Whistleblowing - don’t look the other way!

“This is a function which raises and maintains the interest for our values and the company’s integrity. Overall, I think our ways of bringing forward complaints and concerns are working well. The cases are not too few – and not too many,” Roy says.

Covering Hydro’s code of conduct
Whistleblowing is about much more than exposing fraud. It includes a number of areas, such as conflict of interest, discrimination, harassment, workplace violence and reporting practices – covering the company’s entire code of conduct.

“Among our challenges is to make sure that our employees understand the purpose of this function – and that we suitably take into consideration the varying political history and background of different countries, when it comes to talk openly and with trust,” Roy says.

Twice every year Hydro’s internal auditor officer is informing the corporate management board about the utilization of the whistleblower channel. As required, the anonymity of each case is preserved. In connection with the code of conduct, the internal auditor also has a possibility to report complaints and concerns directly to the company’s Board Audit Committee. This way of doing provides the internal audit officer with the adequate level of independency that may be needed to fulfil his role.

A number of channels
Internal audit receives concerns and complaints through the company’s whistleblower channel (intranet), on phone or fax and through Hydro’s HR section. In 2007 the internal audit section handled 18 new cases, the same number as the year before and four more than in 2005.

More than 1,500 internal working hours were used to follow up the 2007 cases. In addition, external support was provided by legal or accounting advisers. Some investigations led to disciplinary sanctions and a few employees were eventually dismissed.

“Contrary to the fear that some may have, whistleblowers don’t risk to lose their job or have their career blighted,” states Roy. Each case is investigated using all the necessary precaution to protect the witnesses.

Seven of last year’s 18 new cases were reported anonymously, and the cases were recorded in a variety of categories. Five were in the integrity category and two in the accounting category. Since the whistleblower channel was established in 2003, 60 percent of the reported cases have been related to activities in Norway, the remaining are coming from the Americas, Europe and other parts of the world.

Preserving confidentiality
“Each case is given a lot of attention, and we receive them in a variety of languages. When we receive a new case, three people sit down to discuss it. If it is an anonymous enquiry, we make sure that confidentiality is preserved. Normally, it will take two weeks or more to investigate and validate the seriousness of each case,” Roy says.

“Not all cases result in a negative conclusion…..?”

“No, absolutely not! Some are based on misunderstanding or miscommunication. It is always necessary to know the context in which a case occurs, and in some cases the context might be a cardinal aspect,” says Daniel Roy.