Occupational Health And Safety

OHS Policy

Ziraat Bank implements a comprehensive range of regulations to ensure occupational health and safety in working environments and to improve existing health and safety conditions.

The purpose of Ziraat Bank’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) policy is to guide activities to create a healthy and safe working environment for all Ziraat Bank employees. With its OHS policy, Ziraat Bank supports the management of occupational health and safety activities carried out by OHS professionals based on the principle of “Occupational Health and Safety Comes First” with the awareness that its most valuable asset is its employees.
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This policy covers all Ziraat Bank employees, the employees of subcontractor/supplier companies, and visitors.
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Ziraat Bank implements a comprehensive range of regulations to ensure occupational health and safety in working environments and to improve existing health and safety conditions.
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Ziraat Bank aims to provide a safe and healthy working environment within the framework of the Occupational Health and Safety Management System, which is based on continuous improvement and compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Law and related legislation and regulations. In this regard, the Bank carries out activities to analyze and minimize health and safety risks within or outside the working environment.
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In this context, the Bank has authorized the Joint Health and Safety Unit (JHSU), which was established to provide occupational health and safety services for all units with the necessary equipment and personnel.
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With the mindset that “all accidents and occupational diseases are preventable,” the Bank regularly reviews its occupational health and safety systems and practices and aims to achieve zero occupational accidents and zero occupational diseases by raising the awareness of its employees on this issue.
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Ziraat Bank employs 2 full-time (Ankara and Istanbul) and 1 part-time (for Money Group Center employees) occupational physicians. Newly recruited employees, as well as the employees due for periodic health examinations, are examined by the Bank’s occupational physicians.

OHS Trainings

Regulating duties, powers, responsibilities, rights and obligations regarding occupational health and safety within the bank, preparing training programs to raise and develop awareness among employees in this field and taking necessary precautions to protect against work accidents and occupational diseases are among the areas which Ziraat Bank focuses on.
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Within the scope of Law on Occupational Health and Safety No. 6331 and related regulations, OHS training programs are assigned to employees and managers by the Banking School and Talent Management Department. As of year-end 2024, 24,880 employees received 67,501 hours of OHS training.
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On the other hand, 2,002 employees of the Bank have first aid certificates approved by the Ministry of Health.

Activities within the framework of occupational health and safety
at Ziraat Bank’s Istanbul Finance Center Campus:

Occupational Health and Safety Committee

Ziraat Bank Occupational Health and Safety Board convened twice on 27.03.2024-10.07.2024 and 23.10.2024 with the participation of employer representatives and board members.

Emergency and Evacuation

The emergency procedure was prepared.
Email messages were sent to the heads of departments for the formation of emergency teams and preparatory work has begun. It is stipulated that the Head of Talent Department will assign training to these teams.
An agreement was concluded with a consultancy, design, and training services firm for the creation of evacuation plans. The study is planned to be completed within two months.
A drill is planned to be held after the emergency processes are completed.
There are 522 fire extinguishers on the tower and podium floors of the Bank’s Istanbul Finance Center campus for protection against the risk of fire.

Risk Assessment

A risk assessment procedure has been prepared.
Letters of appointment for the risk assessment team have been drafted.
Risk analysis of the Podyum 3 gym has been conducted.
General risk analysis studies for Tower-1 are ongoing.
Building-wide updated risk analyses are being conducted along with field inspections.
It is planned that risk analyses will be updated at the end of the building handover process.

Occupational Safety Building Inspection

Building observation reports are prepared on a monthly basis by occupational safety specialists.
The findings of the prepared observation reports and the actions to be taken are communicated to the relevant units via e-mail.

Periodic Inspection of Work Equipment

A tracking table has been created to monitor the periodic inspections of all work equipment within the Bank.
The periodic inspections of work equipment reported to occupational safety are recorded in the tracking table.
In the tracking table, work equipment with expired periodic inspection periods are communicated to the relevant units to ensure the renewal of periodic inspections.

Monitoring Work Accidents

An accident tracking table has been created to monitor all work accidents which occur within the Bank.
Accidents intervened by the health unit are recorded in the accident tracking form and shared with occupational safety.
Root cause analyses are conducted for all work accidents to prevent their recurrence.
In the event of work accidents, post-accident training is assigned by the Talent
Management Department. Work accidents are reported to the Social Security Institution for Türkiye Statistical Institute data.

Environmental Measurements

On November 28-29-30, 2023, occupational hygiene test analysis measurements were carried out by an authorized company.

Lighting measurements
Thermal comfort measurements
Ambient noise measurements
Ambient breathable dust measurements
Chemical (VOC) measurement

Subcontractor Tracking

Monitoring of OHS assignments
Monitoring of employment training
Medical checks
Checks of training and directives
Follow-up of legal certificates and documents
Risk analysis, emergency and OHS Committee follow-up
Supervision of work equipment and use of PPE
Monitoring of MSDS forms
Warehouse and field work checks
Work accidents and near miss checks

The installation process of the OHS software purchased for the purpose of carrying out the activities listed below continues:

Collecting a wide range of data about work activities, managing and analyzing this data to provide insights into potential workplace accidents, and taking preventive measures,
Submitting to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security any requested documents and information,
Tracking and managing occupational health and safety obligations for all units from a single centralized location.

During the construction of the Ziraat Towers in the Istanbul Finance Center, the highest level of attention was given to workplace accidents, as well as the associated risks of death and injury. In this context, a total of 24,880 people were provided with pre-employment training to inform employees of their legal rights and responsibilities regarding OHS, to evaluate the occupational risks they can be exposed to and the precautions they should take against these risks, and to raise OHS awareness and train them with respect to the behaviors appropriate for the job.
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A total of 90 Occupational Health and Safety Professionals, a clinic with 4 Occupational Health Physicians and 2 Health Officers, along with a 24/7 ambulance service, are present at the construction site.
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In 2024, a total of 2,701 new recruits were hired at various levels within Ziraat Bank for deployment in different positions.

Occupational Health and Safety Key Performance Indicators
Indicator	Status
Number of Lost Day¹	55
Accident Frequency Rate²	5.82
Frequency Rate of Accidents Requiring First Aid	17.91
Accidents Requiring Medical Intervention	6
Number of Employees Who Had Accidents	13
Accident Severity Rate³	24.62

1 A measure of the total number of working days lost due to work accidents.
2 Used to define the number of occupational accidents in a given working period.
3 Total number of days lost due to occupational accidents in a given period of working period