Corporate Responsibility Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018 - Jahresbericht

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Corporate Responsibility Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018 - Jahresbericht
Corporate Responsibility Report
of the Messer Group GmbH 2018
Corporate Responsibility Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018 - Jahresbericht
18   Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018
Corporate Responsibility Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018 - Jahresbericht
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018   19

                       Corporate Responsibility
                       Report of the
                       Messer Group GmbH
                       Commitments to sustainability

                       Stefan Messer, owner and Chief Executive
                       Officer:
                       “We recognise and accept our social respon-
                       sibility towards our employees and society
                       in different areas. Among other things, we
                       are committed to environmental and climate
                       protection by constantly improving our own
                       processes and focusing our development
                       on technologies that make our customers’
                       production processes more efficient and en-
                       vironmentally friendly. Messer is represented
                       in the world’s major markets: we respect the
                       cultural differences as well as rights in the
                       regions in which we operate. We contribute
                       to community life and education in these
                       regions through the provision of wide-ranging
                       support. Mutual trust and respect for human
                       diversity, open communication in the work-
                       place and the ongoing development of our
                       employees are deep-rooted values forming
                       the immutable basis of how we deal with
                       each other.”
Corporate Responsibility Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018 - Jahresbericht
20                                                          Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     Dr Uwe Bechtolf, Chief Financial Officer:          Ernst Bode, Chief Operating Officer Europe:
     “We are committed to sustainable econo-            “Our aim is to become the best organised
     mic activity and guarantee our autonomy            company in our industry. Capital and financial
     and independence through forward-looking           resources are important, but people, knowl-
     investments. In this way, our employees,           edge, leadership qualities and passion are the
     business partners and financial partners have      ingredients of long-term success. At the same
     long-term security in working with us. We          time, our activities are focused on the safety
     operate with maximum transparency vis-à-vis        of our customers, employees and partners as
     our stakeholders. We view corporate res-           well as the safety of the systems and facilities
     ponsibility as a matter of strategic value by      installed by us and the distribution channels
     using defined key performance indicators as a      used by us. Our constant pursuit of sustained
     management basis, by implementing it in our        improvement in the efficiency of our facilities
     management organisation and by using the           and logistics processes and the associated
     GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) Standard as      conservation of resources are just as much
     our guide in sustainability reporting. We follow   part of our brand essence as the provision of
     an established code of conduct that governs        a reliable product supply at fair prices and a re-
     our cooperation and conduct with regard to all     lationship with our customers that is based on
     our stakeholders.”                                 partnership. Product purity and a documented
                                                        supply chain are taken for granted at Messer.
                                                        Our activities in our markets are focused on
                                                        the future and on sustainability in order to
                                                        ensure long-term development for both our-
                                                        selves and our customers. Compliance with
                                                        all applicable laws and regulations is a matter
                                                        of course for us worldwide, as is protection
                                                        of the personal data of our employees and
                                                        business partners.”
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                       Marcel Messer, shareholder and adviser                         employees can be sure of the family’s con-
                       to the Management of the                                       tinued influence on our corporate culture and
                       Messer Group GmbH:                                             strategy. As a value-oriented family company,
                       “As the majority shareholder of the Messer                     we thus create a basis for reliability, mutual
                       Group GmbH, the Messer family recognises                       trust, loyalty and integrity.
                       and accepts its social responsibility. The aim                 We also commit ourselves to protecting our
                       is always to conduct responsible and sustaina-                 environment and the climate by continuously
                       ble economic activity to ensure growth within                  improving our processes and focusing our
                       the framework of our social integration into                   development on technologies that make our
                       society. In this regard, I would particularly like             customers’ production processes more effi-
                       to highlight the respectful and responsible                    cient and resource-friendly.
                       way in which we deal with our employees,
                       the non-negotiable nature of our open-mind-                    As a member of the fourth generation, I
                       edness and tolerance, the importance of the                    commit myself to always supporting equal
                       continuity of our tradition and independence,                  opportunities, safety, diversity, environmental
                       full compliance with laws and regulations as                   awareness, mutual respect, compliance with
                       a minimum requirement in all our actions,                      all laws without exception and the continua-
                       environmental responsibility and sustainability                tion of our tradition spanning over 120 years.”
                       as well as integrity and loyalty.

                       Many of our employees have been with us for
                       many years or even decades and rightly have
                       a feeling of security in a family-like environ-
                       ment. The success of our company is based,
                       to a large extent, on their loyalty over many
                       years. In our family company, a respectful
                       approach to employees as well as their safety
                       is of paramount importance.

                       As a member of the fourth generation, I am
                       committed in particular to open-mindedness,
                       diversity, tolerance and respect for cultural
                       differences – without limitation or exception.
                       Intolerance, racism or sexism are completely
                       at odds with the values of our family and our
                       family business. Our culture offers space for
                       everyone – regardless of nationality, religion,
                       ethnicity or sexual orientation – to develop on
                       a free and equal basis. Diversity enriches us.

                       I also declare my support for the tradition
                       and continuity of our history spanning more
                       than 120 years. Our customers as well as our
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22                                                            Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     Strategic integration of corporate responsibility
     The key themes concerning our responsibility in economic and social spheres are derived from our
     own objectives, traditions and innovations as well as from general standards. The core areas are our
     values as a company, our customers and the markets in which we operate, climate and environ-
     mental protection, safety, our employees, and society. Since Messer Group GmbH was founded,
     we have been pursuing long-term objectives to take the company forward on an independent and
     profitable footing. We have always observed the principles of the “honourable businessman”,
     acting responsibly with regard to our place in society. Our corporate responsibility has been strate-
     gically embedded in our processes since 2014 through the cross-divisional Corporate Responsibility
     function. We have set ourselves measurable goals in the different business units to document our
     improvements and development. We are publishing these goals in this Corporate Responsibility
     Report for the 2018 financial year, which features comparisons with the results achieved in 2017.
     These key performance indicators are transparent and comparable, enabling our stakeholders to
     understand and assess how we are developing. In this context, we support our customers’ aim of
     checking and ensuring the sustainability of their own activities and supply chains. At our customers’
     request we therefore also report to contracted third parties, for example EcoVadis, the ‘Carbon
     Disclosure Project’ and the chemical industry’s worldwide “Responsible Care” initiative.

     Generation of materiality matrix
     The key issues we address in our strategic sustainability process are the product of our daily
     and long-term actions and activities. When evaluating these topics, we consider it import-
     ant to include representatives of all stakeholder groups. For this reason, we have compiled
     a comprehensive list comprising 77 individual topics within the categories of environment/
     climate protection, economy/business, values, products/services/markets, safety, informa-
     tion/data protection, customers, employees, society as well as suppliers. In order to diffe-
     rentiate the priorities of our internal stakeholder groups, such as owners, management and
     employees, 48 senior managers and 355 employees voluntarily completed an anonymous
     online survey where they ranked the topics on a scale of one to ten, with one being import-
     ant and ten extremely important. Selected journalists also participated in the anonymous
     online survey. As in previous years, the safety of our customers and employees is of utmost
     importance to our company. All important issues can be affected by our decisions and can
     have potential effects on stakeholders outside the organisation too. For this reason, all major
     projects, both in-house and external to the organisation, are relevant.
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                                        Materiality matrix

                                                                                                                                                  Safe handling of gases
                                                                                                                                                Ø 

                                                                            Expertise / knowledge management Ñ
Very high

                                                                                                                     Ë Information about properties of gases
                                                                                                                 Safety at workplace Ø
                                                                                        Safety of installations at customer sites Ø
                                                                                                                                Ø Safety of own installations
                                                   Environmental technologies for customers Ë  Anti-corruption                 ËLong-term customer
                                                                                       Respect for cultural differences                  retention / partners
                                                                                                     Mutual trust and respect 
                                                                                                                                           Open communication
                                                        Social responsibility on a local basis 
                                                                                                                     î No water / soil / air pollution
                                                                       Compatibility of family and work 
                                                                                                                                             Integrity and loyality to the
                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                     Training / further training                             company
Importance for stakeholders of Messer

                                                                                                                                     Family enterprise / independence
                                                                                    Workers‘ rights / working conditions 
                                                                                                                                  Securing employment and protecting jobs
                                                                            Employee orientation / satisfaction 
                                                                                             Market presence Ë                    Ñ Reliable product supply
                                                                         Avoid unfair competition practices            Ñ Documented supply chain
                                                                            Health management                                 î Energy savings in production

                                                                                                                            î Energy efficiency at sites

                                                                                         Environmental protection î

                                                                                                                        Ñ Data protection
                                                                                                                                            Ë Customer satisfaction

                                                                      Quick decision-making processes Ë               Secure finance / sustainable
                                                                                                                     Ñ
                                                                                                                        economic resources

                                                                              Anti-discrimination 
High

                                                                       Energy-optimised supply chain î

                                                       High                                    Importance for Messer                                            Very high

                                         Values                         Ñ Economy and business               Environmental and
                                                                                                             î                                     Ë Customers and markets
                                         Employees                      Ø Safety                              climate protection                    Society
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24                                                                 Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     Corporate Responsibility
     Customer and employee orientation, responsible behaviour, corporate responsibility as well as open communi-
     cation, trust and respect: all of these are embedded in Messer’s mission statement. Shortly after bringing all of
     the company’s shares back into family ownership in 2004, Stefan Messer personally drove forward a discus-
     sion of values, which led to a company-wide vision and mission as well as the formulation of the company’s
     values.
     We act sustainably to meet the needs of our customers in accordance with our collective responsibility for
     people, progress and the environment. In order to make these values and the corresponding developments
     measurable and comparable, Messer introduced sustainability key performance indicators (KPI) for the first
     time in 2014.
     With effect from 1 January 2018, the Business Development/CSR position in Central Sales Functions was filled
     again with the aim of further improving Messer’s sustainability performance. In conjunction with this, we want
     to improve customer satisfaction as well as our sustainability rating provided by external organisations such as
     EcoVadis and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

     The following twelve topics are relevant for each company in the Group:

                                                                                             Unit                  2017                 2018
      1. Safety of our employees
      Number of Lost Time Injuries (Messer employees)                               persons                         15                   14
      Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate - LTI FR                                      per million
                                                                                                                    1.4                  1.3
      (Messer employees lost time injuries)                                         working hours
      Lost Time Injury Severity Rate - LTI SR                                       per million
                                                                                                                   45.4                 64.0
      (Messer employees lost days)                                                  working hours
      Number of Recordable Working Injuries - RWIs
                                                                                    number                          37                   23
      (Messer Employees)
      Recordable Working Injuriy Frequency Rate - RWI FR                            per million
                                                                                                                    3.5                  2.2
      (Recordable injuries per million working hours)                               working hours
      Fatalities (Messer employees)                                                 persons                          1                    0

      2. Safety of our logistics
      Cylinder fleet: Number of preventable incidents                               number                           4                    9
      Cylinder fleet: Frequency Rate                                                per million
                                                                                                                   0.17                 0.41
      (Number of preventable incidents per million driven kilometres)               driven kilometres
      Bulk Fleet: Number of preventable incidents                                   number                          13                   14
      Bulk Fleet: Frequency Rate (Number of preventable incidents per million       per million
                                                                                                                   0.15                 0.19
      driven kilometres)                                                            driven kilometres

      3. Safety of our customers
      Total number of customer installations (Messer owned)                         number                        8,808                8,890
      Number of technical reviews of customer installations                         number                        9,171                9,395
      Ratio: Number of technical reviews / Number of Messer
                                                                                    number                         1.04                 1.06
      owned customer installations
      Number of safety audits at customer sites with Messer‘s installations         number                        1,582                2,170
      Ratio: Number of safety audits at customer sites / number of Messer
                                                                                    number                         0.18                 0.24
      owned customer installations
      Number of safety trainings provided to customers at any customer site         number                        1,590                1,563
      Total number of customer training participants                                persons                       4,716                5,273
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                                                                                              Unit        2017    2018
 4. Mutual trust and respect
 Number of cases reported in respect to discrimination                                number               1       1

 5. Energy efficiency in production
 Energy coefficient (energy consumption in relation to energy weight of
                                                                                      kWh                 1.345   1.308
 sold product)

 6. Open communication and cooperation with stakeholders
                                                                                      million
 Media resonance analysis: Gross coverage                                                                 54.9    901.8
                                                                                      persons
 Monitoring of brand awareness (Germany)                                              per cent            12.8    17.0

 7. Protection of the environment
                                                                                      million tonnes of
 CO2 Footprint of plants and logistic                                                                     3.36    3.38
                                                                                      CO2e
                                                                                      million tonnes of
 Specific CO2 Footprint of plants and logistic                                                            2.73    2.50
                                                                                      CO2e / ‘000 EUR
 Number of production / filling companies in EU certified to ISO 14001                number               21      23
 Number of new customer installations (bulk) for applications which pro-
                                                                                      number              253     242
 tect the environment

 8. Independent, family-run company values
 Net Debt/EBITDA-Ratio                                                                number              1.00    0.67
 EBITDA/Sales-Ratio                                                                   per cent            23.5    27.1

 9. Customer satisfaction
 Number of participants in customer satisfaction surveys across the Group persons                         1,326   1,522
 Percentage of credit notes in relation to number of invoices issued                  per cent             1.5     1.4

 10. Employee satisfaction
 Average length of service                                                            years               10.6    10.6
 Staff turnover rate                                                                  per cent             6.9     7.4
 Lost days due to sickness per employee                                               days                 4.4     4.1

 11. Employee development
 Expenditures on training programmes per employee                                     Euro                277     243
 Training days per employee                                                           days                3.38    2.80
 Apprentices and trainees in total workforce                                          persons              41      22

 12. Compliance
                                                                                      Compliance
 Inquiries submitted to the ”Ask us help desk“                                                             0       1
                                                                                      cases reported
Corporate Responsibility Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018 - Jahresbericht
26   Our Values     Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

       Our Values
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018   Our Values   27
28   Our Values                                          Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     Our Values
     The group of companies run by Stefan            Switzerland. Since 2014, he has also been
     Messer celebrated its 120th anniversary in      a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst
     2018. The company was founded by Adolf          (CAIA) and thus qualified to manage portfoli-
     Messer in 1898. At that time, he employed       os and alternative investments.
     four blue-collar workers and one salaried
     employee at his workshop for the fabrica-
     tion of acetylene gas generators in Frank-      Company History
     furt-Höchst. Today, Messer is a group of
     companies with some 14,000 employees            In 1898, Adolf Messer started production of
     worldwide.                                      acetylene lighting installations and acetylene
     Marcel Messer, Stefan Messer’s son, began       gas generators. When electric lighting and
     his Messer career on 1 May 2018. He has         incandescent gas lighting replaced acetylene
     been working in the role of Adviser to the      lighting at the start of the 20th century, he
     Management at Messer Group since                concentrated exclusively on the production of
     1 March 2019. Marcel Messer previously          equipment for oxy-fuel welding and cutting.
     spent three years in the finance industry       Besides oxy-fuel technology, air separation
     working for the world’s largest asset man-      units became the second pillar: Adolf Messer
     ager, BlackRock in London. Alongside his        put his first air separation unit into operation
     brother-in-law Cédric Casamayou, Marcel         himself in Madrid in 1910. Under Hans Mess-
     Messer is thus the second member of the         er, the founder’s son, Adolf Messer GmbH
     fourth generation of the Messer family to       merged with parts of Knapsack-Griesheim AG
     have joined the company. Cédric Casamayou       to form Messer Griesheim GmbH in 1965. In
     has a master’s in management and finance        the years following the merger, the company
     from the Grenoble Business School and is a      grew in Europe and North America. In 1993,
     Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He is cur-   Hans Messer took a step back from running
     rently in charge of Messer’s “Family Office”    the business and handed the reins over to a
     and holds the position of Group Controller in   manager from outside the family. After a risky
     the Corporate Office at Messer Group in Bad     expansion course and the near-collapse of
     Soden.                                          the company, the founder’s grandson, Stefan
     Marcel Messer has a master’s in finance         Messer, was eventually appointed CEO in
     from the Frankfurt School of Finance and        1998. Together with financial investors, he put
     Management. Whilst studying for his             the company back on its feet over a period
     master’s degree, he also worked part-time       of three years before restoring its status as a
     at KPMG. He did his bachelor’s degree in        family-owned business in 2004. This marked
     international business in London, with a year   the birth of today’s Messer Group GmbH.
     abroad in Paris and several internships at      Stefan Messer and his staff work as a team in
     various industrial companies, the Frankfurt     line with defined values and growth strategies
     Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bayer-        which they mutually work out and define.
     ische Hypo- und Vereinsbank, JP Morgan in
     Hong Kong as well as Messer in China and
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018                                         Our Values   29

                       Commitment in the Economic                                     Furthermore, Stefan Messer is a member
                       Sphere                                                         of the steering committee and board of the
                                                                                      German Asia-Pacific Business Association
                       At Messer, there is wide-ranging commit-                       (OAV) and Chairman of the inter-state
                       ment on the part of owner and CEO Stefan                       committee on Thailand.
                       Messer, the executives and employees
                       alike. This makes it possible to widen the                     Involvement in industry associations
                       scope for action and exchange market-relat-                    Messer Group is a member of the Euro-
                       ed experience via networks and cooperative                     pean Industrial Gases Association (EIGA).
                       initiatives.                                                   The Brussels-based association represents
                                                                                      nearly all European companies that produce
                       The owner’s personal commitment                                and market industrial, medical and food
                       As Vice President and member of the                            gases. The association‘s members cooper-
                       General Assembly of the Frankfurt am Main                      ate with the aim of achieving the highest
                       Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK),                        possible safety and environmental standards
                       Stefan Messer holds the office of Chairman                     during the production, transport and use of
                       of the foreign trade committee there.                          gases. At the beginning of each workshop
                       Furthermore, he is an Honorary Senator                         organised by the EIGA, the members are
                       of the Technical University Darmstadt and                      reminded of the importance of complying
                       Honorary Senator of the Goethe University                      with the “EIGA anti-trust meeting rules”.
                       Frankfurt, as well as a member of the board                    Messer is also a member of the International
                       of trustees of the Faculty of Economics                        Oxygen Manufacturers Association (IOMA),
                       and the board of trustees of the China                         the German Committee on Eastern Euro-
                       Institute at the Goethe University Frankfurt.                  pean Economic Relations and the German
                       In addition, he is a member of the board of                    Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV).
                       the German-Swiss Chamber of Commerce,                          Messer employees are represented in all
                       a member of the advisory committee for                         governing bodies of these associations.
                       the FrankfurtRheinMain economic initiative,                    Messer Group is a member of the German
                       a member of Commerzbank AG’s advisory                          Welding Society (DVS e.V.). The DVS is a
                       committee for the state of Hesse and a                         non-profit, technical and scientific associ-
                       member of HDI Gerling’s state advisory                         ation based in Düsseldorf. Messer is also
                       committee. He is also a member of the                          involved in the family business association
                       executive board of the Friends of the                          “Die Familienunternehmer e.V.”, in the FBN
                       German-Vietnamese University and sits                          Family Business Network and in the Frank-
                       on the board of Dachser Group SE & Co.                         furtRheinMain e.V. economic initiative.
                       KG. Since January 2009, Stefan Messer                          Messer employees sit on expert commit-
                       has been Honorary Consul of the Republic                       tees, support research projects, and estab-
                       of Slovenia for the consular district of                       lish and maintain contact with expert groups
                       Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.                      in technologically advanced fields. The
                       Stefan Messer is also involved in ASU –                        subsidiaries are involved in different local in-
                       Die Familienunternehmer, an association                        dustry associations. The Messer companies
                       of family entrepreneurs that supports the                      are also involved in organisations in their
                       fundamental values of a social market                          local regions.
                       economy, in particular free enterprise.
30   Our Values                                          Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     Messer Compliance 		                            and are aware of where and how it can be
     Management System                               consulted.
                                                     The Messer Code of Conduct is the core
     The Messer Compliance Management Sys-           document within the Messer Code. It is
     tem (Messer CMS), which we implemented          supplemented and given substance by
     in 2010, is an organisational concept that      Guidelines as well as other binding internal
     describes Messer’s system of values and         regulations.
     its practical implementation and defines the    Our employees are obliged to observe appli-
     responsibilities derived from it. It consti-    cable laws and the rules of the Messer Code
     tutes a mandatory framework for resolving       when performing their work.
     conflicts of interest and ensuring compliance   We also expect our business partners,
     with applicable laws, regulatory provisions     customers and other parties who work with
     and the inter-company and company-inter-        Messer to observe applicable laws and the
     nal policy guidelines within all divisions of   principles of the Messer Code.
     Messer. The managing directors and senior
     management are fully committed to the           Compliance officers
     Messer CMS. As a system of values, its          The management of Messer Group GmbH
     purpose is to establish a relationship with     bears responsibility for monitoring the
     our customers, partners and employees as        Messer CMS. This organisational concept
     well as with our competitors, the public and    is binding for all managing directors, senior
     the media, based on fairness, solidarity and    management staff and employees of the
     trust, to resolve conflicts of interest and     Messer Group.
     ensure compliance with the applicable laws,
     regulatory provisions and inter-company and     The local managing directors are responsible
     company-internal policy guidelines within all   for implementing this organisational concept
     divisions of Messer. The CMS developed for      in their own national subsidiary and ensuring
     this purpose supports those responsible in      that it is adhered to while observing applica-
     the setting-up and implementation process       ble legal regulations. The board of Messer
     and is also designed to prevent, as far as      Group GmbH has appointed a Corporate
     possible, any breaches of the Messer Code       Compliance Officer (CCO) to support the
     occurring in the first place.                   managing directors and the supervisory
                                                     bodies in their duties. In addition, there
     Messer Code                                     are Local Compliance Officers (LCOs) who
     The management of Messer Group GmbH             are designated by the regional directors in
     has summarised the principles for the           consultation with the respective national
     organisational concept in a set of rules (the   managing directors. The team of compliance
     “Messer Code”). The Messer Code stands          officers is supplemented by the corporate
     for active corporate governance for the         departmental heads in the Corporate Office,
     purpose of good business management and         who act as department-specific compliance
     is intended as a guide for all employees in     officers ((fach)bereichsbezogene Compliance
     their day-to-day working life while taking      Officer, BCOs). The management of Messer
     into account the Messer Mission Statement.      Group GmbH has defined the general tasks,
     Managing directors must take appropriate        rights and obligations of the compliance
     measures to ensure that all employees have      officers in a Compliance Officer Guideline
     unrestricted access to the Messer Code          document.
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018                                         Our Values   31

                       Managing directors, senior management,                         Reporting and auditing
                       the CCO, LCOs and BCOs also serve as                           Important business matters are regulated
                       role models. They are expected to demon-                       by a defined approval process and reporting
                       strate a high degree of social and ethical                     system governed by the Group Guidelines, by
                       competence. Managing directors and senior                      the largely standardised articles of associa-
                       management are expected to demonstrate                         tion, by the rules of procedure for the boards
                       an appropriate degree of organisation, lead-                   of management of the (national) subsidiaries,
                       ership, communication, selectivity, oversight                  by an approval and information list stipulat-
                       and direction in their activities. Moreover,                   ing decision-making responsibilities among
                       they are obliged to protect customers,                         local management and their boards, regional
                       employees and the environment. In this                         management, corporate management and the
                       context, a clear commitment to conducting                      Executive Board as well as the Supervisory
                       business in compliance with the law is just                    Board of Messer Group GmbH, by signature
                       as essential as preventing and disciplining                    regulations based on dual responsibility, and
                       illegal practices.                                             by specific requirements issued by the corpo-
                                                                                      rate divisions.
                       Training programme                                             In addition to this, local, regional and depart-
                       Besides traditional classroom training, there                  mental meetings are held regularly to discuss
                       are webinars and e-learning courses given                      and coordinate topics and to exchange infor-
                       on selected topics relating to the Messer                      mation and report about experiences.
                       Code. The corporate departments, and the                       The most important procedures at Messer are
                       local management and departments general-                      defined and often certified (e.g. ISO, GMP).
                       ly decide on the content of the courses and                    Existing organisational structures are used
                       the employees to be trained. They assume                       to ensure adherence to the Messer Code.
                       responsibility for arranging and giving the                    Each department, the regional managers and
                       training courses, supported by external                        the management bodies have direct respon-
                       service providers as necessary, and ensuring                   sibility. Thus, each area of responsibility is
                       that proper documentation is issued.                           accountable for ensuring implementation and
                       The Messer Group GmbH management                               observation of the Messer Code.
                       may mandate training courses and specific                      The Internal Audit team, supported by
                       course content as well as the group of em-                     Corporate Legal and representatives of other
                       ployees to be trained.                                         departments, performs regular audits of all
                                                                                      national subsidiaries which last several days.
                                                                                      During the process, matters pertaining to the
                                                                                      Messer Code (e.g. articles of association,
                                                                                      rules of procedure, signature regulations,
                                                                                      training provided, compliance with the report-
                                                                                      ing procedures, etc.) are also examined in
                                                                                      detail. Individual departments also perform
                                                                                      other detailed audits (e.g. SHEQ, Medical, IT).
                                                                                      Findings and suggestions for improvement
                                                                                      are documented in a report which is submit-
                                                                                      ted to the Messer Group GmbH Executive
                                                                                      Board. Follow-up audits are carried out in a
                                                                                      specific time frame to check whether sugges-
                                                                                      tions for improvement are being implemented.
32   Our Values                                             Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     Every three months, pending and threat-            Part of the reporting process involves
     ened/imminent legal disputes which exceed          drawing up a report which records the action
     a certain value/risk are queried centrally and     taken in response to confirmed compliance
     the facts of the case, dispute value, litigation   infringements. This includes a description
     status, litigation risk and financial provisions   of how the incident was investigated, how
     already made or which may prove necessary          the consequences of the wrongdoing were
     are recorded. The managing directors/LCOs          established and what decision was made
     and BCOs are obliged to inform the CCO             regarding further action.
     of any suspicion of a serious breach of the        The managing directors must take appro-
     Messer Code. The CCO shall report to the           priate measures to ensure that all employ-
     Messer Group GmbH Executive Board and              ees are informed about how and to whom
     the Supervisory Board on a regular basis,          breaches of the Messer Code are to be
     and on request in specific cases about any         reported, including publishing a telephone
     serious breaches of the Messer Code of             hotline number and the compliance e-mail
     which he or she has been informed, in a            address. A total of 71 suspected compliance
     timely manner, or otherwise once a year.           infringements were reported in 2018 (previ-
     Likewise, once a year, all national subsid-        ous year: 69 suspected cases). This figure
     iaries and corporate departments report            breaks down as follows: 20 in the Western
     any issues relevant for the Risk Report to         Europe region, 19 in the South-East Europe
     the VP Internal Audit. This is discussed by        region, 9 in Central Europe and 23 in Asia.
     the Messer Group GmbH Executive Board,
     which then decides on any further measures         Revision of Group Guidelines, List of Mat-
     that may need to be taken. These are then          ters Requiring Approval and Legal Manual
     submitted to the Messer Group GmbH Su-             The management of Messer Group GmbH
     pervisory Board along with further explana-        adopted a revised version of the Group
     tions as needed for information purposes.          Guidelines in 2018. The sections that have
                                                        been revised are “Legal Matters” (includ-
     Reporting in the event of compliance               ing the “Legal Manual”), “SHEQ – Safety,
     infringements and justified cases of               Health, Environment and Quality Manage-
     suspicion                                          ment” and “Medical, Pharmaceutical and
     The managing directors and senior manage-          Food Gases”. Furthermore, definitions and
     ment must organise their area of respon-           translations were corrected and the order
     sibility such that reports from employees          of some sections changed. The changes
     about infringements of applicable law or the       are intended to improve comprehension of
     Messer Code (“compliance infringements”),          the individual sections as well as the Group
     as well as justifiable cases of suspicion, can     Guidelines as a whole.
     be submitted to them in a timely manner in         The List of Matters Requiring Approval (pre-
     order to ensure that prompt remedial action        viously: List of Approvals for the Supervisory
     can be taken.                                      Body) has also been revised. In addition to
                                                        the requirements of the supervisory bodies,
                                                        it now also features tables depicting the
                                                        approval and information obligations with re-
                                                        gard to other bodies and persons (in particu-
                                                        lar regional directors and the management),
                                                        along with the applicable threshold values in
                                                        each case.
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018                                        Our Values   33

                       Changes in Messer Group’s purchasing                           Compliance-relevant excerpt from
                       policy                                                         Corporate Design Manual
                       Messer Group’s purchasing policy has been                      Design adjustments and the integration of
                       supplemented with the requirement to                           new areas necessitated a revision of the
                       henceforth adhere to the principles en-                        Corporate Design Manual (CD Manual) used
                       shrined in the “UN Global Compact” when                        by Messer. What is new is the fact that, as
                       selecting and auditing suppliers.                              of now, it is no longer the complete set of
                       The UN Global Compact is the world’s                           rules that is compliance-relevant: instead,
                       largest corporate responsibility initiative. It                it was decided in 2018 to adopt an excerpt
                       focuses on key issues such as human rights,                    from the manual as a legally binding compli-
                       labour standards, environmental protection                     ance document. Its content deals with the
                       and prevention of corruption, compliance                       guidelines regarding use of the Messer logo
                       with which the “Messer Code of Conduct”                        as well as vessel and vehicle labelling. This
                       explicitly refers to as well.                                  regulation, focusing as it does on indispen-
                                                                                      sable aspects, reduces the hitherto consid-
                       New Food Safety Commitment and new                             erable burden of coordination and approval
                       Manual for Food Safety                                         work involved in each change.
                       In 2018, as part of a continuous improve-
                       ment process, the Management of Messer
                       Group GmbH adopted a new version of the                        Company Reputation and
                       “Food Safety Commitment” and a new                             Brand Awareness
                       “Handbook for Food Safety” as binding CMS
                       documents within the Compliance Manage-                        Our brand is made up of the name of the
                       ment System (CMS). The new manual sets                         Messer family and the additional phrase “Gas-
                       out the obligations of the “Food Safety Com-                   es for Life”. It is used to market our products
                       mitment” and the “Messer Group Guide-                          and services worldwide. By associating our
                       lines” in more detail and stipulates Messer’s                  brand with positive connotations, we are look-
                       specific requirements regarding food safety.                   ing to gain long-term competitive advantages
                       Its purpose is to support the Messer compa-                    through emotional branding.
                       nies in meeting their core obligations under
                       Food Law.                                                      To this end, between 2013 and 2018, we
                                                                                      regularly evaluated the Messer brand’s
                                                                                      reputation scores and the media response in
                                                                                      Germany. We carried out telephone surveys
                                                                                      of approximately 1,000 private individuals
                                                                                      in selected German cities to measure brand
                                                                                      awareness.
                                                                                      We always measure brand awareness after
                                                                                      the end of a financial year.
                                                                                      In view of new data protection regulations,
                                                                                      we decided not to conduct our usual survey
                                                                                      of private individuals for the 2018 financial
                                                                                      year, instead initiating a corresponding B2B
                                                                                      positioning survey. This involved surveying
                                                                                      4,000 companies in selected industries with
34   Our Values                                           Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     operations in the towns of Bad Soden am          Open Communication with our
     Taunus, Duisburg, Frankfurt am Main, Frei-       Stakeholders
     burg, Hamburg, Krefeld, Siegen and Munich.
     In total, 795 responses were generated           The basis for a good relationship character-
     from companies in the automotive sup-            ised by familiarity and trust can only be creat-
     ply, chemical, research, metal processing,       ed through open and honest communication.
     pharmaceutical, welding and pulp/paper           This is why keeping in regular contact with
     sectors. According to the information at the     customers, suppliers, partners, employees, in-
     respondents’ disposal, 23 % of the compa-        dustrial firms and organisations, with the me-
     nies use industrial gases; 18 % do not use       dia, our neighbours, the general public and the
     industrial gases. 59 % of respondents said       internet community – and not forgetting our
     they did not know. In response to the unaided    valued retirees – is so important to us. Our
     question “Which manufacturers of industrial      communication channels are as varied as the
     gases can you name?”, 17 % named Messer          needs of our stakeholders. Information about
     as a supplier; only one German competitor        the Messer brand, product features or special
     achieved a slightly higher figure with 20 %.     technologies and services has to be compiled
     In response to the aided question “Are you       and made available in a suitable format, and
     familiar with Messer as a manufacturer of        it should be easily accessible. Messer uses a
     industrial gases?”, 24 % answered yes. The       variety of channels to do this.
     highest level of awareness of the Messer         At Messer, the tools used for external com-
     brand is found among automotive suppliers,       munication are just as important as those
     welding shops and metal processing firms;        used for internal communication. The chan-
     Messer is not well-known as a manufacturer       nels of external communication include our
     of industrial gases in the pharmaceutical and    corporate web presence, the websites of our
     pulp/paper sectors. 14 % of the companies        national subsidiaries and specialist depart-
     surveyed perceive Messer as a market leader      ments, press and public relations work, trade
     in the industrial gases sector. 79 % were        show appearances and exhibitions, image
     unable to give an assessment in this regard.     brochures, business reports, sponsoring and a
     Based especially on values for the towns of      quarterly customer magazine entitled “Gases
     Krefeld, Siegen and Frankfurt (14 %), Messer     for Life”, as well as a website of the same
     is percieved as friendly. 86 % did not give an   name: www.GasesforLife.de. When it comes
     assessment in this regard.                       to press and public relations work, Messer
     At the end of 2017, 1,068 private individuals    maintains close contact with the regional
     were surveyed regarding the level of aware-      press as well as business and specialist pub-
     ness of the Messer brand. At the time, Mess-     lications.
     er achieved a value of 12.8 % for the unaided
     question.                                        In 2018, Messer Group further intensified its
                                                      public relations work, above all in social media
                                                      such as Facebook and Twitter – but also
                                                      achieved high reach levels in classical media.
                                                      It issued 30 press releases over the course of
                                                      the year.
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018                                       Our Values   35

                       The media response analysis shows that                         In terms of internal communication, we
                       Messer attained a gross reach of 901.8 million                 communicate current strategic information
                       people with its publications in independent                    via a Group-wide newsletter. Our employee
                       online and print media. In 2017, the gross                     magazine is published three times a year and
                       reach was 54.9 million people. Media reach is                  features People, Projects and Strategy as its
                       determined by independent specialist agen-                     main sections. We make all department-re-
                       cies according to standard criteria to ensure                  lated information, internal newsletters and
                       comparability. Gross reach indicates the num-                  press reports available in German and English
                       ber of people potentially contacted and is cal-                via MesserNet, a Group-wide intranet. Since
                       culated on the basis of the media’s circulation                January 2018, the intranet has been run in a
                       and access figures. The very sharp increase                    portal solution. The portal allows customisa-
                       in gross reach achieved in 2018 is mainly due                  tions, offers integrated content and document
                       to the fact that reports on the merger of our                  management and facilitates participation in
                       competitors Linde AG und Praxair, Inc. named                   blogs and forums.
                       Messer as a potential buyer of the shares to
                       be disposed of as a condition of the merger                    China: New WeChat presence
                       to satisfy anti-trust requirements. Our own                    In March 2018, immediately after the
                       publications also attracted greater interest in                Chinese New Year, Messer China launched
                       the media. As in the previous year, all of the                 its new WeChat presence. The company
                       reports published about Messer in 2018 were                    has since been using this platform to share
                       positive and provided an accurate picture of                   interesting information with selected target
                       our business activities.                                       groups or the public on a regular basis.
                                                                                      This includes news as well as interesting
                       We intensified our social media activities dur-                facts about the company, its applications or
                       ing our anniversary year, achieving high reach                 gases. The WeChat presence gained more
                       levels, particularly with the weekly publication               than 1000 followers within two months. This
                       of our history under the hashtag MesserStory                   success is partly due to close cooperation
                       on Facebook and Twitter. For example, our                      with the WeChat team at Messer Cutting
                       Twitter channel on average received some                       Systems China: important content, such as
                       20,000 hits a month. This special form of                      the Chinese version of the “Messer Story”
                       history marketing was used by a student                        and relevant news, is published at the same
                       working group at the Goethe University in                      time, enhancing the impact and scope of the
                       Frankfurt as a best practice template for a                    information.
                       history workshop.
36   Our Values                                                          Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     Messer Awards                                                 AXIA Best Managed Companies Award
                                                                   In the application phase for the Axia Best
     Induction into “Family Business Hall of                       Managed Companies Award, Messer Group
     Fame”                                                         managed to qualify for the final round in 2018.
     Stefan Messer was inducted into the Family                    In a further step, Messer Group will take part
     Business Hall of Fame on 16 January 2019 in                   in an Axia BMC Coaching Session in 2019
     a ceremony in Munich held in front of around                  to identify the company’s main strengths,
     200 invited guests from the realms of busi-                   challenges and areas of potential in four core
     ness, politics and society. Every year, Ger-                  areas, these being Strategy, Productivity
     man business daily Handelsblatt, auditing and                 & Innovation, Culture & Commitment and
     consulting firm KPMG and family business                      Governance & Finance. An award ceremony is
     foundation Stiftung Familienunternehmen                       expected to take place in 2019.
     jointly bestow the distinction on outstanding
     personalities from family enterprises and                     Rating Certificate in Switzerland
     medium-sized companies. Stefan Messer                         In 2018, for the eighth consecutive year,
     was presented with the award for sustainable                  credit rating agency Bisnode D&B Schweiz
     business management, in particular for Mess-                  AG awarded Messer in Switzerland a Rating
     er’s positive development since its return to                 Certificate with Risk Indicator 1, which rep-
     family control.                                               resents a minimal default risk. Only two per
                                                                   cent of all companies in Switzerland meet the
                                                                   conditions for this top category. The certifi-

     Stefan Messer accepted the award, accompanied by his son Marcel (right), his daughter Maureen (centre) and her husband
     Cédric Casamayou (2nd from right). Presenter Judith Rakers (left) hosted the evening event.
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018                                          Our Values   37

                       cate distinguishes Messer in Switzerland as                    companies that ensure high work safety and
                       a trustworthy, reliable, economically healthy                  health standards for their employees and
                       and stable business partner. Bisnode D&B is a                  comply with the applicable labour laws.
                       partner in the network run by Dun & Brad-
                       street, the world’s largest service provider for               Safety Awards
                       business-to-business economic information.                     Messer received six Safety Awards for exem-
                                                                                      plary work safety from the European Industrial
                       Chamber of commerce honours Messer                             Gases Association (EIGA) on the occasion of
                       Schweiz                                                        its Summer Session, which was held in Riga,
                       In 2018, Messer in Switzerland was honoured                    Latvia, in June 2018 (see section on Safety).
                       by the German-Swiss Chamber of Commerce
                       in recognition of the company’s 25 years of                    FEIQUE Safety Award received again
                       membership and its special contribution to                     In June 2018, Messer Ibérica once again re-
                       the promotion of economic relations between                    ceived the “FEIQUE Safety Award” in recog-
                       Switzerland and Germany as an active mem-                      nition of outstanding results in the prevention
                       ber of the chamber. Stefan Messer supports                     of industrial accidents. All the production sites
                       the activities of the German-Swiss Chamber                     operated by the Spanish Messer subsidiary
                       of Commerce in his capacity as member of                       were accident-free during the 210,005 hours
                       the board.                                                     worked in 2017. The award was presented by
                                                                                      the director of the National Institute for Safe-
                       TOP 100 in Bosnia-Herzegovina                                  ty, Health and Wellbeing at Work (INSSBT)
                       In September 2018, Messer BH Gas was                           and the chairman of FEIQUE’s safety com-
                       ranked among the 100 biggest companies in                      mission. Every year, FEIQUE, the business
                       Bosnia-Herzegovina for 2017 by “Poslovne                       federation of the Spanish chemical industry,
                       novine”, one of the country’s leading busi-                    bestows safety awards in recognition of the
                       ness magazines. The company ranking was                        commitment shown and resources deployed
                       based on annual sales, the operating result,                   by companies in the industry to ensure the
                       export figures and investment. This distinction                safety of their employees. Messer Ibérica
                       is clear proof of success; it also provides con-               has received the award for the seventh time.
                       firmation for business partners and the public                 In 2018, the company marked 15 years of
                       that the companies are committed to further                    accident-free working at the site of its air
                       development. The ranking is also a signal for                  separation unit in Vilaseca as well as ten years
                       potential investors looking for opportunities                  with zero accidents at the air separation site
                       and seeking to implement new projects in                       in El Morell.
                       Bosnia-Herzegovina.

                       “Employer – Organiser of Safe Work”
                       award
                       In October 2018, our subsidiary Eloros, which
                       has its production site in Rybnik, Poland, was
                       awarded a statue in the category “Compa-
                       nies with up to 50 employees” as part of the
                       25th “Employer – Organiser of Safe Work”
                       competition. The annual event is organised at
                       a regional level by the state labour inspector-
                       ate. The aim of the competition is to support
38   Our Employees   Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

       Our Employees
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018   Our Employees   39
40   Our Employees                                           Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     Our Employees
     Diversity                                           Staff structure and length of
                                                         employment in 2018
     As of 1st March 2019, Messer’s workforce,
     including at equity consolidated Messer             As at 31 December 2018, Messer had 5,805
     Industries GmbH, totals over 11,000 employ-         employees, 2.3 % more than in 2017 despite
     ees in Europe, Asia and America. Most of our        the disposal of the Messer company in Peru.
     social and business opportunities arise from        A total of 2,947 employees worked in the
     our diversity: we differ in terms of origin, cul-   commercial areas. As in the year before, the
     ture, age, gender and sexual identity, religious    proportion of women in the workforce was
     persuasion and world view, but we pursue a          23 %. A total of 416 persons held positions as
     common business objective. We want to fos-          first and second-tier managers, with 25 % of
     ter appreciation of the diversity of employees      them being women. The number of employ-
     within Messer through our system of values,         ees on fixed-term contracts increased slightly
     intercultural working groups and international      from 204 in 2017 to 257 in 2018. There was
     communication. In future we will focus even         also a marked increase in the number of
     greater attention on all diversity-related issues   part-time employees from 140 in 2017 to 179
     in order to develop suitable additional meas-       in 2018. Our entire staff included 29 people
     ures aimed at further fostering mutual under-       with severe disabilities. In total, 76 employees
     standing as well as appreciation of the variety     were actively involved in supervisory bodies.
     of skills and talents. A working group is also
     looking into the appropriate form of address in     Across the Group, the average length of ser-
     internal and external communication in order        vice of our staff since the date of joining was
     to treat men, women and “diverse” equally.          10.6 years, as in 2017. Total staff turnover
     The results are expected to be implemented          increased from 6.9 % in 2017 to 7.4 % in
     in 2019.                                            2018. This is mainly due to employees leaving
                                                         a number of smaller companies in South-East
     Diversity initiative by German family               Europe. The average age of our staff was 42.7
     businesses                                          years. The number of sick days per employee
     In 2018 Messer decided to support an adver-         was 4.1 in 2018, a slight drop compared with
     tising initiative by German family businesses       the previous year.
     which addresses diversity in the workforce.
     Under the slogan “Made in Germany – Made
     by diversity”, 50 family companies that em-
     ploy staff from all over the world have been
     running an extensive campaign since March
     2019 to promote a Germany that is open to
     the world.
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018                                     Our Employees   41

                       Training and Professional                                      sitions were provisionally not filled pending
                       Development                                                    clarity about the Messer Industries joint ven-
                                                                                      ture. At several smaller national subsidiaries,
                       In order to ensure that we continue to have                    each of which had only one or two trainees,
                       well-trained employees in the future, we                       one training position at each location was
                       take measures to attract school students                       not filled for local reasons after the trainees
                       and higher-education students to the fas-                      had successfully completed their training.
                       cinating world of gases. These measures
                       include facilitating undergraduate and mas-                    The ongoing training needs of Messer staff
                       ter’s theses as well as student internships                    are ascertained as part of annual employee
                       and work placements for school students.                       performance reviews, with the local HR
                       We also seek to get younger students                           departments responsible for drawing up and
                       interested in our fields of work. In 2018,                     implementing specific plans for further train-
                       for example, 16 school students had the                        ing. In 2018, the average amount spent on
                       opportunity to spend a day in our Corpo-                       training and professional development was
                       rate Communications department gaining                         243 euros per employee; in 2017, the figure
                       practical experience as part of an initiative                  was 272 euros. The average number of train-
                       to familiarise young people with occupation-                   ing days per employee was 2.8 compared
                       al fields; this led on to three 3-week work                    with 3.4 in 2017. We are running an “English
                       placements. We also offered school student                     offensive” worldwide to improve English
                       work placements in the area of IT.                             language skills. As part of this offensive,
                       Messer is committed to providing educa-                        there are three groups at each company
                       tional and vocational training opportunities                   catering for different levels of knowledge of
                       to the next generation of young employees                      the language and providing the opportunity
                       as this is seen as a vital investment in the                   for employees to improve their language
                       future competitiveness and efficiency of our                   qualifications.
                       company. In Germany we offer vocation-
                       al training to motivated and hard-working                      Academy Messer Group
                       school and college leavers in the areas of                     As an internal scheme to ensure systematic
                       industrial business studies, mechatronics,                     personnel development, the Academy
                       IT data processing and IT support. Training                    Messer Group offers a range of training
                       takes place at various sites, in some cases                    courses covering both technical and profes-
                       supplemented by several weeks spent at in-                     sional areas as well as personal skills devel-
                       ternational locations. In addition, dual cours-                opment. A regular, annual series of events
                       es of studies are supported, sometimes                         examining current trends is very popular
                       following on from successfully completed                       with our local managers and junior execu-
                       in-house training.                                             tives. The “Focus on Cylinder” transnational
                       However, the number of apprentices and                         training course for cylinder salesmen was
                       trainees at Messer has fallen sharply re-                      continued in 2018, with training provided at
                       cently: the company employed a total of 18                     the Messer companies in Western Swit-
                       trainees in 2018 compared with 34 in 2017.                     zerland, the Baltic States, Hungary, Bosnia,
                       Messer also employed four trainees who are                     Bulgaria and North Macedonia.
                       all being trained in Application Technology in                 A series of seminars again took place for the
                       Krefeld.                                                       Junior Circle, our programme for the next
                       At two Western European subsidiaries, eight                    generation of managers, with participants
                       trainees completed their training, whose po-                   from various national companies and spe-
42   Our Employees                                        Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     cialist areas. The third Junior Circle group,    Internal social partnerships
     which has been going through the two-year        2.8 % of our employees in Europe were
     programme since July 2017, is involved           members of a works committee in 2018.
     in various projects focusing on the topic        At most of our Eastern European national
     of “digitalisation”. For example, they are       subsidiaries, the local management negoti-
     planning the implementation of a chatbot,        ates joint pay agreements with trade unions.
     investigating the possibilities of optimising    The relationship between our workforce and
     cylinder business through digital technology     the management is one that is characterised
     and preparing the introduction of digitally      by trust, resulting in not a single strike or
     controlled air separation unit maintenance.      anything similar at Messer in 2018.

     Employee orientation and                         Digital learning platform
     integrity
                                                      Use of the company’s own e-learning plat-
     Financial parity                                 form was expanded in 2018. The existing
     Our salaries are based on the position, the      platform was presented to other areas in
     market, performance, training, experience        the Messer Group with the intention of also
     and seniority and, where applicable, on          integrating them into the production of in-
     collective agreements and inflation compen-      house e-learning training courses or to get
     sation. Equal treatment of the sexes is taken    them to use the platform for online training
     for granted.                                     courses sourced externally. Another area
                                                      of focus was the production of our own,
     Equal treatment and anti-discrimination          tailor-made e-learning training courses. An
     If employees feel discriminated against or       e-learning training course on the subject of
     that they are not being treated equally, they    compliance has been completed and can be
     can, at any time, turn to their local human      rolled out worldwide in future. In the medi-
     resources manager or the Group Compliance        cal sphere, the pharmacovigilance e-learning
     Manager, who will help deal with the matter      training course was gradually extended to
     and ensure that equality is maintained. The      other national subsidiaries. Further training
     employee may also choose to put this on          courses in the Legal, Medical, SHEQ and
     record during his or her annual appraisal.       Human Resources spheres are at the pro-
     In such cases, provided it is a minor in-        duction stage.
     fringement, the possibility of resolving the
     problem through mediation or equivalent
     coaching is discussed in consultation with
     the parties involved. A serious violation may,
     however, result in the person who commit-
     ted the violation having their employment
     terminated.
     In 2018, one case of discrimination was
     reported at Messer in Romania.
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018                                            Our Employees   43

                       Cooperation in networks                                        Corporate Conference 2018
                                                                                      In October 2018, representatives of the
                       Cooperation in supraregional networks is                       management of Messer and the MEC Group
                       encouraged at Messer. Thus, for example,                       met for their annual senior management
                       expert teams meet up regularly to share                        conference in Shanghai, China. The primary
                       experience and exchange ideas and informa-                     focus was on drawing up a strategy for the
                       tion. More often than not, the meetings also                   coming four years with the main themes be-
                       feature a talk or presentation by an external                  ing financial independence, growth potential
                       specialist.                                                    and organisational strength.

                       In October 2018, representatives of the management of Messer and the MEC Group met for their annual senior management
                       conference in Shanghai.
44   Our Employees                                         Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018

     Meeting of helium experts                         Application Technology
     In March 2018, the helium experts from            Application Technology’s Industry network
     Messer Group and from the national subsid-        meeting took place in June 2018 in the
     iaries met for another exchange of experi-        new Competence Centre in Krefeld. This
     ence. This time the topic was “Best practice      gave participants the opportunity to get an
     for avoiding moisture and preventing helium       overview of the centre’s application technol-
     losses in the facility”. All the participants     ogy-related test equipment and evaluate the
     contributed ideas.                                possibilities for customer tests.

     ASU managers                                      Welding and Cutting
     In April 2018, this year’s “ASU Managers’         Messer Group’s annual “Welding and
     Meeting” took place in Austria. Besides           Cutting” network meetings also deal with
     specialist presentations and an exchange of       current issues. Competitor monitoring, the
     experience, the group also visited the new        current status of our “Triple Saver” cam-
     air separation unit in Gumpoldskirchen on         paign, 3D printing and digitalisation were on
     the second day.                                   the Western Europe meeting’s agenda in
                                                       June 2018.
     Chemistry, Paper and Environment
     In May 2018, Messer Group’s Application           Communications
     Technology “Chemistry, Paper & Environ-           The Messer and MEC ComManagers’ net-
     ment” unit organised a workshop with a            work meeting took place in Berlin in June. A
     focus on chemistry at the competence cen-         total of 30 communications managers from
     tre in Austria. It involved working together      14 countries covered topics such as image
     with the national subsidiaries to develop         and film rights, cybercrime and the new EU
     strategies for the further expansion of ap-       General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
     plications in refining – primarily applications   The meeting also featured training in digital
     with oxygen, but also inerting and industrial     storytelling.
     wastewater treatment. A very successful
     “paper workshop” had already taken place          Human Resources
     at an earlier date. A workshop on options         At the Global HR Meeting in September
     in the treatment of drinking, process and         2018, HR managers from the national
     waste water took place in the autumn of           subsidiaries discussed the subjects of “data
     2018. This series of workshops replaced the       protection” and “cybercrime”. A very good
     usual network meeting.                            understanding of these complex issues was
                                                       gained thanks to Messer Group’s Data Pro-
                                                       tection Officer. The theme of “cybercrime”
                                                       was also covered in detail at one of the
                                                       annual employee meetings.
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