Whistleblower system

Römheld & Moelle Eisengießerei GmbH demands and promotes transparent business activities. We assume social, societal and ecological responsibility and consider this to be a key factor in our sustainable corporate success. We are fully committed to compliance. Reliability, integrity and adherence to rules form the foundation of our activities.

The Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG) came into force on 2 July 2023. This law regulates the protection in particular of natural persons who have obtained information about violations in connection with their professional activity or in the run-up to a professional activity and disclose this information. With your report, you contribute to the prevention, detection and elimination of errors in our company.

We would therefore like to encourage you as a reporting person to contact the company’s reporting office with suspicious circumstances, providing as much specific information as possible. All reports will be treated confidentially. You have the option of submitting your report without giving your name. However, we recommend that you give our reporting office the opportunity to contact you, as otherwise there will be no possibility for us to contact you if there is still a need for clarification and the matter may not be able to be clarified further without your co-operation.

We take the requirements for the protection of whistleblowers seriously and ensure that you do not have to fear any unfavourable measures due to a justified report.

Please note: A wilfully false report may have consequences under criminal law.

Who can report offences?

• Every employee, including trainees, students, interns or temporary workers
• External, e.g. employees of external service providers
• Every business partner, e.g. suppliers, customers or cooperation partners and their employees
• Other third parties, e.g. local communities such as neighbours or relatives of employees

What offences can be reported?

The range of incidents that you can and should report is wide. All offences or reasonable grounds for suspicion in the context of professional or business activities that are subject to criminal prosecution or fines, as well as violations of legal provisions and internal company regulations, e.g. the Code of Conduct, can be reported. These include fraud, bribery and corruption, money laundering, theft, competition/antitrust violations, consumer protection, data protection, discrimination and harassment, occupational health and safety, environmental, health and safety issues, human rights violations, conflicts of interest and energy management.

The list is not exhaustive. A complete list of possible circumstances can be found in Section 2 HinSchG.

What details should be reported?

• What type of misconduct is involved?
• When and where did it happen?
• How exactly did the suspected person or company proceed?
• Are there any documents or witnesses that confirm the allegations?
• What is your connection to the company?

How can I report?

Reporting office of the company

Your information will of course be treated confidentially, quickly, neutrally and in a regulated procedure.

• By post to vem.consult GmbH, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Straße 9, 56073 Koblenz
• Digital by e-mail to meldestelle@vemconsult.de
• By telephone on +49 261 40406-11
• at the request of the person providing the information in the form of a personal interview

By commissioning an external ombudsman, we ensure the confidentiality of your report and the necessary expertise of the person handling the case. Your information will be reviewed by the lawyers at vem.consult GmbH and forwarded pseudonymised to internal contact persons for the initiation of appropriate operational measures. The whistleblower is in contact with the trusted persons at vem.consult GmbH and is informed of the receipt of the report within seven days at the latest and of the result of the internal investigation within three months at the latest.

Reporting office of the federal government

In addition to reporting information about an offence to the internal reporting office, you can also report it to an external reporting office. The federal government’s external reporting centre is located at the Federal Office of Justice (BfJ). The reporting channels and further information on the BfJ’s external reporting office are published on the BfJ website.

The law provides for a right to choose in Section 7 para. 1 sentence 1 HinSchG. However, according to Section 7 para. 1 sentence 2 HinSchG, whistleblowers should prefer to report to an internal reporting centre in cases where effective internal action can be taken against the violation and they do not have to fear reprisals. We therefore ask you to first contact our confidential internal whistleblowing centre with any suspicious circumstances.

You can find additional information on data protection in our privacy policy.