ECONOMY

Actions and programs for Health and Safety

As part of the Health and Safety Program for Employees, HYGEIA implements an "Emergency Operations Plan", which describes the procedures to be carried out in case of external or internal disasters, "Fire Safety Plan", "Plan Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Plan" and "Safety and Security Plan". The purpose of the procedures is to provide the necessary information to the employees, of all specialties, as well as to the collaborating companies, so that they can respond to emergency and non-emergency situations.

At least once a year exercises are carried out for all plans to evaluate the effectiveness of all and to record/plan possible improvements.

Indicatively, the actions as well as the measures taken to protect health and safety are listed below:

HEALTH

Y-LOGIMED

Laboratory Safety Program: The health and safety of the workers in the clinical laboratories is ensured, as well as the necessary working environment in terms of infrastructure and environmental conditions for correct and safe conduct of examinations. The program includes specific security-related emergency incident management procedures.

Medical Examinations upon recruitment: All employees undergo preventive examinations and vaccination upon recruitment, with the aim of protecting them, as well as colleagues and hospitalized patients of the Clinics from infectious agents.

Annual vaccination program: On an annual basis, staff are vaccinated free of charge with the aim of preventing the most well-known seasonal viruses.

Accident Response Plan (e.g. exposure to blood or biological agents, exposure to chemicals, etc.): All employees have a plan to prevent and protect employees from accidents and injuries, as well as a series of actions for early response of the event. Each incident is investigated and the causes that caused it are analyzed systematically, with the ultimate goal of taking the appropriate measures to prevent them, as well as monitoring the employees. This program also includes the staff of co-located companies.

Training of an Occupational Risk Assessment (MEEK), in which the harmful factors and risks of workers in each workplace have been identified, recorded and evaluated.

In MEEK also, the precautionary measures taken are recorded, which are evaluated on an annual basis by the Risk Management and Security Committee for their adequacy and appropriateness.

Staff dosimetry & annual medical monitoring: Monthly monitoring of dosimeters to staff working in departments that use ionizing radiation by the Department of Physical Medicine. In addition, each year the specific employees carry out diagnostic tests and are monitored by the Occupational Physician.

Radiation Protection Program: All the necessary measures are taken by the personnel who use ionizing radiation, so that the doses to workers, patients and the public do not exceed the permitted limits, as determined by the Hellenic Atomic Energy Commission. Staff are trained in the safe use of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation systems, which are used in diagnosis or treatment.

Orientation of new hires on occupational health and safety issues: New employees are given detailed information about the clinic and extensive reference is made to occupational health and safety issues.

Safety Walks Program: They are carried out by Management officials and their aim is to give staff the opportunity to freely express their thoughts and concerns regarding the safety of patients and employees or other related issues concerning safe working conditions or the their work environment. Issues discussed are recorded, evaluated and prioritized for resolution.

Safety Culture

The management of HYGEIA is committed to the safety of patients, their relatives, staff and doctors. A key priority is to promote a safety environment that encourages and supports free and open communication and non-punitive reporting of any situation that threatens patient and employee safety. In order to continuously improve the safety level of the services provided and the working environment, HYGEIA has adopted a "safety culture" throughout the hospital.

The components of Safety Culture[1]

• The commitment to safety is clearly articulated by top management and translated into shared values, beliefs and rules of conduct at all hierarchical levels.

• The organization provides the necessary resources, incentives and rewards to make this commitment a reality.

• Safety is the top priority, even at the expense of 'productivity' or 'efficiency' and staff are rewarded when they act in the interest of safety.

• Communication between employees at all organizational levels is frequent and honest.

• Unsafe actions are rare even when there is pressure or workload.

• There is transparency about errors and problems, and when they occur they are known.

• The organization values learning. Responding to a problem focuses on improving system performance rather than assigning blame to an individual.

To maintain the high level of security, the following systems have been implemented:

A. Error Reporting,

Adverse Events and Near Misses

All staff are encouraged to report and record errors, adverse events and near misses. It is important to emphasize that recorded reports are handled confidentially and are used by Management only to evaluate incidents and take action or make improvements to prevent them from reoccurring and not to blame the employees involved.

B. Patient Safety Research

An anonymous Patient and Employee Safety Survey is conducted internally at HYGEIA, which helps Management identify concerns and issues related to or affecting patient and employee safety and plan relevant actions to resolve them. The survey is based on a recognized toolkit from the US Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

C. Patient Safety Walks

The "walks" for the safety of patients and employees and the environment are carried out once a month in rotation in selected departments of the hospital by competent Executives of the Administration. These walks allow staff to voice their thoughts and concerns about their own safety and patient safety or other potential issues, which Management makes sure to address.

To maintain a high level of security, specific procedures have been put in place.

Reporting Errors, Adverse Events and Near-Failures

Patient Safety Research

Patient Safety Walks

Safety & Health Committees

In order to ensure a safe working environment, special committees have been created at the HYGEIA clinic in which all categories of employees are represented, while all external crews (bank and kitchen staff, cleaning staff) employed at the HYGEIA facilities have also been placed under their auspices . Staff accidents are closely monitored by the relevant Head of Department, the Human Resources Department, the Occupational Physician, the Infection Control Committee, the Safety Technician and Management. The Infection Control Committee has established procedures for the prevention and treatment of the most common infections and accidents that occur in the field of health services.

In the framework of the actions for the defense of Health and Safety, HYGEIA has proceeded with the establishment of the Facilities Safety Committee and the Health & Safety of Workers. The purpose of the committee is the planning, implementation and monitoring of the Programs related to the Management and Safety of HYGEIA Facilities, regarding the following areas:

Safety & Health Committees

Protection & Security

Fire safety

Hazardous Substances and Waste

Medical Equipment

Emergency situations

Infrastructure Systems

Occupational Health and Safety Management System

HYGEIA implements an Occupational Health and Safety Management System certified according to OHSAS 18001. This certification of HYGEIA demonstrates the identification, evaluation and management of all potential risks in the area. In addition, through the implementation of programs to minimize the risks of the working environment, which are implemented within the framework of the Management System, HYGEIA's efforts to reduce accidents, achieve continuous improvement of its performance in matters of health and safety at work and the systematic monitoring and application of the relevant legislation.

Risk Management & Facility Security

For risk management and facility security, relevant procedures have been developed such as:

• Incident Detection and Decision Making in Emergency Situations

• Hospital Evacuation Plan

• Fire Safety Plan

• Hazardous Substance Dispersal Management Process

• Medical Equipment Management Plan

Based on the above procedures, the staff has been trained to deal with critical situations, while exercises are carried out at regular intervals to confirm their readiness. Every year or whenever there is a need, the above procedures are updated based on new data arising either from the operation of the clinic or from the legislation.

In order to deal with critical situations, HYGEIA always has the required resources (material and technical infrastructure, equipment) available, so that the means needed to deal with emergency situations are renewed annually.

HYGEIA clinics annually carry out exercises in their facilities with the participation of part of the staff, with the aim of employee safety