The “culture” of health protection

As well as looking after our people, we foster a “culture of healthy living” among our employees, helping to improve collective health by instilling safe and responsible patterns of behaviour. Accordingly, our health promotion programmes focus on preventing the following types of risk factor:

• primary or individual risk factors (e.g. discouraging smoking and drinking, while encouraging exercise and a healthy diet)
• risk factors related to specific illnesses (e.g. preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, common infectious diseases).

An integrated three-fold approach

The success of these programmes depends largely on the integrated approach to health protection adopted by the various company functions involved in the project. The programmes are based on three pillars:

• the main one is promoting a healthy lifestyle, which can cut the risk of developing cancer and cardiovascular and chronic metabolic diseases by 60% through a balanced diet, regular exercise, not smoking and a moderate alcohol intake.
• the second pillar is the early diagnosis of illnesses that can be successfully and definitively cured if diagnosed during the initial stages (e.g. some types of cancer and most cardiovascular diseases).
• the third one is preventing the recurrence of illnesses in people who have already been treated or rehabilitated (e.g. when people who have recovered from serious illness return to work).

Protecting health through expert assistance and targeted actions

We manage health and safety by instilling a sense of responsibility across all levels of the business. Specifically, our approach to the concept of “health” covers three areas:

• occupational health, in line with legal requirements
• medical care and the management of health emergencies by Eni’s people all around the world
• global health.

The last of these has been one of Eni’s best practices since 2003 and covers:

• the company’s responsibility to assess potential health impacts on the community
• the promotion of healthy living among employees and relatives
• health-related investments in community projects, such as access to energy and water, and the empowerment of women.