Values and Guidelines

The name TÜV NORD GROUP promises objectivity and integrity. Our customers benefit from our strategies for long-term value creation and sustainable competitive orientation. Self-responsible action, personal drive, and our will to achieve top performance form the foundation for our neutral and fair consulting expertise.

The TÜV brand stands globally for safety, quality, innovation and neutrality. Our employees are guided by our values and observe our guidelines. They are the binding principles of personal action in the TÜV NORD Group and strengthen our integrity. The clear and responsible attitude of our employees sets standards worldwide in the consulting and service sector: With our specialist knowledge, we protect people, the environment, and material assets from risks.

 

Basic value

Basic value

For over 150 years we have been developing economic solutions and innovations on an excellent level. Skills and a practised corporate culture make us a strong and reliable partner.

Trust, dignity, conscientiousness and social cooperation: employees of the TÜV NORD GROUP adhere to these four fundamental values of business ethics in their dealings with one another, with their partners and clients. All of their actions and thinking is based on the underlying values of in-dependence, responsibility and integrity.

With their skills and commitment, every employee makes a sustainable contribution to the success of the TÜV NORD GROUP and its clients. The orientation on the four fundamental values guarantees an increased feeling of security for ourselves and our clients and partners: we gain trust through competent, reliable and appropriate actions. Our respectful treatment of ethical convictions helps us to meet our responsibility for people, the environment and technology. The appreciation of each individual – also independently of their function – harmonises corporate goals and social togetherness. Our values determine the hallmarks of the TÜV brand.

 

 

Guidelines, Guiding principles, Code of Conduct, Corporate Resposibility Policy

Guiding principles

Our guidelines sustainably guarantee our worldwide corporate success. They are based on international guidelines and strengthen the credibility of the TÜV brand.

Our employees are characterized by a lively corporate culture and active identification with TÜV NORD GROUP. The guidelines shape our corporate culture and promote self-responsible, loyal thinking and acting towards each other and towards customers and partners. They are based, among other things, on the internationally recognised principles of the UN Global Compact, the UN Global Goals (Sustainable Development Goals) and the standards of the Global Responsibility Reporting Initiative.

Human rights, labor standards, corruption prevention, environmental protection and communication are thus given guidelines to which each individual can orient himself or herself: From family-conscious personnel management to transparent communication and environmental compatibility, our guidelines consistently translate our value system into principles that can be applied and experienced.

We protect people, the environment and property from risks.

 

Code of Conduct and Guiding principles

For more than 150 years, we have stood for safety, independence and quality with our technical knowledge. We protect lives, goods and natural resources. We look to the future and dedicate ourselves to making our clients even more successful in the connected world.

We have brought together our strengths and goals, values and strategic core concepts in a mission Statement: our Guiding Principles. The TÜV NORD Code of Conduct puts our mission statement into concrete terms.

Read Code of Conduct

Guiding principles

Guiding principles (short version as PDF)

 

Corporate Responsibility Guideline

Responsibility and sustainability (united under the term Corporate Responsibility) are the basis of our corporate actions. They are key value drivers for us, opening up the way to new business models and services, enabling us to increase our value contribution to society and the environment towards a more sustainable world.

Read Corporate Responsibility Guideline

 

 

Human rights and environmental due diligence

Supply chain law is gaining importance worldwide as companies are increasingly required to ensure human rights and environmental standards along their supply chains. It creates a legal framework to combat abuses and promote sustainability. The law protects workers, the environment and promotes fair competition. It also helps improve working conditions, combat child labor and reduce environmental impacts.

For us, this creates new market opportunities. We are also making our own supply chains more transparent and supporting other companies, for example, in complying with standards, conducting supply chain analyses and offering certification services for sustainable products and processes.

 

 

Policy statement on respect for human rights at TÜV NORD GROUP

TÜV NORD GROUP is convinced that the observance and protection of human rights should be the basis of all sustainable business activities, which is why we have also appointed a Human Rights Officer. As an internationally active group, we assume responsibility towards our employees and society and support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and exercise our due diligence. This responsibility encompasses both our own business operations and our business relationships along our supply chain.

Read Policy statement on respect for human rights at TÜV NORD GROUP

 

Corporate governance guidelines and a sophisticated Compliance Management System with a Code of Conduct and Ombudsman provide our employees with extensive support in this respect. They ensure the correctness of all business processes and organisational structures of the Group. And promote the responsible actions of each individual by preventing risks and dangers. With these strategies, the TÜV NORD GROUP ensures management and control which is focused on value creation.

 

Compliance

TÜV NORD GROUP understands compliance as observance of all relevant laws, regulations, guidelines, standards and contractual obligations as well as voluntary commitments, including regulations the company has set for itself.

Competence and responsibility are important principles for the business success of TÜV NORD GROUP. TÜV NORD AG and its affiliates respect the law of the lands in which they do business and expect the same from their employees and business partners. Breaches of laws and ethics are not tolerated.

In order to avoid possible risks and avert damage to the TÜV NORD GROUP, the Board of Management has established a central compliance management system within TÜV NORD AG:

  • This includes organisational structures and processes, associated reporting and corresponding controls.
  • Extensive preventive measures to guard against the emergence of compliance risks (e.g. through criminal actions) and to recognise such risks as early as possible.
  • The compliance organisation is transparent both inside and outside the organisation
  • The Board of Management implements corporate compliance in all organisational units.

In addition to the internal staff who act as contacts for questions relating to compliance, TÜV NORD GROUP has also elected an Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is available to staff, clients, suppliers and other interested parties and can be contacted in connection with possible breaches of compliance; he is obliged to maintain client confidentiality as a member of the legal profession.

Corporate Governance

Corporate governance provides the framework for the management and supervision of TÜV NORD GROUP. Corporate governance within the TÜV NORD GROUP stands for responsible corporate management and control geared towards long-term value creation. It guarantees the correctness of all business processes and organisational structures within the Group. The basis for corporate governance is provided by the current requirements of the German Stock Corporation Act.

All key requirements for joint stock companies in Germany as specified by the German Act on Control and Transparency in Business (Contra) and embodied in the German Stock Corporation Act are fulfilled within the TÜV NORD GROUP:

  • The Supervisory Board and Board of Management have established efficient external and internal control structures and processes.
  • The Internal Control System (ICS) includes a risk management system and enables early identification and prevention of risks.
  • The Group's Internal Auditing Department continuously monitors the effectiveness of the control processes and reports on this directly to the Board of Management on a regular basis.
  • The compliance organisation, with a central point of contact for compliance issues, supports all employees in ensuring lawful and responsible actions.

Corporate governance in day-to-day business is supported by precise rules and instructions. All employees have permanent access to these rules and instructions via the intranet:

  • Corporate guidelines of the TÜV NORD GROUP
  • Code of conduct for all employees of the TÜV NORD GROUP in Germany and abroad
  • Group Regulations
  • Integrated management system, certified to ISO 9000
  • The TÜV NORD GROUP has appointed an ombudsman

Ombudsman

Your external contact for compliance reports (suspected cases and violations) also against the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act

 

With a renowned lawyer as ombudsman, TÜV NORD GROUP offers an external reporting channel for suspected cases and violations of the Code of Conduct. This channel serves to prevent and clarify compliance violations and supports the complaint management of the LkSG in the event of human rights and environmental violations in the supply chain. The ombudsman is available to employees as well as customers, business partners and suppliers as the first point of contact and receives tips, especially on topics such as corruption, human rights and the environment.

 

Confidentiality and anonymity

All information is treated confidentially. The ombudsman guarantees anonymity and is bound to professional secrecy.

 

Further contact options

In addition to the ombudsman, the following contact points are available to TÜV NORD GROUP employees:

 

  • Direct supervisor or company management
  • Compliance department
  •  Corporate Audit
  • Personnel or legal department
  • Works council or persons of trust
  • Human rights representative in accordance with the LkSG

 

The establishment of the Ombudsman underlines TÜV NORD GROUP's commitment to transparency and integrity.

 

Make a report: www.report-tvh.de - anonymous and multilingual

 

 

Thiel von Herff | Rechtsanwälte, Loebellstraße 4, 33602 Bielefeld, Mobil: +49 151 58230321, Toll Free: 00800 OMBUDSMANN, www.report-tvh.de

Lawyer Dr. Carsten Thiel von Herff, LL.M.Thiel von Herff | Rechtsanwälte, Loebellstraße 4, 33602 Bielefeld, Mobil: +49 151 58230321, Toll Free: 00800 OMBUDSMANN, www.report-tvh.de
Ombudsman of the TÜV NORD GROUP

Tel.: +49 521 557 333-0
Fax: +49 521 557 333-44
vertrauensanwalt@thielvonherff.de

Marks database

Please enter a search criterion:

No entries found