Glossary

• Investor relations
• Corporate Social Responsibility

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Accident frequency index (AFI)

Number of accidents recorded per million hours worked.

Accident seriousness index (ASI)

Number of days absence caused by accident per thousand hours worked.

CO2

Carbon dioxide, a gas produced by all combustion processes involving fuels and fossil fuels, as well as by natural processes. It contributes to the formation of the greenhouse effect.

Clean technologies

New industrial processes or modifications to existing ones whose aim is to reduce environmental impact and the consumption of energy and raw materials.

Customer satisfaction

Customers’ perception and expectations regarding a service or product.

Decree law 231

Decree law 231 (08/06/2001) introduced administrative liability (but in practice penal) for companies if their directors, managers or other employees commit offences against the public administration (corruption, extortion, etc.) or business irregularities (eg. false accounting) in the interests or to the advantage of the company.

Eco-efficiency

Eco-efficiency is achieved by providing competitively priced products and services that satisfy human needs and raise the quality of life at the same time as progressively reducing ecological impact and the use of natural resources during the life cycle of the product to a level in line with the earth’s carrying capacity. World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Energy label

Label supplying information on the characteristics and energy consumption of an electrical appliance.

Environmental impact

Any fact that may cause a modification to the environment, whether negative or positive, total or partial, arising from the activities, products or services of an organization.

Environmental management system (EMS)

The parts of a general management system, including organizational structures, planning, procedures, processes and resources, needed to define, implement, review and maintain an environmental policy.

Environmental monitoring

Ongoing measurement of characteristic environmental parameters.

Environmental policy

Declaration by an organization of its intentions and principles in relation to its global environmental performance providing a framework for environmental activities and definition of relative objectives and targets.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

Launched in 1997 by UNEP and CERES (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies) to develop a system of “sustainability reporting” for companies wishing to voluntarily publish their performance in economic, social and environmental fields.

Life cycle analysis (LCA)

Methodology for assessing the overall environmental impact of a product by taking into account its entire life cycle, from extraction and processing of raw materials, to production processes, transport, distribution, use, recycling and re-use and final disposal. Stakeholders All identifiable individuals or groups who may influence the success of an enterprise or who have an interest at stake in the business decisions of that enterprise, viz. shareholders, clients, suppliers and public institutions in the first place but also competitors, local communities, pressure groups and mass media. (Freeman, 1994).