Social responsibility

When talking about social responsibility at Konecranes, we talk about our own employees and all the people we have an impact on: workers in our supply chain, users of our products and the communities around us. Universal human rights are at the core of social responsibility. Human rights-related topics are owned and managed by several organizations across Konecranes. The role of the Sustainability team is to look at the big picture and ensure that salient risks are identified and organizational borders are not causing gaps for the efficient management of those risks. 

Human rights due diligence

By signing the United Nations Global Compact in 2010, Konecranes pledged to support and apply the Compact’s fundamental principles in the area of human rights and working conditions. We respect and promote the principles set in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of the International Labor Organization (ILO). We are also committed to adhering to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

We have incorporated our commitment to human rights into various policies that represent the minimum applicable standards to be used. Firstly, we have included the basic principles of human rights in our Code of Conduct. Konecranes Human Rights Policy builds on the human rights principles expressed in the Konecranes Code of Conduct. It gives guidance on the human rights due diligence process and summarizes our key commitments. Furthermore, we have a corporate policy, Fair Labor Frame, which sets a standard and ambition to workforce related activities, such as working hours and freedom of association. The Frame was updated in 2021 to strengthen our approach. Additionally, we have a Respect in the Workplace policy, which deals with equal opportunities and fair employment practices, and separate policies for Health & Safety and Diversity & Inclusion that also address human rights. To ensure human rights are respected in our supply chain, we have included our basic requirements in our Supplier Code of Conduct.

We have dedicated management processes and centralized compliance processes to preserve employee rights such as freedom of association and collective bargaining, and the right to freedom from harassment and discrimination. We do not accept the use of forced or child labor in any form. Human rights are also part of our Code of Conduct training material. Moreover, we have included elements of social responsibility in our supplier management, such as in the pre-assessments and in the audits run by supplier quality teams. We also publish topic-specific statements, like the anti-slavery and human trafficking statement in the United Kingdom.

To further improve our human rights due diligence, we conducted a human rights risk screening exercise in the spring of 2020. This work helped us focusing on the most critical processes, functions and/ or geographical locations. In 2020 we started third party supplier audits focusing on fair labor, anti-corruption, environmental and health & safety topics. From 2021 onwards we are conducting third party social responsibility assessments in our own operations located in high-risk countries. We ensure findings get closed locally and we will also develop global processes on topics recurring across the sites.