Lawful action

As a leading security company, acting in accordance with the law is a matter of course for EVVA. At EVVA, there have also been no significant changes in this reporting period.

• no penalties or sanctions for non-compliance with environmental or other laws
• no violations relating to political lobbying
• no violations of regulations with relating to product and service information, labelling (e.g. on packaging) and marketing/communication. For more information on customer safety, see Quality and Certifications
• The family company EVVA expressly condemns child and forced labor as well as any kind of violation of human rights. We are guided by the „Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights“ of the United Nations, compliance with which has the highest priority. Here, too, there were no violations of the law or penalties against our company, neither in this reporting period nor in an earlier one
• EVVA supports the principles of the ILO (International Labor Organization) such as occupational safety, freedom of association, prohibition of discrimination, etc. More on the subject under Occupational safety & health protection

EVVA documents and monitors all laws and directives including those relating to industrial facilities law, in its own legal software. It contains all ordinances and legal changes that are relevant for a production company such as EVVA, e.g. with regard to occupational safety, old appliances, etc. Together with other guidelines such as the environmental protection register – which includes statutory provisions on the topic of the environment – and external audits (e.g. as part of "ISO 9001: Quality management") provides EVVA with an optimum overview.

For the transport of hazardous goods (e.g. batteries), EVVA has nominated its own hazardous goods officer who is informed about all the relevant laws. He also knows which products must be labelled as hazardous goods in which countries, such as lithium batteries, e.g. in the Arab world.
 

Challenges since 2015

There were two incidents after which EVVA strengthened its protective measures in those areas.

• 1) Electroplating accident: In 2018/2019 two chemical processes in the headquarters' electroplating department were not carried out properly. An employee had to take sick leave for a longer period of time. As there was an individual human error, no proceedings were brought against EVVA. 
   
• 2) Exceedance of limit value in waste water sewer: In 2019, a contamination in the sewer at the headquarters was appraised. The cause (deposits in a pipeline) was immediately rectified and there have been no prosecutions against EVVA. 

Provision and anticipation

In addition to the aforementioned measures, EVVA also helps to comply with laws in the future or even anticipate them:

• At EVVA, we want to be role models and act according to our values as a family-owned business.
  For this reason, EVVA has been formulating its own Code of Conduct for many years – with rules designed to prevent corruption, the acceptance of gifts, discrimination or violations of competition. This Code of Conduct was handed over to all employees within the entire EVVA Group by the management or their managers. New employees receive it in a compact "EVVA Culture" box, together with our vision, mission statement and values. All employees in all EVVA subsidiaries are instructed to inform their manager or the managing director directly if they become aware of any breaches of the law or conflicts of interest 
   
• The EU passed a whistleblowing directive in 2021, which obliges companies to implement appropriate measures. With the new "EVVA Compliance Line" the company has been providing a digital reporting channel for employees since autumn 2021. It enables reports on various topics (data protection, cartels, environment, occupational safety, etc.) to be processed confidentially and cases to be archived in accordance with GDPR. Every report is of course subject to the principles of confidentiality, objectivity and transparency, compliance with which all parties can rely.

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  Anti-corruption training
  Since 2019, preventative anti-corruption awareness training courses for employees have also been held at the EVVA headquarters, which are organised and carried out by the Legal Department. Again in the reporting period. "With the help of clear examples, it is immediately clear what is in violation of laws or the internal EVVA Code of Conduct guidelines, such as when accepting gifts", summarises Dr Karin Frank from EVVA Legal. There have never been problems or criminal proceedings at EVVA 


• Training courses "Antitrust law" (since 2015) and "Basis of contract law for non-lawyers" (since 2019). These two employee training sessions are also held regularly by EVVA’s Legal Department. Every employee receives valuable tips on how to recognise antitrust hazards and how to correctly understand and design contracts
   
• Supply chain check. For more information, see Supplier sustainability
   
• Strong data protection. EVVA complies with the EU's strict GDPR regulations (in some cases even before they become legally binding) and implements comprehensive data protection measures. For more information, see Data Protection