Product responsibility

Management approach

Vattenfall’s main products are heat and electricity. The nature of these products implies that when used correctly, they have little direct adverse impact on the environment, public health and safety. Vattenfall works actively with energy efficiency, in its own operations as well as by providing customers with advice and support on improving their energy efficiency. Vattenfall also informs customers about safe use of electricity and provides information on electromagnetic fields based on current research in this area.

Managing product responsibility issues

Vattenfall takes an advisory role in helping customers save energy. What the company can control pertains to the generation and distribution of electricity and heat and the use of the resources it requires. Vattenfall is actively working to avoid and reduce any adverse impact of its operations, including emissions, effluents, waste and noise from power plants.

Customer health and safety

Most health and safety issues associated with Vattenfall’s products arise when customers use electricity to operate other products, not from the electricity itself. Although there are certain direct risks in the use of electricity, these are usually negligible in correct everyday use. The same applies for heat and cooling.

Vattenfall’s marketing and sales functions have a high-profile role in promoting safety by informing customers about safety issues in connection with their use of electricity. Information to customers is generally communicated in brochures, newsletters and marketing material in all countries. Customers are also continuously informed through Vattenfall’s websites and at customer service centres in all countries. The information that Vattenfall provides ranges from electricity safety in general, to safety measures during thunderstorms and power outages.

Product and service labelling

In addition to information regarding safety, Vattenfall strives to take an advisory role in helping customers save energy.

For example, Vattenfall Nordic has launched an energy efficiency programme to inform customers on energy efficiency and promote an active dialogue. The programme has a dedicated website, Energy Guide, that provides advisory services and useful information. The website allows visitors to calculate the effects of changes in energy consumption habits and to find out if a potentially higher initial investment will be compensated by a decrease in energy costs. In Sweden and Finland, Vattenfall has conducted several high-profile campaigns on wind power. In Germany 50,000 students participated in the Vattenfall Klimaakademie, and a thousand households received extensive advice on energy saving issues. Customers are also continuously informed through Vattenfall’s websites and at customer service centres in all countries.

Marketing communications

Vattenfall complies with international codes, such as the ICC International Code of Advertising Practice and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. In the countries where Vattenfall operates, the company complies with national legislation, which often is more stringent than international codes and frameworks.

Customer privacy

Vattenfall’s Communication Policy states that “Confidentiality is strictly applied with regard to relations or agreements with customers and business partners. The same applies to information about employees or former employees of Vattenfall.”

This is further elaborated upon in the Group Instruction on Legal and Business Ethics Principles, which states, among other things: “Information concerning a natural person (personal data) shall be handled with respect for the individual’s privacy at all times. The Vattenfall Group shall always endeavour to ensure that personal data is processed with the individual’s consent. Personal data that may be regarded as sensitive may only be processed if there are strong reasons to do so and it is clear that the legal conditions have been met. No one is allowed to disclose personal data to a person outside the Vattenfall Group unless it is clear that the legal conditions for doing so have been met. It shall be noted that in certain cases there might be specific reasons for keeping personal data confidential.”

Both the Communication Policy and the Instruction on Legal and Business Ethics Principles apply throughout the Group. Furthermore, a number of laws are in effect that govern citizens’ right to privacy, such as through EU directives concerning the protection of data privacy.

According to the Vattenfall Management System, all of Vattenfall’s external websites are required to provide information about the Group’s privacy policy, including information about cookies. This shall be the case also when it is not a legal requirement. This information can be found on a specific Privacy Policy page on the websites, available via a link on the page footer.

Compliance with codes, agreements and frameworks

Vattenfall has adopted and complies with several product responsibility frameworks:

• Vattenfall complies with all customer privacy laws and regulations, such as national legislation based on EU directives concerning protection of data privacy.
• Vattenfall meets the requirements on product information and electricity labelling stipulated by EU directives.
• Vattenfall was the first company in the world to receive an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) in accordance with ISO 14025.
• Vattenfall meets the requirements on unbundling according to national legislation (based on EU directives), thus enabling the customer to choose electricity supplier without being discriminated by the customer’s distribution company. (See also Work against anticompetitive behaviour)

Organisational responsibility

Vattenfall provides information on the safe use of electricity to customers via different communication channels. Responsibility for communication with customers lies with the marketing and sales functions. For further information, see the Product and service information (PR3) indicator.

Goals, performance and risks

Vattenfall does not control the use of its products, and the products are neither a liability nor a risk to the company as such. However, Vattenfall acts immediately whenever safety risks are discovered and actively promotes energy efficiency. Vattenfall does not track performance regarding product responsibility other than measuring customer satisfaction (which to some extent correlates with how customers perceive information).