Note 39. Speak Up

Employees and external parties who witness a violation of the Code of Conduct, laws or our policies can report the violation, anonymously, through the global reporting tool Speak Up. They can also ask questions related to the Code of Conduct through Speak Up. 83 percent of the respondents in Sandvik’s 2018 Employee Engagement Survey said they were aware of the whistle blowing process and 74 percent said they trust the system. To increase the awareness and trust in Speak Up, a new Speak Up intranet site, including a toolbox dedicated to awareness material, was launched in 2019. A Speak Up nano-learning was also developed, which will be released in 2020 to follow up on the 2018 survey.

Speak Up is available through Sandvik’s internet and intranet portals, as well as through telephone hotlines 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in all major countries where Sandvik operates. Speak Up reports are screened, and each case is then assigned an investigator from the business area that conducts the investigation, supported by a specialist investigation function.

In 2019, 142 (206) Speak Up incidents were reported (see distribution in chart below). It took on average 85 days to close a Speak Up case and the substantiation rate amounted to 38 (62) percent. In 2019 the Speak Up process was reviewed by an internal audit, including closing of old cases which affected this year’s figures. Four percent of all Speak Up reports related to human rights matters.