Occupational health and safety

The corporate H&S area was set up in 2020 to design, establish and apply Cellnex’s Risk Prevention strategy, design policies, guidelines and application procedures in all Business Units. 

In this context, a new Health and Safety Policy was published in 2020 which establishes the essential principles and commitments in the area of Health and Safety within the framework of the organization, their communication to the groups of interest and progressive integration into all the Cellnex group's operating systems and processes.

The principles and commitments established in the Health and Safety Policy are of general application and must be taken into account in each of the projects, businesses and activities carried out by the company. Therefore, the Policy is mandatory for all companies under Cellnex Telecom.

H&S Awareness

The new Health and Safety area seeks to create an overarching preventive culture for the entire group, bringing together the attitudes, beliefs and values reflected in the global Health and Safety Policy among all members of the organisation and integrate it into the Cellnex business culture.

Cellnex delivers programmes and projects that are safe, environmentally friendly, on time and conforming to high quality standards. To this end a global Health and Safety Awareness was designed in 2020 as a key tool to foster the promotion and adoption of good practices and measures to build the Cellnex Preventive Culture.

In this context, Cellnex launched the ‘Take Care’ campaign in 2020, firstly in the UK, with a message that aligns with our people-first commitment and supports our ‘Growing Together’ culture. 

Gap analysis

For recently incorporated geographies, a gap analysis is carried out between the country and the corporation to align the strategies of environment, Health and Safety, and quality.

The new Health and Safety Global Area established the Health and Safety 2021-2022 Master Plan, a tool that helps to give coherence to actions in Health and Safety matters as well as positioning Cellnex Telecom as a leading company in this area.

This Master Plan is applicable to all companies under Cellnex Telecom, and its main purpose is to establish Cellnex Telecom's strategic lines of action regarding Health and Safety that allow the development of the essential principles and commitments contained in the Health and Safety Policy. These strategic lines should help to integrate Health and Safety into the strategy and into corporate action as a crucial element reaching all areas and departments, ultimately seeking to achieve higher levels of labour wellbeing and organisational sustainability. 

These strategic lines will signal Cellnex Telecom’s commitment to promoting achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to establishing its own objectives to contribute to the goals defined.

The Strategic Lines established proceed in accordance with international reference standards, incorporating best practices in this area in the various sites, territories and countries in which Cellnex is present, and promoting the incorporation of Health and Safety Systems in line with ISO standards.

ISO 45001 certification

Cellnex is working to certify all its Business Units with the ISO 45001 standard for management systems of occupational health and safety. The certification will enable Cellnex group to provide safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injuries and ill health, as well as by proactively improving its OH&S performance.

At present, Cellnex Spain, Italy, and UK have all obtained ISO 45001 certification. 

Cellnex Italia also maintained the SA8000 and developed the functions of the "Social Performance Team". It holds meetings at least twice a year, or more often if it receives grievances to discuss and to solve. The topics discussed by the Social Performance Team are related to "corporate social responsibility" (SA8000) and "health and safety in the workplace" (ISO45001).

Compliance with the legal provisions on H&S at Work

Cellnex Portugal implemented the provisions on Health and Safety at Work ("HSW") referred to in Law 102/2009, of 10 September 2009 organising external Health and Safety services. This includes the evaluation of H&S risks, identifying preventive measures, providing information and training for co-workers and ensuring periodical medical examinations.

Claims regarding Occupational health and safety

The SINERGA corporate application allows all Cellnex workers to have access to an available channel to notify any claim regarding Occupational health and safety. These notifications are presented to the Health and Safety Committees.

Cellnex owns an operational support system (OSS) to perform exhaustive access checks at its centres, which guarantees strict compliance with the Occupational Risk Prevention Policy and with access operations involving customers and contractors.

In addition, Cellnex Spain has Business Coordination Activities agreements with its customers through which the company defines the audit processes to be applied to its customers. These processes seek to comply with current regulations concerning occupational hazards; RD171/2004 (the Royal Decree implementing Article 24 of Law 31/1995 of 8 November 1995 on Occupational Risk Prevention, on coordination of business activities) and LPRL 31/1955 (Law on Occupational Risk Prevention).

Given Cellnex’s business model many of its employees work in the field and are therefore more exposed to possible accidents than colleagues in the offices. This aspect is especially relevant in Cellnex Spain and Cellnex Italia, both due to their size and the country's regulations.

In this regard, Cellnex Spain has a Joint Prevention Service in compliance with Royal Decree 39/1997 through a Joint Prevention Service. Most of Cellnex Spain's companies are already in the Joint Prevention Service, with XOC incorporated in 2020. 

Likewise, throughout 2020 Cellnex's Joint Prevention Service continued to develop all the operations necessary to comply with the current regulations on radioelectric emissions (Royal Decree 299/2016) and to define working methods for any employee who may be exposed to non-ionising radiation in technical telecommunications centres. This work protocol encompasses all risk prevention and/or protection measures both in the focus, the environment and on the individual.

Similarly, Cellnex Italia has an external prevention service (responsabile del servizio prevenzione e protezione), complying with Italian law. This service is responsible for all matters related to prevention and protection. Every year Cellnex Italia performs an “evacuation drill” and holds a meeting with RSPP, RLS and the Managers “legal employers” (Datori di Lavoro) to check the level of safety in the Company (in all different premises), to evaluate and to start improving potential actions.

Multi-Plant Health and Safety Committee in Spain

Cellnex Spain has a Multi-Plant Health and Safety Committee which handles prevention issues affecting the company as a whole, comprising 14 members with parity between trades union and Company representatives. The Multi-Plant Health and Safety Committee met 21 times during 2020 (four times in 2019), in keeping with the legal requirement and especially to follow-up on the COVID-19 protection plan (18 times).

Health and Safety Committee in Italy

Cellnex Italy also has a Health and Safety Committee comprising nine members, six internal employees and three external people involved only in case of emergency (one RSPP and two Competent Doctor). The Health and Safety Committee met 3 times during 2020.

Social and Economic Committee in France

Cellnex France established of a Social and Economic Committee (SEC) (staff representation) for On Tower France and Cellnex France Group (Cellnex France CSE already in place). The SEC consisting of seven members who met twelve times in 2020.

Safe company against COVID-19    

All Cellnex geographical areas were affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. During this period, Cellnex has been clear that its priority was the health and safety of the people who are part of the group. In this regard, all countries follow the guidelines established by Cellnex Corporate, encouraging remote work and providing the necessary means to work from home properly. 

COVID-19 contingency plan

The Cellnex group deployed a global contingency plan to guarantee the continuity of critical services in all countries and critical infrastructures in Spain. In this regard, Cellnex Spain developed a strategy to ensure the health and safety of all its workers:

• Office Staff: during the pandemic, most employees work from home and have worked at full capacity (staff in commercial, engineering, resources, finances, etc).
• NOC: Madrid, Barcelona and merchant navy control centre: transferred to home. In a proactive and ingenious way, the network was reconfigured to be able to operate all the networks in Spain remotely from home. The networks have been monitored and operated remotely to full satisfaction.
• Staff in the field: risk prevention measures for the coronavirus were extreme (individual vehicles could not come to the offices, PRL from headquarters. There was general and country-level coordination. Various certificates had to be managed with their network of staff and subcontractors.

In other countries, such as Cellnex France, most of the employees have worked from home. However, the offices have been kept open in case employees needed to go, with a maximum occupancy of 5-10%. In addition, employees are being co-financed so that they have all the necessary means to carry out their work properly.

Cellnex Italy was adhered to a full “smart working mode” for all the technicians working in the fields in 2016, so they were ready to face the emergency of COVID-19, without any stop of production.

Caring for employees during the pandemic

Cellnex Italia took care of every single person in the HR area, calling the employees one by one to know how they were faring during the COVID-19 situation. Moreover, the company organised psychology webinars to support employees, such as “Positive management of under-stress relationships”, “Creativity and fear, two sides of the same coin?”, “How to manage sleep in a period of fear”, “Postural Training in smartworking”.

Together with webinars, Cellnex Italia sent out various communications, including a coronavirus risk information manual for workers.

Certification as a COVID-19 safe company

TÜV Rheinland certified the implementation of the specific action plan including the hygienic-sanitary, organisational, health and safety risk prevention measures to reduce the risk of contagion according to the COVID-19 safe protocol applicable to the corporate headquarters in Barcelona and Madrid as well as the main territorial headquarters of the business unit in Spain.

To this end, the TÜV Rheinland audit team visited Cellnex's facilities to analyse the proper effective implementation and deployment of the measures and requirements reflected in the protocol.

After the audit, TÜV Rheinland delivered a COVID-19 Safe Protocol Audit Report to Cellnex along with a Certificate valid for one year.

Health and Safety Training

Cellnex provides information and training in occupational health and safety for the whole workforce to ensure a safe working environment in which all employees know the health and safety measures in the workplace. Noteworthy training courses are:

Compulsory occupational risk prevention training

• Compulsory occupational risk prevention training on COVID-19
• Self-protection plan
• First aid
• Preventive Resource
• Electrical risk
• Work at height
• Work in telecommunications facilities
• Compulsory occupational training on specific risks (electric, confined space, airport security, railways) present in customers facilities

Handling, safety and maintenance of baskets adapted to hydraulic cranes.

In-house emergency response (BHV)

In Cellnex Netherlands, the figure of "in-house emergency steward” (“Bedrijfshulpverlening”, BHV) has been created. Any employee can become a BHV'er and will be trained to act in case of emergency and bring colleagues and visitors to safety.

The BHV is there for first aid in case of any accident, fire or unexpected evacuation at the office. This service is responsible for managing the first aid tasks until help arrives (police, fire brigade, ambulance).

BHV instructions are available in the office and are clearly visible to allow everyone present to learn about the rules and procedures in case of an emergency. All employees will be informed which colleagues are BHV’ers and on what days which BHV’er will be present in the office.

During 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most training focused on providing information to work properly from home, as well as training in mental health and wellbeing to deal with the COVID-19 situation.

In this regard, Cellnex organised several communication campaigns to raise employee awareness about the importance of safety at the workplace and at home. The intranet provides access to all procedures, guidelines, etc., which cover all aspects of the work done by Cellnex. 

Moreover, for staff working in the towers, information documents are available concerning working at height and use of personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as other aspects. The documents can also be found on the intranet.  

In 2020, 7,850 (10,127 in 2019) hours of training were imparted at Cellnex in occupational risk prevention and occupational safety.

Accident rate and absenteeism

Cellnex continually monitors safety at work and strives to minimise risks and reduce incidents and accidents among employees and anyone else on its facilities. There were seven labour accidents in Cellnex Spain and three in Cellnex Italy in 2020 (three accidents in Cellnex Spain in 2019). Likewise, there were no occupational diseases in 2020 and 2019. 

The total hours of absenteeism for al the group were 102,230 hours in 2020, being 96,421 hours of absenteeism in Cellnex Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Netherland (68,596 hours in those countries in 2019).The rest of hours correspond to Cellnex Ireland and Cellnex Portugal. 

Healthy company

Comprehensive Wellness

Cellnex Telecom sees the concept of worker health as a complete state of physical, occupational, emotional, spiritual, social, intellectual and environmental wellbeing. 

The Company integrates health within its corporate strategy and action as a cultural element covering the entire Organisation and seeks to achieve greater levels of labour welfare and sustainability.

The company continues to foster the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits through the “Click into Wellness” project to promote and protect the health and wellbeing of all Cellnex workers. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, activities focused on providing resources and tools for emotional health and ergonomics tips for remote work.

Various initiatives within the “Click into Wellness” project were also implemented during 2020, including:

• Regular health promotion campaigns, like blood pressure tests, flu prevention and encouraging blood donation.
• Integrating health surveillance (epidemiology) to design specific campaigns on good posture, nutrition, stress management, cancer prevention, etc.
• Providing fresh fruit in the offices to promote healthy eating.
• Guaranteeing healthy products in the vending machines..

Lifestyle assessment tool in the UK 

Cellnex UK designed a comprehensive new online wellbeing platform for all its employees, a lifestyle assessment tool that allows Cellnex UK employees to self-assess their own wellbeing in just 5-6 minutes. It includes digital tools to change health behaviors such as exercise, nutrition, sleep and stress.

Budget to promote a healthy lifestyle

Cellnex Netherlands wants to promote a healthy lifestyle among its employees, making available a budget of €250 per employee per year for that purpose. Employees can use this money to purchase a massage, gym membership, sport material and gear. Monies will be reimbursed against an expenses declaration.