Uvex Group

Read about the different hidden champions amongst our German Mittelstand.

Sustainability Story

The core mission of the uvex group is protecting people. The health and safety of people lies at the heart of our commitment and activities. As a family company, continuity and value-oriented corporate management are a top priority alongside responsibility for our financial development, the environment and society.

At uvex, we realize our vision of protecting people in a sustainable way. As a manufacturer with a high in-house production rate, we can influence most aspects of the value creation chain. We use this influence to reach our sustainability goals in terms of ecology, economy, working conditions and human rights, employees and society, and product.

The uvex sustainability model is based on three pillars – Economic Sustainability, Ecological Sustainability, and Social Responsibility.

Environmental Sustainability

Environmental protection starts right at the development phase – and does not stop even when the product is ready. Every employee at uvex makes a constant effort each day to handle resources responsibly. The concept of the environment is a core part of our daily life and our operational activities.

• Over 90% of the energy we consume is green energy – generating annual CO2 savings of more than 7000 tonnes
• Our earplug production process is waterless and virtually CO2-neutral
• We have introduced complex energy recovery systems to reduce our energy consumption
• Our safety shoe production department is certified in line with ISO-14001; this is the first area of our company to obtain this certification

The performance capacity of our company is essential to strengthen our competitive edge, but it must never be at the expense of people and the environment. Environmental protection at uvex is therefore a fully integrated matter – for which every single employee is responsible:

• We qualify our staff and motivate them to act in a committed, competent and environmentally responsive way.
• We take measures to limit the environmental effects of our operations and to make the working environment a safe place for our staff.
• We respect the careful use of resources, from product development to production, storage and transport.

To find out more about our environmental measures, visit: https://www.uvex-safety.com/en/uvex-safety-group/how-we-work/environmentally-friendly/

Economical Sustainability

Economic sustainability means uvex offers a secure and stable workplace for all employees. Our focus is on quality, value-oriented growth. We are always striving to balance between growth, return and risk. Using capital at risk-appropriate interest rates ensures the long-term survival of our company and puts us in a stable position even facing unknown difficulties in the future.

The key economic indicators that determines our economic sustainability are group sales, sales breakdown by division, as well as national and international sales share.

For more information, you may visit: https://www.uvex-group.com/en/responsibility-1718/key-figures-downloads/key-economic-indicators-sales-201718/

Social Responsibility

Fully protecting people also includes safety within the social sphere, including our staff and business partners. We are also committed to helping people in need across the world.

Social aspects are of paramount importance within the uvex group’s sustainability concept. Corporate values that promote respectful and fair cooperation form the basis of the uvex corporate culture. For many years, the uvex group has established attractive services in the areas of health, knowledge transfer and further training as part of its employer brand to retain employees and stakeholder groups on a long-term basis.

As a global leader in the development, manufacture, and sale of personal protective clothing, uvex has integrated fundamental ethical principles into the business and its corporate policy since its establishment in 1926. We expect the same commitment from all our business partners. Our principle of protecting people is a binding commitment to our customers and their employees, as well as to our own staff and our business partners. 

It is our corporate policy that uvex works only with companies that respect basic human rights and the freedom of their employees to carry out their work. Against this backdrop, the uvex group has developed a catalogue with seven core demands, which our business partners must apply. This Social Standard is based on specifications of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which represent the basis for all recognised social standards such as Social Accountability SA 8000.

Read the report here: https://d3rbxgeqn1ye9j.cloudfront.net/fileadmin/www.uvex-safety.com/Media/catalogues_and_brochures/de/uvex_group_sozialstandard_de_en_2019.pdf

Since the fiscal year 2017/2018, the uvex group publishes its sustainability report in an online version following the guidelines of the GRI content index.

Read the uvex sustainability report here: https://d3rbxgeqn1ye9j.cloudfront.net/fileadmin/www.uvex-safety.com/Media/catalogues_and_brochures/en/uvex_group_sustainability_report_2016_17_en.pdf

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