Worker Welfare
Care for our workers reflects our core values and our approach to safety. We also know that when people feel cared for, they perform at their best. Our ambition is to respect and promote the rights and welfare of our employees and contractors.
In line with Shell’s strategy, Powering Progress, we are powering lives and livelihoods through our products and activities, and by supporting an inclusive society. Our approach to human rights and commitment to Worker Welfare is an integral part of how we will do this and is informed by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Shell is committed to respecting human rights as set out in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
We have set clear standards for labour rights, living and working conditions for our employees and contractors. We strongly support the industry coalition Building Responsibly and have included their Worker Welfare principles into our own Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Social Performance (HSSE & SP) Control Framework, in order to implement them across our activities and contracts using a risk based approach. The Worker Welfare Manual outlines requirements for Shell and contractors on worker welfare risk assessments, welfare standards on working and living conditions and labour rights as well as worker feedback.
Our Supplier Principles lay out the commitments we expect suppliers to make when we do business together. We ask that all our suppliers are clear about what is expected of them and understand how to implement the principles in their supply chains related to the work they do for Shell. The Worker Welfare information pack provides support contractors and suppliers to better understand Worker Welfare risks and Shell’s expectations. We work closely together with our peers and contractors in associations like IOGP, IPIECA and Building Responsibly to raise the bar and drive consistency across the industry. As a result, more than 20 of our top contractors have now signed up to the Building Responsibly principles, which will impact over a million workers. To see examples of how these contractors and Shell have implemented the Building Responsibly principles, please see this booklet.
Implementing Worker Welfare principles: Good rest, food and communication
Shell Egypt and Badr El Din Petroleum Company sought to create a culture of worker welfare among its contractors. Together with our contractors safety targets were established, including the roll out of a Care for People programme. Research and questionnaires to get anonymous feedback from all workers at the start of the project helped to detect some of the main issues that were important to the workers. The feedback collected helped the project to prioritise areas for improvements, such as providing high quality living conditions, better food quality and WIFI accessible to all workers. These key points are closely aligned to important recommendations on IPIECA and Building Responsibly guidance, for example, providing good living conditions to enable rest, good food to enable physical health and wellbeing, and WIFI to allow workers to communicate with their families and alleviate homesickness.
Though these may seem like small steps to take, they have had a positive impact. Workers were more engaged and felt their concerns were being listened to and addressed where appropriate. The project was completed ahead of schedule, with reduced staff turnover and enhanced productivity, and has an outstanding HSE record, with Zero Lost Time Injuries.
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Human rights
Respect for human rights is fundamental to Shell’s core values of honesty, integrity and respect for people. We want to make a positive impact on society.
Our Values
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Commitments, policies and standards
Our comprehensive set of codes, policies and assurance processes define how we aim to operate in socially and environmentally responsible ways.