Sustainable Development

CEO perspective

“If we can create value to the society at large, and do our job well, satisfactory economic results will follow - and allow us to build a stronger company with time.”

This was the guiding principle of Åsmund S. Laerdal when he founded our company in 1940. It has remained our guiding principle ever since. An estimated 400 million people worldwide have acquired lifesaving skills since modern resuscitation techniques were introduced in 1960; most of them using our products. Several hundred thousand lives have been saved as a result of this. There is nevertheless solid scientific evidence that current survival rates from sudden illness and trauma can be significantly increased.  Our goal is to contribute to this; through innovative products and services that can enhance educational efficiencies and local implementation.

Every year an estimated four million newborns die during their first month of life. Half of these deaths occur during delivery and within the next 24 hours, often as a result of inadequate or lack of breathing. Evidence suggests that lifesaving care can significantly reduce neonatal mortality as stated by the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4; to reduce child mortality by two-thirds before 2015. Laerdal has recently become a partner of Helping Babies Breathe - a global Public-Private Alliance which will strive to increase neonatal survival by offering evidence-based training and high quality affordable resuscitation devices to birth attendants in developing countries.

Customer feedback is essential for our continuous efforts to improve. We are encouraged by a high, and increasing, overall satisfaction rate also in the 2009 customer survey. We conduct our business in accordance with the 10 UN Global Compact principles. This includes respect of human rights, elimination of forced labour and child labour, elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation, and a policy to work against bribery and corruption.

The quality of our products is also impacted by the standards of our suppliers. We are therefore considerate in our choice of suppliers and are perceived a demanding customer as such. In the course of 2009 we took further steps to work even more systematically with our suppliers to ensure that shared business is operated in a sustainable manner and to ascertain that our suppliers act according to acceptable standards.

We put pride and effort in providing a safe and healthy work environment for our 1,350 employees in 23 countries. We believe employees prosper and develop by active engagement in our business and through opportunities for taking on new challenges. Last year’s Employee Perspective Survey confirmed a strong commitment to our mission and strategies, and provided useful input to areas of improvement.

In 2009, our revenue increased by 4 % to 2353 MNOK (392 MUSD), and Net Income from Operations (NIO) surpassed 300 MNOK (50MUSD) for the first time. We believe that a quality brand, dedicated and competent management and workforce, and long term committed ownership form much of the basis for achieving such satisfactory results even in a year with considerable turmoil in international economies. Our CSR efforts will contribute to strengthen these fundamental factors.
We acknowledge and find it motivating that customers, employees and other stakeholders expect high standards from us and welcome any feedback that can help us in our efforts of continuous improvement.


Clive Patrickson, CEO.


Sustainability goals for 2010

Helping Save Lives

  • Contribute to make the Helping Babies Breathe Alliance meet its objectives in selected developing countries.  

  • Supplement the Helping Babies Breathe training program with significant quantities of high quality resuscitation equipment (neonatal resuscitators and suction devices) for therapeutic use, on a not-for-profit basis.

Developing our organization

  • Start a new Laerdal International Management Training in 2010.

  • Follow up measurable improvements in areas identified in the 2009 employee survey (EPS).

  • Increase focus on global integration and learning within Health, Safety and Environment (HSE).

Working closely with direct suppliers

 

  • Evaluate findings from the first year of incorporating the extended supplier evaluation criteria and agree on further steps.

Minimizing environmental impact

 

  • Develop estimates and set specific targets of reducing CO2 emissions from Laerdal.  

  • Improve utilization of the existing IT collaboration tools to improve communication and reduce travelling.