Danone’s mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible begins in healthy and safe workplaces for all employees and contractors. Operating in over 55 countries with a workforce exceeding 96,000, Danone required a scalable health and safety solution for reporting incidents and observations that could grow alongside their evolving needs.
Highlights
Reporting tool for everyone
Insightful analytics based on high-quality data collection
Holistic contractor safety management program
Challenges
1
Need for scalable, user-friendly software platform
2
Missing full transparency of safety data
3
Management of contractor safety complexity
Danone needed an intuitive, user-friendly software tool to engage employees in its health and safety program. Without employee participation, it is impossible to collect data to understand health and safety risks. As Danone planned to expand its health and safety program, it needed a scalable software platform capable of integrating all safety activities over time, including health and safety and control of work. While they successfully reduced accidents, some serious incidents persisted, primarily involving contractors. Managing Danone’s contractor health and safety is complex due to varied contractual arrangements, service delivery models, and risk categories. They often perform high-risk activities, necessitating strict adherence to Danone’s safety standards.
Solution
Danone implemented the SpheraCloud software platform to future-proof their EHS program. The initial rollout included incident management and action software, with audits and contractor management as subsequent steps. The intuitive and user-friendly SpheraCloud First Report portal ensures all employees, including contractors, can report incidents, near misses and safety observations. This engagement is critical for workplace safety, to act quickly on incidents with corrective actions and remediations but it also helps to prevent future events from happening by providing valuable data through near-misses and observations. In order to improve the collected health and safety data, Danone has set up specific workflows to evaluate and ensure data quality.
Danone’s comprehensive contractor management program is designed to ensure the highest safety standards by treating contractors as partners. This program begins with a thorough contractor selection process that evaluates health and safety policies and anticipates potential risks. Contractors are integrated into Danone’s safety processes, gaining access to essential tools like incident reporting systems. Regular reviews with contractors help address challenges and assess both health and safety performance. Risk identification is conducted using a control of work tool tailored to specific contractor activities. A visual dashboard tracks performance trends, identifies risk hotspots, and outlines necessary actions. Additionally, specific contractor assessments are carried out through Danone’s health and safety audit program to ensure compliance across all sites.
Results
796% increase in reported observations after adoption phase
21% decrease in frequency rate between 2021 and 2024
Full visibility into event details (frequency/types)
The adoption of the SpheraCloud First Report tool has led to a remarkable 796% increase in reported events by enabling front-line workers to report near-misses and safety observations through a single, integrated system. This consolidated approach delivers comprehensive insights into safety data, including event types, frequency, and hazard categories.
Danone leverages this data to pinpoint the root causes of accidents, near-misses, and observations, translating these insights into targeted actions and enhanced training programs.
By proactively analyzing existing data, they can identify risks early, minimizing the likelihood of future incidents—especially those with high potential for severity or fatalities. Guided by a steadfast commitment to workplace safety, Danone reinforces its core belief: even one incident is one too many.
