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2020 Sustainability Report

ESG Report

COVID-19 Response

ESG Report

Protecting our people, customers and communities


The health and safety of PPG employees, partners and customers remains the company's most important core value, aligned with our purpose to protect and beautify the world. The company has enacted protocols to protect our people and manage our business in this evolving environment:

Enhanced Workplace Safety

  • Implemented proven, safe operating processes, based on local community transmission data, that have been used around the world to keep PPG people safe, including:
    • Implemented best practice hygiene techniques;
    • Provided personal protective equipment;
    • Enabled social distancing;
    • Required on-site employees and visitors to wear face coverings;
    • Sanitized work areas;
    • Managed significant large gatherings and limited in-person visits from third parties; and
    • Managed work-from-home protocols where possible.
  • Launched a new reporting tool for employees to submit their vaccination status.
  • Made site-by-site and person-by-person decisions with the safety of our people as our most important core value.
  • Monitored the health of our global workforce and took measures to protect PPG employees and customers in accordance with global and regional government requirements.
  • Implemented and managed a reporting mechanism to track employees affected by COVID-19.
  • Continued to benchmark how other industry leaders were handling the crisis and incorporated best practices.

Communicated Frequent Updates to Employees

  • Cascaded ongoing communications messages from business leaders across the company, highlighting the importance of practicing good hygiene protocols and getting vaccinated.
  • Shared success stories and provided tools and resources for managers.
  • Provided a wide array of communications via the company Intranet, employee resource website, e-mail, podcast and video messages, encouraging safe operating practices and hygiene practices both within and outside of the workplace.

Provided Workplace Flexibility

  • Managed alternative work arrangements, such as working remotely, staggering shifts and breaks for essential employees who remained on site at essential operations, which included manufacturing facilities and laboratories.
  • Regularly modified operational practices to consistently reduce risk to our employees while maintaining operational capability.

Increased Employee Education, Engagement and Recognition

  • Increased overall employee engagement, as measured by the Gallup employee engagement surveys and a newly deployed communications effectiveness survey.
  • Introduced new digital tools to connect employees through the Microsoft 365 suite.
  • Expanded virtual, interactive leadership and individual contributor training programs and deployed them globally.
  • Provided safety and health tools and resources for both frontline and remote workers.
  • Deployed a communications effectiveness survey for frontline employees to assess and improve communications.
  • Provided a wide array of communications via our intranet, employee resource website, emails, internal podcasts and video messages that encouraged vaccination and safe operating and hygiene practices both within and outside of the workplace.
  • Enhanced our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) resources globally, increased visibility of EAP resources and provided wellbeing materials to support employees and their families.
  • Provided wellbeing resources through our Abilities First Employee Resource Network, including webinars discussing mental health, stress and anxiety.
Vaccine clinics in Colombia, Germany and U.K. provide hope amid pandemic

In 2021, our global employee population saw the importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in order to protect themselves, their colleagues, their families and their communities from infection or severe symptoms. The company hosted various clinics around the world, vaccinating more than 550 employees across nine PPG sites in Germany, more than 350 people in Colombia, and more than 560 employees and local community members in Birstall, United Kingdom.

"Getting vaccinated is an important step to prevent getting sick with COVID-19. Communities with high vaccination levels are seeing a clear correlation in the reduction of severe cases of COVID-19, ultimately saving lives. Having this type of event organized by PPG personnel is a clear example of how important it is to ensure that those who matter the most, our employees and family members, get protected."

Pedro Perez
PPG Regional EHS Director
Europe, Middle East and Africa

Essential Products

Our products continue to play an essential role in a wide range of key industries throughout the ongoing pandemic. Our paints, coatings and specialty materials help create life-critical products for the healthcare, defense, food and beverage, hygiene, agriculture, energy, public works electronics industries and many others. Our products are applied to items that many use or interact with everyday, including coatings used on food and beverage packaging, to assure essential at-home products like canned fruits, vegetables and beverages were safe and protected as families "pantry loaded" and cook more meals at home. Our packaging coatings are used for personal hygiene and aerosol cleaning products, which help reduce the spread of certain bacteria in homes and workplaces. Coatings for computers and mobile devices continue to be in high demand, as many work and learn remotely. Lastly, the planes, ships or trucks that deliver goods to your local grocery store count on protective coatings too, which help to ensure the safety of the pilots, ship crews and drivers.

Most notably, we partnered with Corning to secure U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval for PPG COPPER ARMOR paint, an innovative interior coating that uses Corning® Guardiant® copper technology to continuously kill viruses and bacteria including Staph, MRSA, E Coli and Sars CoV-2 on the painted surface within 2 hours of exposure for up to 5 years. Learn more.

We also launched COMEX® VINIMEX® TOTAL Antiviral and Antibacterial paint in Mexico. The new product reduces up to 99.9% of bacteria and viruses responsible for the most common gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses, including Influenza A H1N1 and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Learn more.

Additional hygienic PPG products that help protect against bacteria and viruses include:

  • MASTER'S MARK LUXURIANT and ECO TOUCH antibacterial interior latex coatings by PPG, which kill 99.99% of E. coli and staphylococcus. They also kill 99.93% of the H1N1 virus under China’s National (GB) standards.
  • TAUBMAN'S EASYCOAT PRO interior paint by PPG in Australia, featuring Microban technology, which works to kill germs on contact and protect against mold, mildew and fungus growth, which are triggers of asthma and allergies.
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