SMITHS GROUP PLC modern slavery statement summary (2024)

Organisation address

Level 10 255 Blackfriars Road,
London,
England,
SE1 9AX

We asked the organisation a series of questions about its modern slavery statement. Its answers are published on this page as a statement summary.

This statement provides information for all 6 recommended areas

What is a modern slavery statement?

UK law requires certain organisations to publish an annual modern slavery statement on their website, setting out the steps they are taking to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. Read more in the government guidance on publishing modern slavery statements.

Link to full statement

Go to full modern slavery statement on organisation’s website

PDF version of the statement

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Smiths Group Modern Slavery Statement 2024.pdf

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About this statement summary

All answers relate to the financial year covered by the statement. The organisation is responsible for all the information it provided. Some of our questions are optional, so organisations may not have answered all of them. The statement summary does not replace the full modern slavery statement – below we provide a link to the full statement on the organisation’s website.

Contents

Organisations covered by the statement
Legal requirement to publish
Statement period and sign-off details
Recommended areas covered by the statement
The organisation’s sectors and turnover
Number of years producing statements
Policies
Training
Monitoring working conditions
Modern slavery risks
Finding indicators of modern slavery
Demonstrating progress

Organisations covered by the statement

SMITHS GROUP PLC modern slavery statement for 2024 is a group statement covering 5 organisations. See the full list of organisations covered by this statement

Legal requirement to publish

SMITHS GROUP PLC has confirmed it is required to publish a 2024 statement by law.

Statement period and sign-off details

The statement covers the following period:
1 August 2022 to 31 July 2023

The statement was signed off by:
Paul Keel (Chief Executive Officer)

It was approved by the board (or equivalent management body) on:
21 September 2023

Recommended areas covered by the statement

Government guidance encourages organisations to cover a range of areas in their modern slavery statements, setting out the steps they’re taking to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. Read about the recommended areas in the statutory guidance.

We asked the organisation to tell us which areas its statement covers.

Areas recommended by government guidance	Organisation’s response
The organisation’s structure, business and supply chains	Covered
Policies	Covered
Risk assessment	Covered
Due diligence (steps to address risk)	Covered
Training about modern slavery	Covered
Goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of the organisation's actions and progress over time	Covered

The organisation’s sectors and turnover

Sectors

The organisation operates in the following sectors:

Diversified Engineering

Turnover

Its turnover in the financial accounting year of this statement was:

Over £500 million

If the organisation is a public body, this amount is based on the organisation’s budget for the year of the statement.

What does 'turnover' refer to in group statements?

If this is a group statement, this includes the total turnover for all the organisations covered by the statement.

Number of years producing statements

The organisation has been producing modern slavery statements for the following number of years:

1 to 5 years

How does this work for group statements?

If the statement is for a group of organisations, this answer applies to the organisation with the longest history of producing statements.

Policies (optional)

We asked the organisation whether its policies include the following provisions in relation to its domestic and international supply chains, as well as its own operations.

Policy provisions we asked about	Organisation’s response
Freedom of workers to terminate employment	Included
Freedom of movement	Included
Freedom of association	Included
Prohibits any threat of violence, harassment and intimidation	Included
Prohibits the use of worker-paid recruitment fees	Included
Prohibits compulsory overtime	Included
Prohibits child labour	Included
Prohibits discrimination	Included
Prohibits confiscation of workers' original identification documents	Included
Provides access to remedy, compensation and justice for victims of modern slavery	Included
Other	Not included

Training (optional)

We asked the organisation whether it provided training on modern slavery, and who it was for.

What counts as training?

We explained that by ‘training’ we meant anything designed to increase knowledge and skills around identifying, addressing or preventing modern slavery risks. This could range from formal training courses to broader awareness-raising activities such as workshops or webinars.

We asked who the training was for	Organisation’s response
Your whole organisation	Yes
Your front line staff	No
Human resources	No
Executive-level staff	No
Procurement staff	No
Your suppliers	No
The wider community	No
Other	No

Monitoring working conditions (optional)

Engaging with others

We asked the organisation to tell us who it engaged with to help monitor working conditions across its operations and supply chains.

Organisation’s response

The organisation told us it did not engage with any of the people we asked about during the period of the statement.

Social audits

We asked the organisation to tell us about any social audits it used to look for signs of modern slavery.

What are social audits?

A social audit is a review of an organisation’s working practices from the point of view of social responsibility, and should include an evaluation of working conditions in the organisation’s operations and supply chains. By their nature, audits of supplier workplaces represent a snapshot in time.

Social audits we asked about	Organisation’s response
Audit conducted by your staff	No
Third party audit arranged by your organisation	Yes
Audit conducted by your supplier’s staff	No
Third party audit arranged by your supplier	No
Announced audit	No
Unannounced audit	No

Grievance mechanisms

We asked the organisation how workers in its operations or supply chains could raise concerns or make complaints.

We asked if workers could raise concerns this way	Organisation’s response
Using anonymous whistleblowing services, such as a helpline or mobile phone app	Yes
Through trade unions or other worker representative groups	No

Other ways of monitoring working conditions

We asked the organisation whether it had any other ways of monitoring working conditions across its operations and supply chains:

We conduct reviews of our internal operations.

Modern slavery risks (optional)

Warning Identifying modern slavery risks is a vital step towards eradicating it. The government encourages organisations to be as open and transparent as possible, to improve understanding, collaboration and best practice around tackling this worldwide problem.

We asked the organisation to describe up to 3 priority risks it focused on during the period of the statement, including details of the affected workers, the activity involved, and the location.

Priority risks for this organisation (1 of 3)

Contract workers employed at Smiths manufacturing sites in higher risk modern slavery jurisdictions (as determined using the Global Slavery Index)

Questions we asked about this risk	Organisation’s response
Where it was most likely to occur	Organisation’s response: Within your own operations.
Who was it most likely to affect	Organisation’s response: contract workers male and female
In which country	Organisation’s response: United Arab Emirates China Indonesia India Malaysia Thailand Tunisia South Africa
Actions or plans to address this risk	Organisation’s response: We perform audits of sites in higher risk countries to make sure our key policies are being complied with. For example, in relation to overtime, the use of recruitment agents, and ensuring if we have anyone working at the sites between the ages of 16 and 18 their roles comply with UN guidelines.

Priority risks for this organisation (2 of 3)

Modern slavery risks arising through the use of labour and recruitment agencies.

Questions we asked about this risk	Organisation’s response
Where it was most likely to occur	Organisation’s response: Within your own operations.
Who was it most likely to affect	Organisation’s response: Migrants
In which country	Organisation’s response: United Arab Emirates China Indonesia India Mexico Thailand
Actions or plans to address this risk	Organisation’s response: We have redesigned our process and procedures related to the selection and appointment of recruitment agents and labor suppliers to ensure that adequate due diligence is performed before their appointment. In the year ending 31 July 2023 we conducted audits on our recruitment agents in Thailand and the UAE to ensure they have adequate processes to eliminate modern slavery risks. And to the extent the agencies are providing accommodation to staff, to ensure that it meets Smiths requirements.

Priority risks for this organisation (3 of 3)

Risks associated with the purchasing of electronic components in Malaysia.

Questions we asked about this risk	Organisation’s response
Where it was most likely to occur	Organisation’s response: Within your supply chains. Tier 1 suppliers Provide their products and services directly to your organisation.
Who was it most likely to affect	Organisation’s response: Migrants
In which country	Organisation’s response: Malaysia
Actions or plans to address this risk	Organisation’s response: We address this risk through auditing key suppliers, and educating our staff in the region on red flags and what to watch out for.

Indicators of forced labour (optional)

We asked the organisation whether its statement refers to finding any International Labour Organization (ILO) indicators of forced labour.

What are ILO indicators of forced labour?

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has produced a list of the most common signs of forced labour. They’re based on the definition of forced labour as ‘all work or service which is extracted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.’ More details and guidance are available on the ILO website, and in their publication ILO indicators of forced labour

ILO indicators we asked about	Organisation’s response
Abuse of vulnerability	Yes
Deception	Yes
Restriction of movement	Yes
Isolation	No
Physical and sexual violence	Yes
Intimidation and threats	Yes
Retention of identity documents	Yes
Withholding of wages	Yes
Debt bondage	Yes
Abusive working and living conditions	Yes
Excessive overtime	Yes
Other	-

Actions taken in response to finding ILO indicators

We asked the organisation to tell us whether its statement refers to any actions it took after finding indicators of forced labour