Workplace Health and Safety

Ford Motor Company Vision for Health and Safety

Our vision is to achieve zero fatalities and no serious injuries, and to protect and continually improve the health of our workforce.

At Ford, we aspire to create a safe workplace, with zero fatalities and no serious injuries. We aim to be a leader in safety – not just within manufacturing, but within all industries around the globe. We have made strong and steady progress, with overall injury rates dropping to a tenth of the levels of 1999, when we revamped our formal safety program. But we’re not yet where we want to be, and we know we have more work to do.

Our top executives and managers remain committed to ensuring that our people stay safe and healthy while working as part of our ONE Ford team. In recent years, management compensation has been more heavily weighted to drive safety culture improvements. Our director of occupational health and safety, for example, provides comments on our Company’s safety performance to the Board of Directors; those comments are used as part of the Board’s annual review of CEO Alan Mulally.

We have integrated safety into all aspects of our business. Our Safety Operating System (SOS), which is part of our overall manufacturing strategy, provides for the health and safety of our employees through empowered teams of people working together. Safety is one of the core components of the Ford Production System, along with quality, delivery, cost, people, maintenance and environment. Improving our safety record is not only good for our employees; it’s good for our business.

We’re especially focused on changing the workforce culture within our plant operations, so the importance of safety is ingrained in all of our people, no matter their role. We’re leveraging the ONE Ford philosophy of working together, caring for each other and creating a supportive environment. Read more about our work to change the workforce culture, including joint UAW initiatives.

The “health” part of health and safety remains a key driver for Ford. We recognize the impact that health issues like heart disease, diabetes and obesity can have on the well-being of our employees, as well as on the cost of providing health care to our workforce in the U.S. By helping employees to prevent serious diseases and effectively manage chronic conditions, we can have a positive impact on our employees’ quality of life and our bottom line.

For more about our workplace safety systems, see the corresponding pages on Health and Safety Governance; Safety Culture and Accountability; Safe Conditions; Relationship Management; Health as a Strategic Advantage; and Our 2012 Safety Performance.

“Our most valuable asset is our people. Nothing is more important than their safety and well-being. Our coworkers and families rely on this commitment. There can be no compromise.”

Bill Ford and Alan Mulally