Managing
ESG

Our Board of Directors recognizes the importance of aligning our goals, including those related to sustainability, with the interests of our key stakeholders. The Board’s oversight responsibility for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) matters is reflected in our Governance Guidelines and includes reviewing progress toward our long-term safety and sustainability metrics and other sustainability initiatives. Safety and sustainability goals are also incorporated into the annual performance goals of the CEO and other executives.

Our robust enterprise risk management (ERM) program includes aspects of sustainability and ESG. Our ERM process assesses critical risks and the Board provides oversight as management addresses these risks. An internal corporate risk committee, composed of members of our business units and various functional leaders is led by our Vice President of Enterprise Risk Management. ESG, human capital, and cybersecurity are among the issues currently considered high-priority. The Board’s Audit Committee receives related updates on these issues.

ESG EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE

Our Management Committee sets the Company’s sustainability strategy. Led by our CEO, the committee includes the Company’s top executives, as well as business segment and functional leaders.

Our ESG Executive Leadership Committee ensures that the Management Committee recognizes the ESG factors that could impact the business and oversees implementation of the sustainability strategy. Senior leaders from EHS & Sustainability, Finance, Human Resources, Investor Relations, Financial Reporting, Risk Management, Legal and Compliance, and our business segments comprise the committee. This cross-functional team ensures that we have the engagement and alignment needed between business units, regions, and functional areas within the business to execute our ESG initiatives and projects.

Lincoln Electric’s Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, is the executive sponsor for our ESG Executive Leadership Committee. Our Vice President, Environmental, Health, Safety & Sustainability, leads the ESG Executive Leadership Committee and manages sustainability strategy execution, metrics tracking, and reporting. Two additional internal ESG-related committees further support the ESG Executive Leadership Committee:

  • Product Sustainability Committee:
    Drives actions in the areas of sustainable procurement, product lifecycle assessment, and eco-design
  • ESG Disclosure Committee:
    Ensures that robust processes and systems are in place to support public disclosures and reporting

Corporate Policies

(see Data & Documents Tab for full list of policies)

Code of Conduct

When John and James Lincoln started Lincoln Electric over 125 years ago, they envisioned a company that operated by the "Golden Rule" — treating others with respect and dignity, the way every individual wants to be treated. The Golden Rule is our guiding principle and is foundational to our cultural, values, and our Code of Conduct.

It is our policy to be a good corporate citizen. Our Code of Conduct contains our guidelines for conducting business ethically across all of our global operations. It applies to our Board and employees at every level within the organization, wherever located. Compliance is mandatory. Compliance is mandatory. We also expect our representatives, agents, suppliers, and consultants to uphold the standards in our Code of Conduct. Our Code of Conduct covers environmental, social, and community matters, in addition to other topics, and is available in 13 languages.

Supplier Code of Conduct

We encourage our suppliers to maintain rigorous ethics and compliance programs to adhere to applicable laws and regulations. We expect our suppliers to act responsibly and ensure that no illegal conditions exist in their supply chains. We outline these expectations in the Supplier Code of Conduct, which covers the following areas: Human Rights and Labor Standards, Environmental, Health, Safety & Quality, and Ethics

Human Rights Policy

We are determined to safeguard human rights throughout our global operations. The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights serves as the foundation for our Human Rights Policy. We expect all employees to comply with this policy as part of our commitment to ethical operations.

California Transparency in Supply Chains Act & UK Modern Slavery Act

We comply with the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (SB 657) and the UK Modern Slavery Act of 2015 and do not knowingly use suppliers who enploy slave labor or support human trafficking.