our people. Almost all our employees are represented by management-worker safety committees that meet regularly. The primary aim of these location-specific committees is to monitor and advise on occupational health and safety issues and programmes. We have yet to establish safety committees in our newest and smallest locations.

Our focus is not only on reducing health risks at the workplace, but also on preventive measures contributing to our people’s health and well-being. Many local health promotion campaigns and preventive actions are organized every year on our sites. Many of our units offer free access to the gym or organize other physical exercise with trained instructors. UPM also supports team sport activities and lends safety equipment for employees’ leisure activities. We provide vaccinations against seasonal flu in various locations. Much like safety, so too health and well-being at work are the outcome of continuous improvement, development, and engagement of our people.

To this end, we have several health and wellbeing initiatives ongoing at various UPM sites. Our aim is to support continuous improvement of employees’ health, quality of life and work ability. There is no occupationally-related high incidence or high risk of disease among any UPM employees. UPM analyses and manages potential hazards that might jeopardize a healthy working environment. We minimize health hazards through standardized practices such as risk assessment, use of personal protective equipment, chemical management, and occupational health workplace surveys. The majority of UPM’s employees work in areas with no or minimal risk of HIV/AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis. Instructions and support are available for employees travelling to critical areas. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on our daily lives since early 2020. Safety is a core part of UPM’s organisational culture and management system. We have acted globally to stop the spread of the coronavirus and keep our employees safe and healthy. This work will naturally continue, but the measures we have already taken have proved effective in keeping our employees and their families healthy during the pandemic.

A company-wide corona response team has been established to monitor the global coronavirus situation and to advise our staff at all levels of our organisations. We have formulated special guidelines and issued global and local instructions to protect our employees. These guidelines and instructions have been communicated effectively to all our employees through various channels. All possible risks are being assessed continuously both locally and group-wide. In addition, all our units follow national and local instructions and recommendations issued by authorities.

We have conducted and reviewed periodically risk assessments in our local units and made business contingency plans in our various functions. We have intensified our cleaning efforts and we have made special arrangements in our factories and offices to keep our working environments safe and to ensure that our employees keep a sufficient physical distance between one another. Face masks are available for our employees. Also rapid self-tests have been available for employees. We have briefed our managers and reminded our employees about the importance of mental well-being during these difficult times.