Social responsibility Metsä Board’s operations related to social and personnel matters follow the following policies, principles and management systems: • Metsä Group’s Code of Conduct • Metsä Group’s Supplier Code of Conduct • Equality Policy • HR Policy • Occupational Safety and Well-being instructions • ISO 45001 • Metsä Group Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement • UN Global Compact Human rights Metsä Board respects internationally recognised human rights in all its operations, in accordance with the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The company complies with legal reporting obligations, such as the UK Modern Slavery Act, and does not tolerate child or forced labour. The company is committed to operating in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and expects its business partners to do the same. Metsä Board supports the UN Global Compact initiative and its principles on human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. Metsä Board does not tolerate human rights abuses in any form and is committed to ensuring that its operations do not have negative human rights impacts. Human rights issues are addressed, among others, which all employees are required to complete on a regular basis. Such trainings include the Code of Conduct, sustainability, as well as diversity, equality and inclusion. In the company’s own operations, investments in occupational safety as well as the development of diversity, equality and inclusion were key measures affecting the realisation of human rights in 2022. The Supplier Code of Conduct sets out requirements for suppliers to fulfil their human rights responsibilities. The company mapped potential human rights risks related to its supply chain or customers as part of Know Your Business Partner background checks. In 2022, the company was not aware of any human rights violations related to its operations or supply chain. Metsä Board is committed to developing an equal culture where personal characteristics such as gender, age, ethnic background, sexual orientation or disability do not affect a person’s ability to succeed in the workplace. Metsä Board promotes diversity, equality and inclusion of its employees through the Metsä for All vision, launched in 2021, and through the equality targets. The targets support, among other things, gender equality in the work community and diversity in recruitment. Key performance indicators are reported in the table Non-financial key figures. Personnel and safety at work At the end of 2022, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees was 2,248 (31 December 2021: 2,389), of whom 1,226 (1,416) were employed in Finland. In January–December, Metsä Board employed an average of 2,352 people (1–12/2021: 2,461). The changes in the number of employees were mainly due to the sale of Oy Hangö Stevedoring Ab to Euroports Oy in the first quarter of 2022. Personnel expenses for
January–December totalled EUR 217.4 million (216.0). Metsä Board aims to ensure the availability and retention of skilled personnel by investing in employer image, development programmes and succession planning. Future retirements are prepared for via retirement forecasts and resource plans based on those. The company also organises apprenticeships train- ing in Finland, aiming to recruit future personnel, and the mill units invest in on-the-job learning and the sharing of know-how. The risks related to staff availability and retention are anticipated through early support discussions and solutions between supervisors and employees, anticipating possible working capacity risks, and targeting guidance and support to risk groups. The company conducts a personnel survey, measuring job satisfaction, and an ethics barometer, measuring the personnel’s view on the realisation of the Code of Conduct in practice, in alternate years. The result of the ethics barometer, an ethics index of 85% (2020: 85), shows that there is a high level of awareness of ethical requirements, personnel feel the issue is important and that the company is acting ethically and correctly. There is room for improvement in the equal treatment of personnel and in the culture of having the courage to report and address unethical behaviour. Metsä Board’s aims for an accident-free working environment. In developing occupational safety, the focus is on personal risk assessment, improving safety at work and introducing common safety-at-work standards. The measures contributed to a positive development of work safety at Metsä Board’s mills in 2022, but the accident frequency rate is still high compared to the zero target. In 2022, the Total Recordable Injury Frequency (TRIF) was 6.7 (9.8) while the Lost-time accident frequency (LTA1F) was 5.4 (7.0). The most common causes of accidents were injuries to hands. Accidents are prevented through common safety-at-work stand- ards, proactive measures – such as risk assessment, safety observations, safety walkthroughs and safety training – and investments improving safety. All Metsä Board mills and the company’s head office apply the 5S method, which aims to increase productivity, safety and wellbeing at work. Due to the corona pandemic, remote working was extended until summer 2022 for those jobs where possible. From August 2022, a hybrid model was introduced, whereby remote working can take place part of the week, depending on the nature of the work. Anti-corruption, anti-bribery and corporate culture Metsä Board’s operations related to anti-corruption, anti-bribery and corporate culture follow the following policies, principles and management systems: • Metsä Group’s Code of Conduct • Metsä Group’s Supplier Code of Conduct • UN Global Compact Metsä Board expects it personnel to comply with applicable legislation, act with integrity and make ethically sustainable decisions. The Code of Conduct and the related training programme aim to strengthen the culture of doing the right thing, to help personnel identify ethically challenging sit- uations and to encourage them reporting any shortcomings they observe. The company’s personnel are required to attend training on the Code of Conduct every three years. By the end of 2022, 70% of the company’s personnel had completed the online training on the Code of Conduct published in November 2022. The previous version of the corresponding online training was completed by 100% (99) of the personnel. The Code of
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Report of the Board of Directors | METSÄ BOARD ANNUAL AND SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2022
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