Glossary of Terms

AA1000 standard

The AA1000 Assurance Standard is a generally-applicable standard for assessing, attesting to and strengthening the credibility and quality of organisations’ sustainability reporting and the underlying processes, systems and competencies. The standard is issued by AccountAbility, an organisation that promotes accountability for sustainable development. The AA1000 Assurance Standard principles are based on three key elements: responsiveness, completeness and materiality.

Absenteeism

Total days absence versus potential working days, calculated at year-end.

All training hours

All training hours are the number of hours spent on training by the total of employees on payroll (including social responsibility training hours) during the reporting period (both on- and off-job and both internal and external programmes).

Biofuel

Biofuel (also called agrofuel) can be broadly defined as solid, liquid, or gas fuel consisting of or derived from biomass. Biofuel consists of CO₂ that has recently been extracted from the atmosphere as a result of growing of plants and trees and therefore does not influence the CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere over a longer period of time. This is in contrast to fossil fuels, such as natural gas or crude oil, which are stored over billions of years so that their combustion and subsequent emissions do influence CO₂ levels in the atmosphere.

Blameworthy road traffic accident

A blameworthy road traffic accident (BRTA) is one whereby the TNT driver is at fault. Accidents are considered to be blameworthy when our senior management judged the accident as such. BRTAs that occur in company owned or leased vehicles during weekends, non-working days or on the way to and from the office are also counted.

Blameworthy road traffic fatal accident

A blameworthy road traffic fatal accident (BRFTA) is where a TNT-employee or third party is fatally injured, which means that the employee or third party died because of the accident of any person driving a TNT-owned or operated vehicle. This indicator does not include blameworthy road traffic fatal accidents caused by subcontractors. Accidents that occur in company-owned or leased vehicles during weekends, non-working days or on the way to and from the office are also counted. An accident is considered blameworthy when the TNT driver is at fault.

Business travel

Business travel refers to all business-related air flights.

B2B

Business-to-business commerce transactions.

B2C

Business-to-consumer commerce transactions.

Carbon dioxide emissions

Carbon dioxide emissions relate to the gas formed during the combustion of fossil fuel. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is referred to as a greenhouse gas.

Civil society

As part of our stakeholder dialogues, the civil society cluster includes academic and research institutes, financial and investment service organisations, government agencies, industry associations and international organisations, NGOs and trade unions.

CO₂ efficiency

CO₂ efficiency expresses the efficiency of TNT's business in terms of CO₂ emissions, i.e. the CO₂ emitted per service provided, per letter or parcel delivered.

CO₂-neutral

Carbon-neutral is where the net CO₂ equivalent emissions from activities are zero.

Company cars

Company-owned or leased vehicles made at the disposal of a TNT employee for commuting and business travel. This category also includes hired vehicles used for business expansion reasons (not replacement vehicles hired for vehicles under repair).

Corporate governance

The OECD (see reference below in this glossary) defines corporate governance as the system by which corporations are directed and controlled. The corporate governance structure specifies the distribution of rights and responsibilities among different participants such as the board, managers, shareholders and other stakeholders, and defines the rules and procedures for making decisions. In doing so, it also provides the structure through which company objectives are set, the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance.

Corporate responsibility

Corporate responsibility is the umbrella term for the obligation a company has in considering the social (corporate social responsibility) and environmental (sustainability) impact of its activities and to go beyond this obligation in the treatment of economic, environmental and social activities to sustain its operations, financial performance and ultimately its reputation.

Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a indicator of the number of customers that confirmed through external channels such as correspondence, surveys, focus groups, trade bodies and so forth that they were (un)satisfied or more overall with the service provided in the reporting period.

Disabled employees

Disabled employees are employees on payroll whose medical condition is recognised by the relevant authorities as a disability.

Employee engagement

Employee engagement relates to the number of employees (employed by TNT for three months or more) who stated in the employee engagement survey that they were engaged or more than engaged by TNT as an employer.

Environmental incident

An environmental incident is an incident that has led to the pollution of soil, water or air. This includes failures, breakdowns, floods, spillages, leaks, leakages and so forth.

European emission standards

Euro 4 and Euro 5 are mandatory European emission standards (EU directives) applicable to new road vehicles sold in the European Union that define levels of vehicular emissions like NOx and particulate matter (PM).

European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS)

In January 2005, the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) commenced operation as the largest multi-country, multisector greenhouse gas emission trading scheme worldwide. The concept of emission trading can be summarised as the obligation for large emitters such as energy producers to monitor and report on CO₂ emissions and to buy or sell when surpassing the agreed emission allowance. This scheme will become applicable to aviation as of 2012.

Full time equivalents (FTEs)

FTEs is the total number of hours worked by the headcount divided by the local number of contract hours (e.g. 40 p/w or 196 p/m).

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

The GRI is a multi-stakeholder process and independent institution whose mission is to develop and disseminate globally-applicable sustainability reporting guidelines for voluntary use by organisations that report on the economic, environmental and social dimensions of their business. The GRI incorporates participation of business, accountancy, investment, environmental, human rights and research and labour organisations from around the world. Starting in 1997, the GRI gained independence in 2002, is an official collaborating centre of the United Nations Environment Programme, and works with the United Nations Global Compact. For more information, see www.globalreporting.org.

Greenhouse Gas Protocol

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative (GHG Protocol) was established in 1998 to develop internationally-accepted accounting and reporting standards for greenhouse gas emissions from companies.

Hazardous waste

Hazardous waste is waste that could prove harmful to human health or the natural environment.

Headcount

Headcount is the number of own employees on the payroll in active duty working for fully-consolidated companies.

Income taxes paid

The total of income taxes paid to the various national tax authorities as reported in the consolidated cash flow statements.

Internal promotion

The number of TNT employees appointed to vacancies in management positions at the end of a reporting period. This refers to the number of actual appointments, not the number of FTE positions.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

The ISO is a network of national standards institutes from 146 countries working in partnership with international organisations, governments, industry, business and consumer representatives. The ISO is the source of ISO 9000 standards for quality management, ISO 14000 standards for environmental management and other international standards for business, government and society. For further information see www.iso.org.

ISO 9001 (quality management)

The ISO 9000 standards cover an organisation’s practices in fulfilling customers’ quality requirements and applicable regulatory requirements while aiming to enhance customer satisfaction and achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives.

ISO 14001 (environmental management)

The ISO 14001 standard is an international standard for controlling environmental aspects and improving environmental performance, minimising harmful effects on the environment and achieving continual improvements in environmental performance.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are measurements that focus on achieving outcomes critical to the current and future success of an organisation. These indicators should deal with matters that are linked to the organisation’s mission and vision, and are quantified and influenced where possible.

Lost time accident

For the purpose of CR reporting lost time accidents are defined as the number of employees that are absent from work as a result of a work-related accident for at least one day in the reporting period, excluding the day that the accident occurred.

Management positions by gender

Management positions are defined as the number of females/males employed in  management positions or above (i.e. with responsibilities for other employees - including subcontractors - or with budget responsibility).

Noise complaints

Noise complaints are the number of written or documented verbal expression of grievance and/or dissatisfaction from external parties received during the reporting period relating to noise caused by an operation on- or off-site.

Non-blameworthy road traffic accident

A non-blameworthy road traffic accident (non-BRTA) is an accident where the TNT driver is not at fault. Accidents are considered non-blameworthy when senior management judges the accident as such (does not include vandalism or off-road damages). Accidents at TNT premises, customers or suppliers are included in the number of non-BRTAs. Non-BRTAs that occur in company-owned or leased vehicles during weekends, non-working days or on the way to and from the office are also counted. Accidents by vehicles owned by subcontracted drivers are not included.

Non-blameworthy road traffic fatal accident

A non-blameworthy road traffic fatal accident is where a TNT employee or third party is fatally injured. This means that the employee or third party died because of the accident of any person driving a TNT company-owned or operated vehicle. Non-blameworthy road traffic fatal accidents that occur in company-owned or leased vehicles during weekends, non-working days or on the way to and from the office are also counted. An accident is considered non-blameworthy when the TNT driver is not at fault. Non-blameworthy road traffic accidents of subcontractors are not included.

On-time delivery

Delivery of a consignment within the timeframe set for the service in question.

Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)

The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) comprises 30 member countries that share a commitment to democratic government and the market economy. Member countries – sometimes referred to as OECD countries – represent the world’s most developed countries. For further information see www.oecd.org.

OHSAS 18001 (occupational health and safety management)

OHSAS 18001 is a standard for occupational health and safety management systems. It is intended to help organisations control occupational health and safety risks and was developed in response to widespread demand for a recognised standard for certification and assessment. OHSAS 18001 was created through collaboration of several of the world’s leading national standards bodies, certification organisations and consultancies. For further information see www.ohsas-18001-occupational-health-and-safety.com.

PACI (Partnering Against Corruption Initiative) Principles

The PACI’s mission is to develop multi-industry principles and practices that will result in a competitive level playing field, based on integrity, fairness and ethical conduct. The PACI places the private sector in a unique position to guide governments’ and international organisations’ strategies and policies on anti-corruption and has built strong relationships with the key players and institutions from the global anti-corruption landscape. For more information go to www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/paci.

Road traffic fatal accident

A road traffic fatal accident is one where a TNT employee or third party is fatally injured such that the employee or third party died because of the accident and where any person driving a TNT company-owned or company-operated vehicle is involved. RTFAs that occur in company-owned or leased vehicles during weekends, non-working days or on the way to and from the office are included also.

SA 8000 (social accountability management)

SA 8000 is a standard issued by human rights organisation Social Accountability International (SAI). The standard is designed to maintain just and decent working conditions throughout a supply chain. It is based on international workplace standards in the International Labour Organization conventions and the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on Rights of the Child. It covers child labour, forced labour, health and safety, freedom of association and right to collective bargaining, discrimination, discipline, working hours, compensation and management systems. For further information see www.sa-intl.org.

Soot filters

Exhaust gases from diesel engines contain soot, which is harmful for one’s health. For this reason, the European Commission has set standards for soot emission levels. Soot emission levels are reduced significantly by the introduction of a soot filter. Soot filters consist of a porous wall that allows exhaust gases to pass through it but stop the majority of fine soot particles from leaving.

Subcontractor road traffic accident fatalities

A subcontractor road traffic accident fatality occurs when a subcontractor or other third party is fatally injured by a person driving a subcontractor-owned or hired vehicle, which is operated on behalf of TNT.

Sustainable energy

Sustainable energy is energy from 'green' or renewable sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric and ocean energy purchased during the reporting period for power and lighting of all company locations (where this can be established from utility suppliers’ invoices or other means). It does not include nuclear energy.

Transport safety training hours

Transport safety training hours are the number of hours spent by the total of employees on payroll on transport safety training during the reporting period (both on and off the job training and both internal and external programmes).

Voluntary turnover

Voluntary turnover is the number of TNT employees on permanent contract (full-time or part-time) who resigned from the company of their own free will. This includes all resignations but not redundancies, dismissals, retirement or transfers.

Working hours

The definition of working hours is based on the total number of individually calculated hours adjusted for overtime, leave or similar deviations.

Workplace fatal accident

The death of a TNT employee due to a work-related accident or the death of a third party whilst working at a TNT facility.

World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world. It provides a collaborative framework for the world’s leaders to address global issues and engage its corporate members in global citizenship. For further information see www.weforum.org.

Zero emissions

Zero emissions refer to an engine, motor or other energy source that emits no waste products that pollute the environment or disrupt the climate.