People

Occupational health and safety

Vision and goals

Safety is a top priority for Swissgrid in all its activities. Consequently, it is managed within the company via an integral safety policy. This defines the objectives and framework for action so that safety measures are implemented in a consistent and coordinated way. The integral approach comprises seven thematic and organisational units, referred to as security domains (see chapter «Mission»): operational security, physical security, information security, integral risk management, crisis management and business continuity management, as well as environmental protection, health and safety. The aim of this last unit is to ensure the safety and health of employees, contractors, visitors and residents. In the area of health and safety, Swissgrid has set itself the key objective of reducing the number of occupational accidents with absences of more than five days to zero. This objective was achieved in 2023, as in 2022.

Swissgrid is obliged to comply with statutory and industry-standard provisions¹. In specific areas, these provisions are supplemented with additional corporate standards. The following principles apply at Swissgrid when it comes to occupational health and safety:

• Regardless of the activity, the risk must be minimised as effectively as possible. Safety-conscious behaviour is therefore a basic requirement for employees. The high standard is maintained and continually improved by means of ongoing training.
• Occupational health and safety in the workplace is an important management task. By promoting the health, quality and safety awareness of the employees in the workplace, the line managers fulfil an important role model function and line responsibility.
• Swissgrid lays down occupational health and safety objectives in writing. Occupational safety inspections are carried out regularly to ensure the success of occupational health and safety measures and the fulfilment of legal requirements.
• When planning and introducing new procedures, Swissgrid is guided by the latest, advanced state of the art.
• Swissgrid structures workplace conditions in accordance with recognised health and safety principles. Special attention is paid to prevention and precaution.

Management approach

As the national grid company, Swissgrid is one of Switzerland’s critical infrastructure operators according to the Federal Office for Civil Protection and strives to implement a correspondingly high level of security. That is why Swissgrid has made Safety & Security another priority of its Strategy 2027 (see chapter «2027 Strategy»). Swissgrid’s aims to guarantee the safety of people, systems and the environment at all times.

The Executive Board delegates the management and development of integral safety management to the Chief Safety & Security Officer (CSO) and the line-independent Integral Safety Committee (ISG), which comprises representatives of the seven safety domains (see chapter «Mission»). The CSO heads the Integral Safety Committee and reports to the Executive Board on a regular basis. The Executive Board determines the framework for occupational health and safety at Swissgrid and is responsible for making sure that all employees comply with safety standards and relevant laws and regulations. All employees have a duty and obligation to apply these principles.
¹Federal Act on Work in Industry, Trade and Commerce (ArG), Ordinances 1 – 5 to the Labour Act (ArGV 1 – 5), Federal Act on Accident Insurance (AIA), Ordinance on the Prevention of Accidents and Occupational Diseases (OPA), Electricity Act (EleG), Ordinance on High Voltage Systems (StV), Ordinance on the Safety and Health Protection of Workers during Construction Work (BauAV), ESTI Directive 245: Safe working on high-voltage power lines, ESTI Directive 407: Working on or in the vicinity of electrical systems.

The HSE management system

Swissgrid addresses the topics of occupational health and safety and environmental protection as part of an integrated health, safety and environment management system (HSE management system) certified in accordance with ISO 45001:2018 and ISO 14001:2015. The HSE management system applies to the entirety of Swissgrid. In particular, all business areas, bases and plants are part of the HSE management system. Service providers are obliged by the Code of Conduct for Suppliers and by contractual provisions to ensure the occupational health and safety of their employees and of persons working on their behalf. Compliance is verified by Swissgrid in the course of inspections.

¹ External employees are not directly employed by Swissgrid, but have an employment relationship with a staff leasing company or service provider. The external employees listed in this table usually carry out work at Swissgrid’s office locations and are therefore recorded individually. External employees of suppliers who work on building construction or civil engineering projects for Swissgrid are not included, for example.

The following topics are covered by the HSE management system:

• Tasks and duties or the allocation of competences and responsibilities in the field of occupational safety, health and environmental protection;
• HSE targets for the continuous reduction of accidents, illnesses and environmental impacts, as well as measures or environmental programmes to achieve the targets;
• Behaviours and procedures to ensure occupational safety, health protection and operational environmental protection, as well as conformity with the relevant legislation.

The HSE management system follows the PDCA management model («plan-do-check-act»). This management model is based on continuous improvement of HSE performance. The following diagram gives an overview of Swissgrid’s HSE management system model:

Aim and implementation of the HSE management system
The aim of Swissgrid’s HSE management system is to ensure continuous improvement and to promote the organisation’s understanding of activities relevant to safety and the environment using a systematic approach, as well as complying with the legal requirements for occupational safety, health and environmental protection.

Proposals for possible improvement measures are derived from hazard assessments, recorded accidents and near misses, environmental relevance analysis and the defined HSE targets. These measures are planned and implemented by Swissgrid’s Safety and Environmental Protection Officers in collaboration with the managers and employees concerned. Swissgrid’s operational business areas are responsible for implementing the measures.

The measures for achieving the HSE targets are set out in the operational development of the HSE security domain and, in particular, in the Safety Road Map, which is updated annually. Target achievement is continuously evaluated and reported via a key figure cockpit. The implementation of the HSE programme is monitored by the Head of Health & Safety or the Safety and Environmental Protection Officers.

Safety and environmentally relevant key figures for monitoring are defined in a corresponding directive. The accident statistics are integrated into the key figure cockpit and are presented once a year to employees and to the Executive Board in the annual HSE management review. Relevant key figures are summarised in the «Overview of key figures in the area of occupational health and safety».

Recurring certification
Swissgrid’s HSE management system is audited and certified by an accredited external auditor on the basis of ISO standards 14001:2015 and 45001:2018. An audit for recertification of the HSE management system takes place every three years. In the two years in between, a surveillance audit is carried out by the external auditor. In 2023, the Swiss Safety Center confirmed Swissgrid’s integrated HSE management system as suitable, appropriate and effective, and thus successfully recertified it. The result shows further progress compared to the previous year. Particular emphasis was placed on the «Safety First» philosophy and the continuous development of the safety culture throughout the company.

Risks and hazards

There is considerable potential for serious personal injury, environmental damage and damage to property in Swissgrid’s area of activity. Swissgrid has therefore categorised the risks relating to personal safety as «high» to «very high» as part of its company-wide risk management. Swissgrid proactively identifies the relevant risks and hazards, assesses them and eliminates them or at least minimises them to an acceptable residual risk.

Swissgrid is aware of its responsibility as an employer and ensures the occupational safety and health protection of its employees in accordance with the Accident Insurance Act (AIA) and the Labour Act (ArG). In order to ensure that measures for the protection of its employees are as effective as possible, Swissgrid defines measures according to the STOP principle. The STOP principle describes the hierarchy of the effectiveness of measures from S (substitution) via T (technical measures) and O (organisational measures) through to P (person-related measures). Swissgrid also raises awareness among its employees and service providers about the application of the STOP principle: stop, think and assess the situation before you act. In this way, Swissgrid wants to ensure that all employees and service providers stop work if they have any safety concerns.

Risk assessment
Various risk assessments are carried out at Swissgrid. Firstly, the basic hazards and general activities at Swissgrid are systematically analysed, assessed and documented in the activity-related risk assessment based on the SUVA hazard portfolio (SUVA 66105). Furthermore, the company checks whether recognised rules are available for the hazards. If this is not the case, the rules must be formulated or, where the hazard potential is high, a risk assessment (SUVA 66099) must be carried out. Standardised measures are derived from the activity-related risk assessment and are valid throughout Swissgrid.

The activity-related risk assessment is regularly reviewed and updated if necessary. However, a review and update may also be necessary due to identified deviations, after an accident or near-miss event, or after a change in the law.

As well as conducting activity-related risk assessments, Swissgrid also performs project-specific, utilisation-related, order-related and system-specific risk assessments.

The safety specialists from the Health & Safety team are responsible for drawing up templates for risk assessments and for training employees. As coaches, they ensure that methodological expertise is available in the relevant line and provide technical support. If necessary, specialised external experts in the fields of occupational medicine, occupational hygiene and safety engineering are called in.

Incident analyses
In addition to hazard analyses, Swissgrid carries out incident analyses to examine events that had or could have had a significant negative impact on the safety of people and/or grid operations. The aim of these analyses is to identify the main factors that led to the event. They take into account technical, organisational and human aspects as well as environmental conditions at the time of the incident.

The findings form the basis for identifying risks that could increase the likelihood of new incidents or jeopardise Swissgrid’s objectives. The extent of these risks is also determined by the responsible departments («risk treatment strategy»). Event analyses can contribute to the safe operation of the transmission system and help to avoid future incidents outside Swissgrid’s risk tolerance levels. They also make it possible to continuously improve grid, system and market operations with regard to the objectives set for operational safety and health and safety.

Occupational accidents involving Swissgrid’s own employees whose work has no influence on grid operations are investigated by the Health & Safety team, which works with the operational business areas to define measures to prevent the same or similar incidents from happening again and to put in place suitable communication measures. Occupational accidents involving service providers are investigated by their employers or by Swissgrid’s Health & Safety team, depending on their severity. At least one analysis is required for each accident in order to examine the causes and the measures defined.

Potential hazards
Swissgrid has identified the following five potential hazards with a risk of serious injury. In 2023, one occupational accident was caused in one of the identified hazard areas. The accident, which occurred while a specialist company was carrying out forestry work, fortunately did not result in any serious health problems for the persons involved. An overview of the type and consequences of occupational accidents in 2023 can be found in the «Overview of key figures in the area of occupational health and safety». 

¹ The data includes employees of Swissgrid and of all service providers, including those who carry out work for Swissgrid on construction sites and outside office locations.

HSE inspections
Swissgrid’s regular HSE inspections are a key part of hazard and incident assessment, serve to mitigate risks, and are an important tool for fulfilling duty of care and compliance. In 2023, a total of 357 HSE inspections were carried out by project employees and the Health & Safety team. In 22 cases, the inspectors found situations that were classified as a medium safety risk, and in eight cases as a high safety risk. In all these cases, measures were agreed upon, documented and implemented to reduce the safety risk to an acceptable level.

Measures

Overview of key figures in the area of occupational health and safety

Occupational accidents: in the 2023 reporting year, there were no occupational accidents involving Swissgrid employees resulting in death, absence from work or health impairments. However, there were four occupational accidents without absence from work.

In the same period, five occupational accidents resulting in absence from work and minor health impairments were registered among employees who were working at Swissgrid construction sites and workplaces on behalf of a service provider.

¹ Data shown for 853 Swissgrid employees, i.e. 100%.
² No recovery within six months or permanent impairment.
³ Recovery within six months.
⁴ The rate is calculated per 200,000 working hours.

¹ Data includes all companies contacted by Swissgrid as well as accidents that occurred during work at Swissgrid construction sites and workplaces. Data on the number of employees and their hours worked for Swissgrid is not yet recorded (planned for 2024/ 2025).
² No recovery within six months or permanent impairment.
³ Recovery within six months.

Cause of occupational accidents: the most common cause of the nine occupational accidents is «cuts or pricks» (44%), followed by «colliding with objects» (22%).

Work-related illnesses: in the last three years (2021–2023), there have been no known work-related illnesses among the employees of Swissgrid or of service providers due to the performance of work for Swissgrid.

Attracting, retaining and developing skilled workers

Vision and goals

The decarbonisation of the electricity system and rapidly changing regulatory requirements are increasing the dynamics of the environment in which Swissgrid operates. In order to be able to address these new and constantly changing requirements, Swissgrid set itself the goal of accelerating its development into an innovative, highly digitalised company in its Strategy 2027 (see chapter «2027 Strategy»). Consequently, Strategy 2027 summarises various measures to develop the relevant skills within the company as part of the «Operational Excellence» priority. Gaps in skills are closed by programmes that are tailored to individual needs. This increases Swissgrid’s attractiveness as an employer, allows it to recruit the talent it needs, and strengthens employees’ level of identification with the company. The following guiding principles promote the achievement of objectives:

• Employee loyalty is achieved not least through a good corporate culture. The aim is to promote cooperation, networking and mutual trust.
• Swissgrid has modern working conditions and is constantly developing them, because motivation and health have a positive effect on individual performance. For this reason, the company promotes a working atmosphere in which all employees feel comfortable and can develop their skills. Swissgrid encourages its employees to progress, make decisions, take responsibility, and to develop and implement their own innovative ideas.

Management approach

Swissgrid is dependent on highly qualified employees. The company can only fulfil its complex mission if it has a well-trained and motivated workforce. It can also be assumed that humans will become even more important in the future, despite the increased use of machine intelligence in the world of work. Swissgrid is implementing three comprehensive packages of measures to achieve the goals defined in Strategy 2027:

• Employer of Choice: In order to retain employees and attract new recruits, Swissgrid wants to continue to establish itself as an attractive employer on the labour market and meet the expectations of employees in the areas that are important to them. Swissgrid’s internal development prospects are identified by means of career planning for senior and specialist managers, and measures are implemented via succession planning.
• Fit for Future: Implementing the company’s strategy will require new skills, some of which are not yet available in the organisation to the extent required. Competency management is used to define the required skills and develop them where necessary. Last but not least, the digital transformation and the associated pressure to innovate are increasingly demanding and promoting agile, self-organised and highly customer-oriented working principles.
• Future of Work: The changing demands that are placed on today’s working environment must be taken into account. The company aims to achieve a flat hierarchy and to streamline processes. This type of decentralised self-management and organisation is reflected in the participation of employees in the decision-making process.

These approaches will help Swissgrid to reduce the risks associated with the recruitment, retention and development of employees. Swissgrid considers the lack of suitable specialists to be the greatest risk. The struggle to find employees with the necessary expertise and qualifications will become even more acute in a labour market suffering from a shortage of skilled workers. In addition to the measures mentioned above, Swissgrid is therefore increasingly focusing on the training and further education of talented young employees. It is also important to respond appropriately and rapidly to the latest trends in the world of work. The original understanding of work as simply earning a living is becoming increasingly outdated: traditional principles are being replaced by new ones, such as «meaningfulness». The working methods of the future will also feature a high degree of virtualisation of working equipment, networking of people and stronger cooperation, combined with greater flexibility of employees’ places of work, working times and job content.

Swissgrid employees

As at 31 December 2023, 853 people were employed by Swissgrid (180 women and 673 men). Compared to the 2022 reporting year, the number of employees has increased by 16%. The reasons for this growth include Swissgrid’s additional areas of responsibility in accordance with the Winter Reserve Ordinance, which came into force in February 2023, the internalisation of functions previously performed by external service providers (particularly in the Grid Infrastructure business area), the strengthening of critical functions to reduce the risk of failure (particularly in the System Operations business area) and the company’s increasing need for digitalisation and innovation.

¹ Data is given as numbers of employees (headcount) and not as full-time equivalents.
² The temporary positions are mainly internships, which form part of Swissgrid’s recruitment efforts.
³ Employees without guaranteed working hours are employees who are on call for visitor tours or for specific temporary and support work.
⁴ External employees with a contract via a staff leasing company or a service provider are usually employed for temporary projects that require technical competences that are only available to a limited extent within Swissgrid. This work is largely carried out in offices. One example is external employees who are not employed directly by Swissgrid, but who carry out specialised digitalisation and automation activities under contract via a service company.

Measures to attract talent

Measures to retain and develop talent

¹ The total annual remuneration comprises both fixed and variable salary components.
² All employees excluding the highest-paid person.
³ The annual remuneration refers to the fixed salary component excluding variable remuneration.
⁴ The increase was calculated and excludes salary increases due to promotions, lump sums to adjust for inflation and/or contractually defined structural salary increases.

¹ Employee satisfaction is assessed on a scale of 0 to 100 in comparison with the «Swiss Employer Award» benchmark using a questionnaire.
² As the employee survey is conducted every two years, the results are carried over from the previous year.

Measures for training and further education

* Examples from the «Other» category include training on directives (e.g. compliance), project management training, individual topics such as «The Climate Fresk» or «Innovation Days», as well as basic and onboarding training courses that are not covered by the topic categories listed here.

In 2023, Swissgrid employees invested an average of just under 65 hours or around 1.5 weeks in their training and further education.

¹ Excluding employees in training/paid by the hour.
² This includes interns, doctoral students, apprentices and employees paid by the hour.

Diversity and inclusion

Vision and goals

Swissgrid strives to be an innovative, diverse and inclusive company that all employees feel comfortable to work for and that allows them to develop their full potential regardless of their ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion, age, gender, disability or other aspects of diversity. This principle is enshrined in Swissgrid’s Code of Conduct. At the same time, Swissgrid not only promotes creativity and innovation within the company, but also increases the agility and performance of its employees and business areas. The following principles are therefore part of Swissgrid’s diversity and inclusion strategy:

• Swissgrid recognises its responsibility to protect the personal integrity of all employees. It does not tolerate any endangerment, impairment or violation of personal integrity of any kind, such as discrimination, bullying or sexual and non-sexual harassment. The Executive Board has enshrined these principles in a directive, along with corresponding implementation provisions for the protection of personal integrity.
• Swissgrid guarantees non-discriminatory access to all roles and draws on a diverse talent pool when filling vacant positions. The development of all employees at Swissgrid is based on transparent and comprehensible criteria and is planned and implemented jointly by management and employees.
• By providing the best possible working conditions, Swissgrid employees develop their full potential and can carry out their work to the best of their ability and achieve the goals they have set.
• Leaders ensure an inclusive leadership culture in all areas and teams, which guarantees equal opportunities and the framework conditions for this and in which employees feel comfortable, contribute ideas, take responsibility and openly address challenges or conflicts.

Management approach

The world of work is becoming increasingly dynamic as a result of digitalisation. What is more, it is affected by the «VUCA» phenomenon, i.e. increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Swissgrid relies on a wide variety of employees to cope with this increasingly complex environment. Diverse teams with different skills, strengths, personalities, ideas and perspectives, but also with different characteristics such as gender, age, origin, education and length of service, are needed to promote creativity and innovation, as well as a high level of agility.

Swissgrid applies various approaches to maintain a high level of diversity within the company. This involves focusing on the structures and processes within the company, the corporate culture and the understanding of leadership. Equal opportunities are promoted by inclusive structures and processes – such as career paths – that are suitable for different groups. A culture of inclusion leads to fewer conflicts, greater employee satisfaction and lower staff turnover. These objectives are also achieved thanks to an inclusive understanding of leadership and consideration for the needs of diverse employees.

Diversity and inclusion are increasingly becoming a competitive factor. Without appropriate management, there is a risk of no longer being able to attract employees with the necessary skills and qualifications to work for Swissgrid. The company is therefore treading new paths to further increase its attractiveness as an employer.

Overview of diversity at Swissgrid

The Executive Board has five members, including a CEO. In the reporting year, the Executive Board consisted of three men and two women from German-speaking, French-speaking and Romansh-speaking Switzerland. The Board of Directors is the company’s supreme body and has nine members, one of whom is a woman. Further information on the composition of the Board of Directors can be found in the Corporate Governance Report.

In 2023, Swissgrid employed 180 women in its operational business areas, 8% of whom have management responsibility in these areas. This corresponds to 13% of operational management positions. A detailed overview of the composition of Swissgrid’s employees by gender, age, employment and position can be found in the «Swissgrid employees» and in the GRI index (GRI 405-1). Swissgrid’s employees come from 39 nations. The majority, 68%, are from Switzerland, and 18% are from Germany.

¹ Multiple citizenships are not recorded.

Measures

¹ As at the end of the relevant reporting year.

Discrimination reports: in the 2023 financial year, no cases of discrimination were reported to the external reporting centre, via the «RiskTalk» app or to Compliance.