Corporate Policy & Code of Conduct

Here you will find our values for our actions and our principles for business decisions.

Corporate Policy

We are a growing, international technology company that offers its customers unique benefits with innovative products and services. The focus on processing media with products developed and produced in-house forms the basis for our business activities.

We enable our customers to optimize their production processes through individually adapted services. In this way, we strengthen your competitiveness. We provide this service faster, more flexibly and more effectively than our competitors and lay the foundation for success in the market with this advantage.

Oemeta Chemische Werke GmbH is committed to law-abiding and responsible conduct. This applies worldwide within the framework of the respective national and regional legal requirements, official regulations and accepted customs.

The benchmark for our actions is quality, environmental compatibility, sustainability and the protection of working people.

The following principles are therefore a central component of the company's policy:

  • We want to maintain - to achieve our goals - effective management systems according to DIN EN 9001:2015, DIN EN ISO 14001:2015 and for occupational health and safety.
  • We want to identify weak points - through regular checks, audits and inspections - and avoid them in the future in a suitable manner.
  • We want to continuously improve - through appropriate measures - our activities, our performance and our working environment. ➔ CIP - continuous improvement process.
  • The entire company is to be oriented towards the production of products and services of the highest possible quality.
  • We aim to assess, monitor and mitigate the impact of current activities on the local environment and the health of workers.
  • We aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacture of our products the raw materials used to make them and any another Oemeta business activities as far as possible.
  • We want to promote - through information and training - the environmental and quality awareness as weil as the occupational safety behaviour of our employees.
  • We regard compliance with public regulations and national legislation as a minimum standard at our sites.
  • We stand up for human rights and for compliance with minimum social and environmental standards in our supply chain.
  • We want to foster a culture of open communication and constructive criticism between our employees and managers.
  • We want to maintain an open and cooperative dialogue with auttiorities, neighbours and other interest groups.
  • We want to use natural resources as economically and effectively as possible and enable our customers to make their production processes more climate-friendly and sustainable.
  • We aim to identify and avoid safety risks by examining the impact on occupational safety and health protection of new systems and products.
  • We want to be prepared for unscheduled operating states through an appropriate crisis and emergency organisation in order to prevent greater damage.
  • We want to fulfil our social responsibility, among other things, through regular donations (Christmas campaign), which go to social projects in the region.
  • We want to sustainably expand and strengthen our attractiveness as an employer through appropriate measures based on our values - innovation and technology - internationality - career and family.

We commit ourselves to maintain and further develop the management systems DIN EN 9001 :2015, DIN EN ISO 14001 :2015 and the BG quality seal "Sicher mit System" and to provide the necessary means (resources) to a sufficient extent.
 

Code of Conduct (CoC)

We as Oemeta, are committed to social responsibility within the scope of our corporate activities and actively work to ensure that the values and principles set out below are observed and complied with by us on a sustainable basis.

Scope:

  • This CoC applies to all employees of the Group worldwide.

  • We are committed to promoting compliance with the contents of this CoC also among our suppliers and in the further value chain within the scope of our respective possibilities.

  • This also includes ensuring that potential risks, such as modern slavery or human trafficking, are excluded along the value chain.

1. Compliance and business ethics

We comply with applicable laws and other legal regulations. This applies worldwide in all countries in which we operate. Our actions are guided by generally applicable ethical values and principles, in particular:

  • Respect for human dignity
    Openness and non-discrimination with regard to different religions, world views, disabilities, age, gender and ethnic origin/- appearance, Rights of Minorities and lndigenous People
  • Prohibition of corruption and bribery, i.e., no offering and granting of unlawful advantages as well as no demanding and accepting of unlawful benefits
  • Acting in a competitive manner in accordance with applicable antitrust and competition law and in compliance with the prohibition of unauthorized agreements with third parties
  • Plagiarism harms fair competition and our brand. They will be pursued by legal means if detected by us in the marketplace
  • Avoidance of conflicts of interest
    We respect the personal interests of our employees and colleagues. At the same time, we attach importance to avoiding conflicts between private and business interests, or even the appearance thereof. We make our decisions solely on the basis of criteria and do not allow ourselves to be influenced by personal interests and relationships. l.e., in the case of a potential conflict of interest, the employee informs his or her superior or Human Resources. Together, solutions are sought that do not affect the interests of the company.

    Example: Your superior asks you to review quotes from several suppliers for raw materials. You discover that one of the most favourable offers comes from the company of a good friend.
    In this case, inform your supervisor of the situation and withdraw from the decision-making process to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest
  • Protection and respect of intellectual property of any kind, i.e., not only protection of our own intellectual property such as patents, trademarks, designs and trade secrets but also respect of the intellectual property and trade secrets of our business partners
  • Assuming financial responsibility and complying with the legal requirements of proper accounting and disclosure regulations are a matter of course for us
  • Export controls and economic sanctions
    Oemeta strictly adheres to legal requirements regarding the export or re-export of goods, services, software or technology, as well as to regulations restricting trade with certain countries, regions, companies, persons or other trading partners. Business partners and customers are also expected to comply with the legal requirements.
  • Whistleblowing and protection against retaliation

  • All employees and the management are called upon to report violations of the Oemeta Code of Conduct report. Oemeta guarantees the anonymity and protection from retaliation of anyone who wishes to report violations confidentially.

  • Disclosure of information
    An open information policy is important to be successful and to lead the Oemeta worldwide team. Therefore, Oemeta is conducting regularly meetings to exchange knowledge and inform about new developments, products, personnel and structural developments and measures, etc. Other Channels of gathering and publishing information are the Oemeta Intranet (Groupportal) and also frequently visits to the subsidiaries.
  • Compliance with relevant laws regarding personal data, e.g. DSGVO (germ.); GDPR (engl.); RGPD (fr.)
2. Basic rights of employees
  • We respect the privacy and personal rights of each individual employee.
  • The basis for the cooperation of all Oemeta employees is appreciative communication. Respectful, open and honest interaction with each other is essential.
  • We protect our employees from physical, sexual, psychological or verbal harassment and abuse.
  • We advocate a ban on forced labour of any kind.
  • lt is our imperative to comply with the protection rights of children and young people (prohibition of child labour).
  • lt is part of our corporate policy to ensure appropriate remuneration and to comply with applicable national regulations (e.g., minimum wage).
  • Our aspiration is to comply with the maximum working hours stipulated by law in the respective states.
  • We respect the right of employees to freedom of association and assembly to the extent that this is legally permissible and possible in the respective countries.
  • Workers are hired in accordance with international labor standards and in a fair and transparent manner that respects human rights.
  • lf not already mentioned in detail above, we would like to point out that Oemeta behaves in accordance with the basic principles of the ILO Core Labour Standards.
  • Oemeta admits to ethical recruitment according to the IRIS standard, which means hiring workers lawfully and in a fair and transparent manner that respects their ethical and professional conduct and protects their rights.
  • The IRIS Standard is a set of principles that define ethical recruitment.
  1. Prohibition of Recruitment Fees to Jobseekers
  2. Respect for Freedom of Movement
  3. Respect for Transparency of Terms and Conditions of Employment
  4. Respect for Confidentiality and Data Protection
  5. Respect for Access to Remedy

  • Oemeta is committed to improve equality, diversity and inclusion. Our work is based on building meaningful, enduring and respectful relationships across different cultures. We cannot do this without a strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

    Equality means fairness: we must ensure that individuals, or groups of individuals, are not treated less favorably because of their protected characteristics.

    Diversity is recognizing, respecting and celebrating each other's differences. A diverse environment is one with a wide range of backgrounds and mindsets, which allows for an empowered culture of creativity and innovation.

    lnclusion means creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and valued. An inclusive environment can only be created once we are more aware of our unconscious biases, and have learned how to manage them.

3. Responsibility for people and nature
  • We respect the rights of local communities to decent living conditions, education, employment, social activities, and the right to Free, Prior, and informed Consent (FPIC) to developments that affect them and the lands on which they live, with particular consideration for the presence of vulnerable groups.
  • Our guiding principle is to act in an environmentally conscious manner at all our sites. We avoid forced evictions and deprivation of land, forests and water bodies in the acquisition, development and other use of land, forests and water bodies.
  • When contracting and deploying private or public security forces to protect business projects, we pay attention to the training and control of security forces in order to avoid human rights violations.
  • We do not see any contradiction in modern chemistry, high economic efficiency, best quality and environmentally friendly and sustainable production as well as sustainable use of resources.
  • Our cooling lubricants are characterized by very high human and environmental compatibility.
  • The lang life and high performance of our products reduce consumption and the amount of waste disposal.
  • We source a large part of the raw materials from renewable resources.
  • All employees are committed to a concions and careful use of material and energy.
  • Our wastewater is treated using modern systems.
  • Oemetas goal is to use environmentally friendly electricity from renewable energy sources, where it is possible.
  • Quality management should be certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015.
  • Environmental management should be certified according to UM DIN EN ISO 14001:2015.
  • Our production plants should implement an occupational health and safety management system.
4. Information Security
  • Cyber security has never been a greater challenge. With the opportunities of increasing digitalization, the potential for attacks from the network is also rising. Holistic and sustainable security measures are essential for Oemeta's future viability and cyber resilience.
  • We are committed to doing everything we can to make Oemeta resilient to hacker attacks, malware, and operational security incidents. This serves to provide the best possible protection for our company's data, as well as for data provided to us by customers, suppliers and other external stakeholders.
  • Measures include secure access to information in accordance with underlying authorization concepts and security rules. Backup and recovery concepts are continuously adapted to the state of the art. Topic-related audits are carried out by third parties. We work closely with an external data protection officer.
  • All employees receive regular training on these topics and at least annually. Confidentiality and the protection of business secrets are declared obligatory by every employee.
5. Implementation and enforcement

  • We make all appropriate and reasonable efforts to implement and apply the principles and values described. One of these actions are regularly, annual trainings of the Code of Conduct.

    An evaluation and assessment of the principles is part of an annual "Management Review".

March 2023

Oemeta Chemische Werke GmbH 
Management: Thomas Vester, Stefan Joksch, Thomas Wessels