Safety and security

Why safety and security matter

Safety and security at work is a basic human right. As a global employer, we have a duty of care for all our employees worldwide as well as anyone operating on our sites.

Constant care is a core value at Maersk. We see safety and security as our first ethical priority towards our employees, their families and our communities.

Our ambition

We ensure that everyone gets home safe by preventing fatal and life-altering incidents.

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Our targets

100%

Of Learning Teams completed following a High Potential Incident by 2024.

1,200

Global Leadership (top 1,200 leaders) upskilled in Maersk Safety & Security Principles.

Highlights in 2023

1.1%

Lost-time injury frequency rate

An increase from our 0.93 rate in 2022, partially driven by a positive increase in reported cases.

60 sites

Person/machine separation workshops

Frontline engagement to identify critical risks at sites with the highest risk of person/machine collisions.

25%

L&S incident reporting increase

An improving speak-up culture in our Logistics business that enhances risk understanding to help reduce severe incidents.

Priorities and actions

The safety and security of our people is one of the three core commitments in our ESG strategy. This ensures we continually work to eliminate fatalities and life-altering injuries and strive for as few lost time injuries as possible. We drive progress by focusing on key priority areas.

Creating the capacity to fail safely

We work to create open and trust-based environments that are conducive to reporting and learning from safety risks and incidents. If incidents do occur, our safety culture, processes and mitigating actions will have the resilience to ensure that no significant harm results.

Embedding Maersk Safety and Security Principles

Four strategic principles guide our work to embed safety into the fabric of our business.

We lead with care and will improve leadership capabilities
We learn and adapt and will build capacity to manage serious risks through controls and safeguards
We improve our culture of learning by promoting employee voices, engagement and knowledge sharing
We enhance foundations both structurally and operationally with simple, accessible tools and competent advice

Featured highlights and case stories

Increasing geopolitical instability

2023 saw a high level of geopolitical instability and conflict in many regions, driving increases in insurgency, theft, bribery, corruption, violence and drug trafficking. We have therefore increased our monitoring and analysis of Maersk-relevant instability and crime globally, implemented proportionate risk mitigation in areas of higher risk, and deployed loss prevention, assurance and security upskilling activities globally.

Mitigating safety risks

As part of our global integrator business strategy, Maersk has built a substantial global logistics operation and have gone from zero to hundreds of warehouses. The speed of this growth, as well as our expansion into new locations with diverse practices and safety cultures increases our risk profile.

Maersk is proactively addressing this challenge with a comprehensive Safety & Security Transformation Programme across our global transportation and fulfilment portfolios. In 2023, an ‘Essential 8’ global campaign was launched and rolled out across 348 warehouses and depots, to drive awareness and mitigation of eight critical hazards with potential to cause severe or even fatal harm.