We transport more than 1.2 million people across Hamburg every day. We being the 6,000 or so employees who work at HOCHBAHN. It goes without saying that we have a special responsibility for the people of this city and our team.
In doing so, we refer to the objectives and values of the UN Global Compact, which HOCHBAHN committed to in 2017 and which forms an integral part of the HOCHBAHN#2030 corporate strategy and our business processes.
And we also take responsibility globally.
GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY - WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL FOR HOCHBAHN?
Sustainable procurement plays an important role for us because products are often manufactured in global supply chains. Hence, our responsibility for the protection of the environment and people does not end at our own operating sites in Hamburg, but also extends to the suppliers of the products and services we procure.
Whether operating locally or globally, we expect from our suppliers and service providers that they assume the same level of responsibility as we do. The specific requirements we place on our business partners are outlined in our Code of Conduct for Suppliers and Business Partners: Compliance with Human Rights and Labour Standards, Environmental Protection and Corporate Ethics. It forms a binding and integral part of the contract for all procurement transactions except for non-critical small orders.
OUR RISK-BASED PROCUREMENT APPROACH
The Code of Conduct therefore plays a key role in our business relationships with suppliers and other partners. In the case of high-risk products such as electric buses, for example, we even go one step further: We also applied sustainability criteria in the awarding of contracts for electric buses. The tender we completed in 2020 was the largest tender of electric busses in Germany by then. We were considering in particular potential negative ecological and social impacts in battery production. We also took sustainability criteria into account in tenders for e-bus charging technology or IT outsourcing.
In this way, we pursue the goal of creating transparency in the supply chain, minimising risks and working towards improvements in environmental and social standards.
We are currently developing our approach further in the light of the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz/LkSG)
Our complaints procedure
Our electronic whistleblowing system is the central channel for submitting complaints about potential human rights violations. Information about violations of human rights and environmental due diligence obligations and risks caused by HOCHBAHN, our subsidiaries or our suppliers can be submitted anonymously and free of charge here: www.bkms-system.net/hochbahn.
Further information on the complaints procedure is described in the Rules of Procedure.
