Modern slavery act statement

BSH Home Appliances Limited – anti-slavery and human trafficking statement

BSH Home Appliances Limited is committed to improving our practices and driving out acts of modern day slavery and human trafficking from within our business and from within our supply chains. We acknowledge the responsibilities within the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and are committed to ensuring transparency within our organisation and with our suppliers of goods and services.

Our Business

BSH Home Appliances Limited is part of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH which is a manufacturer of home appliances in Europe and one of the leading companies in the sector worldwide. The Group head office is in Munich, Germany. The Group has around 63,000 employees worldwide. BSH has 39 factories worldwide and produces the entire range of home appliances.

Our Policies on Slavery and Human Trafficking

We have appropriate policies in place that underpin our commitment to socially and ecologically responsible corporate action. We continuously review and update our policies.

Our Business Conduct Guidelines constitute the global standard guide for our conduct and business activities. BSH has a clear principle that, BSH management and all employees, always respect applicable laws and comply with internal rules. The Business Conduct Guidelines build a bridge between our values and the specific requirements of laws, our policies and regulations. In addition, the Business Conduct Guidelines describe our commitment to acting reliably, sustainably and with integrity.

The Business Conduct Guidelines translate regulatory topics, our values, and our principles into daily actions. They provide guidance on what’s right and what’s wrong. They set boundaries and formulate how we want to work at BSH.

Due Diligence Processes

Since 2004, BSH has belonged to the United Nations Global Compact as part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk. We support the ten principles of the Global Compact and, in compliance with our values, use the intentional network in order to set higher standards in human and worker’s rights, as well as in environmental protection and the fight against corruption.

BSH is committed to this initiative’s ten global principles in the areas of human rights, working standards, environmental protection and the fight against corruption. BSH will not work with any supplier who have demonstrably and repeatedly failed to comply with basic ILO labour standards.

Compliance in our global supply chain

It is our goal to meet our consumers’ expectations of a product that has been created in a socially and ecologically responsible manner, and to fulfil human rights and environmental due diligence obligations along the supply chain. A common understanding of responsible behaviour therefore is the basis of our collaboration with our suppliers, who are committed to the BSH Supplier Code of Conduct.

The BSH Supplier Code of Conduct is based on the UN Global Compact, the International Bill of Human Rights, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

The BSH Supplier Code of Conduct requires the observance of all applicable laws and regulations and further contains the following topics and principles:

• Social responsibility, which includes e.g. human rights, non-discrimination, the ban on forced labour and dealing with conflict minerals
• Ecological responsibility, which includes e.g. environmental protection and climate protection
• Legally impeccable business conduct, including with regard to corruption and bribery, money laundering, fair competition, customs and export control regulations and data protection and data security

The requirements and principles set out are an essential part of the contractual obligations and cooperation with our suppliers. Therefore, the supplier assures to comply with and promote these principles and to train its employees regularly and appropriately on the contents.

To ensure compliance along the supply chain, BSH suppliers also commit their sub-suppliers to the principles of the BSH supplier code of conduct.

Systematic audits

BSH audits all prospective production suppliers before awarding any contracts and also systematically audits all of our existing suppliers. We have been auditing 200 of these suppliers each year. They are selected based on the risk ratings of groups and countries of materials.

In addition, production suppliers must provide evidence of successful completion of a social audit by an external auditor. The social audits are commissioned directly by the suppliers themselves. BSH receives the results of the audits including details of any action required. Based on a four step ranking system – critical, major divergence, minor divergence, compliant – the cases of suppliers assessed as “critical” or that diverge from requirements are escalated accordingly. This can lead to another audit or even termination of the business relationship. A specialised team from Global Supply Chain division verifies compliance with these framework requirements and is also responsible for annual auditing.

Communication and training of all involved

The BSH Purchasing team lays the foundation for uniform, transparent procurement processes in our global supply chain. This part of our company is characterized by clearly defined roles and responsibilities as well as uniform reporting. BSH uses a management system and a clear guiding framework to set out the standards for supply functions and the internal rules that must be observed. In addition, linked sub-systems provide structures, processes, rules and methods.

On a local level, the supply chain is managed by local Purchasing Managers, who are responsible for ensuring the supply chain within the UK business adheres to the standards prescribed by Group Head Office. The local supply chain deals predominantly with the purchasing of services. Employees with purchasing responsibilities have also been provided with training on the Modern Slavery Act.

Effectiveness

The following link provides an overview of the progress made in the most recent reporting period by BSH in relation to the ten principles of responsible corporate governance in Global Compact.

Source: United Nations Global Compact

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes BSH Home Appliances Limited’s slavery and human trafficking statement. The Board of Management of BSH Home Appliances Limited shall take responsibility for implementing this policy statement and shall provide adequate resources to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place within the organisation within its supply chains.

This policy was approved by the Board of Management in September 2023.