Corporate Responsibility Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018 - Jahresbericht
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Corporate Responsibility Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018
18 Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018
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.”
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.”
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018 21
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
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.
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018 23
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
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
Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018 25
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
26 Our Values Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018
Our ValuesCorporate 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 andCorporate 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 with34 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 support38 Our Employees Corporate Responsibility Report and Management Report of the Messer Group GmbH 2018
Our EmployeesCorporate 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.You can also read
