The management of supplier relationships in the upstream value chain is integral to our sustainability strategy.
Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with strategy and business model related to workers in the value chain [S2.SBM-3]
We exert influence on society and the environment through our procurement activities and supplier relationships. At the same time, potential violations of human rights in the upstream value chain can in general lead to operational disruptions, legal consequences and financial losses. That is why economic as well as ethical, social and environmental principles are anchored in our procurement processes. As regards the subject of human rights, we focus especially on our supply chain because we are affiliated with a large number of internal and external workers.
We take the following types of workers into account when managing the impacts and risks affecting workers in our value chain:
Workers at Bayer sites who are not part of our own workforce, such as craftspersons performing work at our sites
Workers of suppliers in Bayer’s upstream value chain, such as employees in active ingredient production facilities from which we procure raw materials to manufacture our products, or workers involved in the extraction of minerals or in the agricultural sector
The risk of human rights violations (such as the disregard of the freedom of coalition or association and rights to collective bargaining, child labor, forced labor, discrimination and general occupational injuries) is a fundamental risk in the supply chain and therefore also a risk for us. Insufficient checks of our suppliers could lead to illegal practices such as child and forced labor remaining undetected, which can have significant negative impacts on vulnerable groups such as minors. To identify violations, we examine the information from the grievance management system and analyze the audit reports from Bayer’s internal HSE auditors and the audits conducted by external auditors according to the standards of the industry initiatives Together for Sustainability (TfS) and the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI). We also take into consideration cases that are notified directly to us via other means, such as inquiries from public authorities, cases reported in the media or grievances from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
A detailed risk analysis is undertaken annually (including in 2025) for the seed supply chain to find out in which countries we need to intensify our efforts to prevent and mitigate human rights risks. The risk of human rights violations in the seed supply chain is generally potentially higher in India, Malawi, Peru, Thailand and the Republic of Zambia.
The risk of violations of the aforementioned human rights is fundamentally a broad challenge in the agriculture industry. For example, child labor is a general problem in various regions, especially Asia-Pacific. We have therefore operated an established internal monitoring and awareness program in the identified high-risk countries for years. For more information on the Child Care Program, please see the section “Management of impacts and risks related to workers in the value chain.” There is also a risk of isolated, individual incidents such as production accidents among our suppliers (please see Chapter A 4.2.3 Pollution).
We are also committed to ensuring the safety of our contractors at our own facilities, since they could, for example, be at risk through their work at our plants. To do so, we have created a program for contractor and visitor safety to integrate holistic safety management policies and define a common approach to managing risks in connection with contractors.
The focus is on four elements:
Training of our managers to ensure competent oversight
Selection and classification of contractors according to potential HSE risks
Pre-job activities, including site induction and on-site registration, compliance management and coordination/communication
Assessments during and after work to assess and evaluate contractor adherence to our HSE processes