Health and safety at work

The health of employees is a top priority at Galenica. Appropriate measures are aimed at preventing physical and psychological damage and actively promoting health in the workplace, especially in areas with an increased risk of accidents, such as Wholesale & Logistics and Pharmacies. We strive to avoid health risks and enhance the overall well-being of our employees. Rapid reintegration after an illness or accident helps to promote personal well-being while minimising costs.

Our objective

We strive to minimise any negative impact on the physical or mental health of our employees as much as possible.

Our management approach

We take a holistic approach that encompasses safety in day-to-day operations as well as the long-term health promotion of our employees. The protection of health and safety is set out in the Code of Conduct. People & Culture bears responsibility and regularly analyses employee absences to support the implementation of appropriate measures.

We put in place measures to protect employee health and maintain safety in the workplace pursuant to the directives of the Federal Coordination Commission for Occupational Safety (FCOS). At the end of 2024, Galenica developed a company-wide workplace health management (WHM) concept – with the involvement of a diverse group of employees on relevant WHM topics – and introduced it in the reporting year. In addition, feedback is collected on selected measures such as health training or mental health offers.

Galenica promotes health and well-being through flexible working models, paid breaks, a family-friendly policy and the option of purchasing additional days of holiday. Depending on the activity, procedures to support ergonomics and other measures complement this approach.

Employee representation at Galenica is organised on several levels – from local representatives to the works committee, which is in direct contact with the Executive Committee. The committees represent the interests of employees and raise concerns on topics such as working conditions, health protection and HR policy.

Long-term health promotion

The holistic approach at Galenica brings together workplace health management and issues relating to diversity and inclusion under one roof.

The services are divided into four thematic areas: “Occupational health and safety”, “Absence management”, “Workplace health promotion” and “Diversity and inclusion”. These cover aspects of health care, employee services, protection of personal integrity, anonymous external advice centres, equal opportunities, training and absence management.

As a preventive health protection measure, we offer a health check to all permanent employees aged 40 and over. Checks are carried out by the external partner Health & Medical Service Ltd. In 2025, 35 employees took advantage of the offer. Galenica also offers all employees a free flu vaccination every year. Pharmacy staff, as a particularly exposed group, also benefit from the COVID vaccination offer.

A wide range of health-related training programmes, e.g. resilience, managing one’s own health or psychological safety, is available to employees. In addition, partnerships have been established with fitness and wellness providers and hotels, where employees benefit from special conditions.

As well as physical health, at Galenica we also aim to focus on mental health. With the “Mental Health Days”, we launched an initial pilot project in the reporting year with the aim of raising employee awareness of the topic.

Galenica also operates a system of preventive case management in collaboration with the daily sickness allowance insurance in order to identify potential health risks for employees and introduce appropriate measures before an absence occurs. If an absence has already occurred, the classic system of case management applies: this tool is deployed within the first 30 days of absence. The top priority is to ensure that the employee can return to work quickly following an illness or accident.

Galenica is working with the organisations Movis and Carelink to improve health protection. Carelink offers emergency psychological support in crisis situations, for example following a robbery of a pharmacy. Movis offers support for employees in various areas of life, including in protecting their personal integrity as well as to coping with stress and preventing burnout.

The total number of cases of long-term absences (>30 days) due to mental illness is known. In order to ensure anonymity, however, Galenica only receives the proportion of cases due to mental illness from the daily allowance insurance records in the event of a large number of cases. The exact illness-related reason for the absence is unknown. This means that no conclusions can be drawn and privacy protection is guaranteed.

Compared to the previous year, the number of cases due to mental illness continued to rise. However, with an increase of 13.7%, the increase compared to the increase between 2023 and 2024 was significantly lower.

Occupational safety and accident prevention

To ensure the safety of our employees, safety officers have been appointed in the Pharmacies and Wholesale & Logistics divisions who are responsible for the implementation and further development of occupational safety practices. In the pharmacies, two specially trained employees perform this role. Crisis management processes define group-wide contact persons for each business area. Fire protection officers and help teams at all sites also ensure evacuation safety and first aid.

Due to the increased risk of accidents, Galexis and Alloga have an integrated reporting system for safety incidents that includes systematic absence management to identify safety-relevant situations and systematically record and present accident reports transparently. Reports are submitted via the online form. Interviews on returning to work after prolonged absences and in the event of conspicuous absences are an integral part of this system. Together with Suva, regular training courses on accident prevention and safety culture are offered – including courses on ergonomics and tripping hazards. Galexis and Alloga have been members of the Suva Safety Charter since 2024.

External safety consultants conduct safety audits at least every two years to regularly review the safety systems, particularly in the Wholesale & Logistics division. At Alloga and Galexis, internal safety audits (inspections) are also carried out on a monthly basis with the corresponding department heads, and measures to improve occupational safety are identified and documented. In the reporting year, 204 audits were carried out across all operational departments. These aim to make employees aware of operational risks.

Awareness-raising measures were carried out to reduce the number of workplace accidents, including driving safety and ecodrive courses for drivers, elimination of tripping hazards during deliveries, poster campaign “Clever solution saves time and pain”, remodelling of postal shipping area with a focus on improved conveyor technology and ergonomics and adaptation of the crate loading point to improve ergonomics. Organisational (e.g. process or storage space optimisation) and personal (e.g. conduct, order, training) measures were also implemented.

Work-related injuries and illnesses