Orthofix is committed to embedding sustainability throughout our business. We believe that all stakeholders must be considered in our actions every day. We approach issues surrounding sustainability with a mindset that is focused on providing superior solutions to physicians worldwide to improve the lives of patients. At the same time, we never lose sight of growing our businesses, developing our people, and enhancing our communities. To learn more about our Environmental Social Governance Strategy, please download our SASB Factsheet.

SASB Factsheet

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Our People

We demonstrate our commitment to providing equal and equitable opportunities to all employees through training, mentoring, education, and an inclusive culture. We engage our employees through our Moving 4ward Program, which was created to improve diversity, equality and inclusion, and through the Orthofix Women’s Network, which strives to support the women of Orthofix around the globe in the areas of development, mentoring and engagement. This belief extends to our board of directors, where women serve as chairs on two of our four Board committees. We were also happy to recently announce that Cathy Burzik has been nominated to Chair the Orthofix Board of Directors. Additionally we have three women represented on our executive leadership team.


Community Involvement

We support a variety of charitable organizations through donations, fundraising efforts, educational partnerships with colleges and universities, and local community development. Over the years, we have raised funds and awareness for veteran support groups, food and homebuilding organizations, and health-related institutions. In 2020, we initiated a global food drive in response to food shortages caused by the pandemic. Through employee donations and matching funds we provided meaningful support to 20 food banks around the world. Orthofix also partners with Donate Life America, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promotes the importance of organ, eye, and tissue donation. Additionally, we have an ongoing engineering partnership with the University of Texas, Dallas, enabling students to work on real life healthcare solutions as we invest in the next generation of engineers and business leaders.

Community Involvement

Environmental Responsibility

We are committed to transitioning to lower carbon operations. We have begun to explore a decrease in our carbon footprint for the manufacturing and supply of our surgical instruments via single-use sterile packed instruments, and in 2020 launched a partnership with Neo Medical to distribute single-use sterile packed instrumentation for certain spine surgeries, and to develop single-use solutions for other procedures. These single-use sterile packed instruments eliminate high carbon cost of repeated shipping and sterilization, reducing our carbon footprint and improving the spinal surgery ecosystem with value-based care and sustainable technology solutions. In addition, Orthofix recently launched a free recycling program for our patients using Bone Growth Stimulators in order to reduce the number of devices that end up in landfills after use, the first program of its kind for bone growth therapy devices. We also embed the principles of advancing a circular economy into our environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) practices globally through our in-office recycling program, including recycle/reuse and a commitment to eliminate Styrofoam. Additionally, our facilities have energy efficient HVAC systems and we transitioned our Lewisville, Texas location to 100 percent sustainable energy in March 2020.


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Governance

It is our fundamental policy to conduct business in accordance with the highest ethical and legal standards. We have a comprehensive compliance and ethics program to promote lawful and ethical business practices throughout our domestic and international businesses and offer compliance education training to all of our employees. Similarly, we require that our suppliers adopt sound human rights practices designed to treat workers fairly and with dignity and respect. We responsibly manage and influence the impacts of our distributors through our robust compliance and governance training.

Orthofix’s website contains information on our environmental and social policies and programs, including the following:

Conflict Minerals Report (opens in new window)

We maintain a Conflict Minerals Report to ensure high standards of corporate responsibility, and we take seriously the ending of the violence and human rights violations currently taking place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) and surrounding countries.

Environmental, Health and Safety:

We maintain an environmental, health and safety policy, communicated within our Corporate Code of Conduct that seeks to promote the operation of our business in a manner that is environmentally responsible and protective of the health and safety of both our employees and the public. As a result of these policies, the Company reported zero work related injuries in the U.S. in 2020, which is lower than the industry average reported by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”).

Code of Conduct (opens in new window)

We maintain a Corporate Code of Conduct that is applicable to all our directors, officers, and employees. The Code of Conduct sets forth our policies and expectations on several topics, including conflicts of interest, compliance with laws, human rights, use of our assets, business conduct and fair dealing. All employees participate in annual training on the Corporate Code of Conduct and related Company policies.

Sustainability

We maintain comprehensive policies that guide our approach to environmental and social risk management within our Corporate Code of Conduct. We demonstrate this commitment through our global sustainability goals addressing four key areas of responsibility. Other areas of focus include corporate compliance with responsible hazardous waste protocols, recycling, emergency preparedness, and programs to enhance and promote environmental stewardship.

COVID-19 Response

We recognize that as a responsible global operator, it is our obligation to ensure the safety of our stakeholders. In addition to our above principals, in 2020:

  • We assessed and managed the risks associated with our activities to protect our employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • We committed to the responsible oversight of our workforce and their safety as evidenced by our implementation of health pre-screens for our facilities and patient and customer interactions, the transition of many of our employees to remote work from home arrangements, upgrades to HVAC filters, installation of plastic shields for office cubes, required use of a mask in common areas and social-distancing protocols in offices and meeting rooms, the launch of a communications campaign to promote safe practices and keep our employees informed, and other initiatives.
  • We continue to engage our employees globally through structured confidential surveys to identify current COVID-19 concerns and provide communication updates on a regular basis.
  • We have successfully engaged our surgeon customers and other stakeholders through the offering of virtual training sessions on the safe and effective use of our products. In 2020, more than 12,000 surgeons, healthcare providers, distributors and employees were trained via these offerings.


Engagement with Shareholders

Orthofix routinely engages with our shareholders to better understand their views, carefully considering the feedback we receive and acting when appropriate. We review the results of the annual advisory vote on executive compensation in making determinations about the structure of Orthofix’s pay program, or whether any changes to the program should be considered.

Learn more about our Corporate Social Responsibility