Published 03-01-24
Submitted by Walgreens Boots Alliance
An undeniable correlation exists between employee wellness and a business' overall health. Health, safety and well-being are core to Walgreens Boots Alliance’s purpose and heritage to inspire more joyful lives through better health. We recognize that each of our team members has their own needs, challenges, hopes and dreams. We have created a workplace where team members feel supported, respected and celebrated for being their authentic selves.
WBA encourages open dialogue and constructive feedback from our stakeholders, including employees, to help ensure we achieve best practices. We also require all segments, businesses and corporate functions to have formal governance processes in place for health and safety matters in the operations for which they are responsible. Please see how we have engaged with priority stakeholders in our 2023 Environmental, Social & Governance Report.
To create a safe and productive workplace, employees across our businesses are provided with avenues to report questions or concerns, including contacting management; calling a toll-free, confidential hotline; submitting an online report; contacting the Compliance Officer or department and/or contacting human resources.
The safety of our employees is of the utmost importance to WBA. As such, we routinely look for ways to prioritize safety and education trainings.
In fiscal 2023, Boots UK continued evolving our digital incident reporting management system. We consolidated two third-party management systems that managed different parts of the business into one, all-encompassing system. This has helped to streamline the data collection process and makes action against incident reports more effective.
In Boots stores, routine safety inspections enable a real-time view of compliance. This program continues to develop and plans to simplify it to be more practical and effective are being developed.
Boots UK is working with Primary Authorities to gain assurances around workplace safety. Working alongside Primary Authorities has helped Boots to review existing safety protocols and to work towards the development of new pieces of assured advice.
Maintaining a safe stockroom environment helps protect our Walgreens team members, which is the reason for implementing our Safety Focused Stockroom program. This program prioritizes maintaining a clean, neat, and organized stockroom and lowering product stored in the stockroom. Stores can effectively reduce the risk of an incident occurring and achieve a safety focused stockroom environment.
Walgreens has programs in place to support customers and team members through incident management. Our Customer Care Advocate Program proactively offers support to customers who have reported an in-store incident. Our Nurse Triage Program is an upstream process for team members that provides timely quality care following a workplace injury. Through the service, team members with workplace injuries can call and speak to a registered nurse to determine the appropriate first level of care.
For more information on WBA’s employee health, safety and well-being initiatives please see the latest ESG Report.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) is an integrated healthcare, pharmacy and retail leader serving millions of customers and patients every day, with a 170-year heritage of caring for communities.
A trusted, global innovator in retail pharmacy with approximately 13,000 locations across the U.S., Europe and Latin America, WBA plays a critical role in the healthcare ecosystem. The company is reimagining local healthcare and well-being for all as part of its purpose – to create more joyful lives through better health. Through dispensing medicines, improving access to a wide range of health services, providing high quality health and beauty products and offering anytime, anywhere convenience across its digital platforms, WBA is shaping the future of healthcare.
WBA employs more than 325,000 people and has a presence in nine countries through its portfolio of consumer brands: Walgreens, Boots, Duane Reade, the No7 Beauty Company, Benavides in Mexico and Ahumada in Chile. Additionally, WBA has a portfolio of healthcare-focused investments located in several countries, including China and the U.S.
The company is proud of its contributions to healthy communities, a healthy planet, an inclusive workplace and a sustainable marketplace. WBA has been recognized for its commitment to operating sustainably: the company is an index component of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and was named to the 100 Best Corporate Citizens 2022.
More from Walgreens Boots Alliance