Pension plans

No significant changes were made in this area in 2008, with the majority of affiliates providing supplemental pension schemes for their employees. The Group maintains the policy adopted in previous years, involving the abandonment of defined benefit plans in favour of defined  contribution plans.

Defined benefit plans are
Other defined benefit plans exist at Pirelli Real Estate in Germany and in the Tyre Sector in Holland, but they represent a relatively insignificant liability for the Group.

Health care

Healthcare
In 2008 health and safety investments for the internal community totalled 11.3 million Euro.
Investments focused on improvements to plant and machinery and, more generally, the overall work environment (e.g. improvement of microclimate and lighting conditions, layout changes to improve operating ergonomics, measures to ensure the healthfulness of infrastructure, etc.). All these activities, for which investments were necessary, were constantly monitored by local and central HSE departments.

These investments were complemented by safety related expenses that are essentially attributable to environmental monitoring (i.e. sampling and analysis, consultancy studies, etc.), the purchase of personal protection equipment (e.g. injury prevention boots, gloves, safety goggles, etc.) and collective protection devices (e.g. better protection of machinery, suction systems and measures to improve the workplace environment not covered by specific investment projects).

Assistance during working hours
Pirelli has operated infirmaries for decades in its production plants, with nurses and doctors available to provide all employees with medical care during working hours. These facilities provide first aid care, advice on health problems unrelated to work and health supervision for workers exposed to specific hazards.

Healthcare promotion campaigns developed in line with local programmes also make use of these facilities.

Flu prevention campaign
Pirelli offers all its employees the opportunity to be inoculated with the seasonal flu vaccine free of charge.
The anti-flu campaign was given further impetus through wide-reaching information tools for all organisational levels (targeting employees located in the southern hemisphere during the spring and employees in the northern hemisphere during autumn).

Several thousand people took part in this initiative.