The health, safety and wellbeing of our employees is vital to the success of our business. Our Occupational Health and Safety Policy sets out our commitment to provide safe and healthy working conditions for all our employees and promote wellbeing at work. We work with our contractors, suppliers and customers to continuously monitor health and safety issues and meet our commitments.

Health and safety at Nokia is managed by the Global Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) unit, part of our Human Resources department. The unit is responsible for developing our health and safety strategy, and annual action plans. The Global OHS team coordinates and facilitates health and safety arrangements in individual countries, each of which have their own health and safety services. The team also develops standard operating procedures to help us standardize procedures for hazard identification, risk assessment and incident reporting across our global operations.

We run a range of campaigns and training programs to raise awareness about health and safety issues. For example, in 2007 we ran a campaign to raise awareness about the risks and affects of dengue fever at our factory in Chennai, India. We also ran an event where people could learn about eye health. Our factory in Beijing, China, conducted a special program focusing on hearing protection. We also ran a safety induction program for employees at our flagship stores around the world.

Global operation injury and illness rate

In 2008, Nokia’s global injury and illness rate was 0.6, which continues the downward trend from 0.73 in 2007 and 0.82 in 2006. There were no fatal injuries. There is no global industry average to compare against, but as an example of the range, our injury and illness rate in 2007 was lower than the United States Bureau of Labor Static's injury and illness rate, that was 1.0 for our industry in 2007.

In order to further improve our performance in production related occupational health and safety, a Global OHS Operations team has been formed. The focus of this new team will be to develop our OHS management systems and to elaborate global standard operating procedures.

Our factory in Chennai, India, received the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment (OHSAS 18001) certification in 2007. To achieve the standard, the factory conducted a series of internal audits and developed action plans to address any issues identified. An online system to track accidents was created to ensure swift reaction to minimize risks. The factory raised awareness of safety issues through training sessions, activities during safety week and a program encouraging employees to enter suggestions on how to improve health and safety at the site.

Wellbeing

The general wellbeing of employees makes a big difference to their engagement and productivity at work. In the 2007 employee survey, 64% of the respondents felt their manager really cares about their wellbeing. There has been a steady increase in the proportion of positive responses on wellbeing over the past three years, indicating an improvement in awareness and attitudes among Nokia managers regarding the importance of employee wellbeing.

Fitness was the theme for employees in Finland in 2007. More than 21,000 people took part in 147 events, including fitness guidance, tests, courses, theme days, and lectures. New fitness centers for employees were opened at our sites in Mexico and China in 2007.

Employees are more likely to feel committed to their work if they have a comfortable work–life balance. This is an important factor in employee wellbeing. Our 2008 employee survey showed that 61% of respondents think their manager supports their efforts to balance their work and personal lives. We are pleased that the majority of employees feel supported but recognize there is still room for improvement. We are encouraging managers to discuss with employees how work impacts wellbeing and to set wellbeing targets.

We encourage our employees to make use of Nokia products to increase their mobility and work from home where possible in accordance to practices and rules. We held a summit for employees to discuss new ways of working this year.

We do not discriminate against existing or potential employees with chronic health conditions that do not prevent them from working. However, where applicable, new recruits may be asked to complete a medical evaluation to ensure they are fit enough to do their work safely. See medical evaluations for more information.