To manage our identified material impacts related to human rights in the value chain and our material risks related to reputational damage from human rights violations, as well as the loss of skilled workers in the value chain, our Code of Conduct and Human Rights Policy Statement act as overarching documents outlining our general commitments to value chain workers. The HSSE Directive and Corporate Procurement Directive set out specific requirements for value chain workers hired by OMV, including those providing outsourced services (e.g., security, catering) and equipment suppliers performing regular maintenance at OMV-controlled sites, as specified in their contracts.
Code of Conduct
For the Code of Conduct, unless otherwise specified, the key contents of the policy that are relevant for S2 Workers in the Value Chain, the process for monitoring, the scope of the policy, involvement of senior-level management, reference to third-party standards (where relevant), interests of key stakeholders in setting the policy (where relevant), and how the policy is made available to potentially affected stakeholders are covered under ESRS 2 Overarching Policies. Our Code of Conduct applies to all workers in the value chain equally. Through our Code of Conduct we oppose forced labor, slavery, child labor, and human trafficking. Our supply chain partners are required to sign our Code of Conduct and agree to these commitments as part of their contract. OMV reserves the right to terminate relationships with suppliers if any instances of non-compliance with our Code of Conduct are discovered and if non-compliance is not addressed in a timely manner.
Human Rights Policy Statement
For the Human Rights Policy Statement, unless otherwise specified, the key contents of the policy that are relevant for S2 Workers in the Value Chain, the process for monitoring, the scope of the policy, involvement of senior-level management, reference to third-party standards (where relevant), interests of key stakeholders in setting the policy (where relevant), and how the policy is made available to potentially affected stakeholders are covered under ESRS 2 Overarching Policies. Our Human Rights Policy Statement applies to all workers in the value chain equally. Specific commitments for value chain workers outlined in the Human Rights Policy Statement include:
Health and Safety
OMV’s commitments to respecting the human rights of our own workforce and all value chain workers according to the ILO’s Fundamental Conventions and Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work are summarized in S1-1 Policies Related to Own Workforce. A central human right is the right to a healthy and safe workplace. Therefore, for our value chain workers specifically, we are committed to upholding standards to ensure healthy and safe working environments. Our Safety Management System is founded on the OMV Group HSSE Strategy, the HSSE Directive, and various corporate regulations. By signing our General Purchase Conditions, contractors and suppliers commit to adhering to the same human rights standards that are also outlined in our Code of Conduct. We seek to work with suppliers and contractors who respect our principles and we request that our business partners also pass these requirements, as applicable, on to their own business partners, thus supporting strong human rights principles across the value chain.
Due Diligence and Engagement
In line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, our human rights due diligence (DD) activities involve continuous engagement and consultation with external stakeholders, including those impacted by our operations. We are dedicated to adopting a rights holder perspective, ensuring that, alongside business-related risks, actual and potential impacts on human rights are professionally assessed and appropriately addressed. OMV engages with value chain workers through annual surveys and regular town hall meetings. Some examples of this engagement include running supplier audits and assessments, holding service quality meetings, hosting forums and safety performance meetings with contractors, conducting HSSE walks with contractor managers at their facilities, and organizing annual meetings with strategic suppliers and sustainability supplier day events. For more details, see S2-2 Processes for Engaging with Value Chain Workers about Impacts. To remediate negative human rights impacts that may affect our value chain workers, we provide grievance mechanisms that allow them to report their concerns – if they wish, they can even do so anonymously. For more details, see S2-3 Processes to Remediate Negative Impacts and Channels for Value Chain Workers to Raise Concerns.
Alignment with Internationally Recognized Instruments
The OMV Human Rights Policy Statement and the OMV Human Rights Management System are grounded in international human rights standards and laws, including the International Bill of Human Rights, international humanitarian law (where applicable), International Labour Organization (ILO) core treaties, the UN Global Compact, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Being an engaged member of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs) Initiative, we also commit to acting in accordance with these principles and the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC). OMV is further committed to complying with the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 and publishes a Statement on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking every year, explaining the steps we have taken, and continue to take, to prevent modern slavery or human trafficking within OMV’s value chain and associated businesses.
HSSE Directive
For the HSSE Directive, unless otherwise specified, the key contents of the policy that are relevant for S2 Workers in the Value Chain, the process for monitoring, the scope of the policy, involvement of senior-level management, reference to third-party standards (where relevant), interests of key stakeholders in setting the policy (where relevant), and how the policy is made available to potentially affected stakeholders are covered under ESRS 2 Overarching Policies. As mentioned above, our HSSE Directive applies to all workers in the value chain equally.
Contractor HSSE Management Standard
The Contractor HSSE Management Standard provides guidelines on managing the negative impact arising from failure to ensure adequate health and safety conditions, and therefore contributes to the safety of our value chain workers under OMV management control. It defines key HSSE responsibilities for all OMV employees, partners, and contractors who are expected to adhere to the guidelines stipulated in the HSSE Directive and our management system. Our chemicals subsidiary, Borealis, is committed to implementing the guidelines of the Responsible Care Global Charter, which is the chemical industry’s voluntary initiative aimed at continuous improvement in health and safety performance. The effectiveness of all our HSSE policies is monitored periodically by the respective functions through audits, HSSE assessments, site walks, and by tracking progress against targets.
This standard also applies to value chain workers of OMV globally who are under OMV management control, with specific provisions for local legal compliance being considered. This includes OMV Aktiengesellschaft and all its subsidiaries, Borealis GmbH, and OMV Petrom S.A., along with their respective subsidiaries. Minor exclusions apply, for instance within Borealis, where separate guidelines that cover entity-specific operational incidents are provided. The policy also applies to value chain workers, including external experts who provide subject matter advice to OMV Group companies, as well as all contractor employees. Members of the Executive Board represent the most senior level accountable for approving and implementing the standard. Detailed health and safety management aspects defined by the standard are addressed during contractor onboarding sessions, while other relevant aspects for suppliers are incorporated into contractual agreements.
Corporate Procurement Directive
The Corporate Procurement Directive outlines the framework, principles, and rules for managing procurement activities within OMV, including supplier relationship management, procurement processes, and contract management. It emphasizes the importance of early procurement involvement, ethical values, and compliance with legal requirements, ensuring transparency, efficiency, and value creation. The document outlines the overall process of supplier engagement and management, detailing how human rights aspects are integrated into supplier prequalification, audits, and meetings. The directive thereby sets the framework for our target related to supplier evaluations (see S2-5 Targets Related to Value Chain Workers) and its effectiveness is monitored through the progress against this target by the Strategy & Digitalization procurement unit. By embedding human rights in these key procurement activities, we ensure that our supply chain operates ethically and responsibly, upholding internationally recognized human rights standards. This approach leads to improved working conditions and opportunities for workers throughout the value chain and further reduces the risk of reputational damage related to disparities in treatment. The directive thus addresses both our negative and positive material impacts related to the application of human rights principles, and the risk of reputational damage caused by disparities in treatment and opportunities for workers in the value chain.
The policy also sets qualitative objectives related to the social practices of suppliers by defining two criteria for evaluating the sustainability performance of bidders during the commercial evaluation: participation in the EcoVadis assessment and completion of the climate change questionnaire, as outlined in the “Evaluate Bids” section of the Corporate Procurement Directive. Biannual checks and progress tracking against targets are carried out by the Governance & Analytics and Strategy & Digitalization procurement units to monitor the effectiveness of the Corporate Procurement Directive’s implementation. For the Corporate Procurement Directive, unless otherwise specified, the process for monitoring, the scope of the policy, involvement of senior-level management, reference to third-party standards (where relevant), interests of key stakeholders in setting the policy (where relevant), and how the policy is made available to potentially affected stakeholders are covered in G1 Business Conduct. This policy applies to suppliers and contractors. The directive stipulates specific requirements with regards to:
Prequalification
The Corporate Procurement Directive requires a comprehensive prequalification process for suppliers to ensure alignment with our environmental, social, economic, and sustainable procurement standards from the very start of our business relationship. Through such measures, we aim to minimize the likelihood of negative impacts and risks related to human rights deficiencies and to create an environment conducive to positive impacts in the value chain upfront. For more details, see G1 Business Conduct.
Supplier Selection
A similar logic applies to supplier selection, where stringent criteria ensure that contractors are aware of and align with our standards, thereby creating a supply chain that is less susceptible to human rights violations, which consequently can lead to negative impacts on workers in the value chain and reputational risks for OMV. For more details, see G1 Business Conduct.
Enterprise-Wide Risk Management Standard
For the Enterprise-Wide Risk Management Standard, unless otherwise specified, the key contents of the policy that are relevant for S2 Workers in the Value Chain, the process for monitoring, the scope of the policy, involvement of senior-level management, reference to third-party standards (where relevant), interests of key stakeholders in setting the policy (where relevant), and how the policy is made available to potentially affected stakeholders are covered under ESRS 2 Overarching Policies. The EWRM Standard applies to all workers in the value chain equally.