Modern Slavery Transparency Statement
Introduction
This Statement is DECTRIS Ltd’s Modern Slavery Statement and covers the period of 01.01.2024 - 31.12.2024 and applies to DECTRIS Ltd. and all DECTRIS subsidiaries. This statement has been produced in accordance with Australia’s Modern Slavery Act (2018), the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act (2015). Furthermore, even though it does not (yet) apply to DECTRIS, we are following closely due diligence requirements in the EU that relate to the european corporate sustainability due diligence directive such as the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz – “LkSG“ - 2021) and the French duty of vigilance law of 2017. It outlines the steps DECTRIS is planning to identify and develop a complex strategy designed to better manage DECTRIS's exposure to modern slavery and ensure continuous improvement to circumvent the risks of modern slavery occurrence in its supply chain and business operations.
About DECTRIS
At DECTRIS, people come first. Our biggest asset is our employees' diverse backgrounds, unique characters, and desire to contribute to developing and commercializing outstanding technology that enables new science.
The purpose of our company is to serve present and future generations in mastering society’s most important challenges. Ultimately, the desire to make a positive impact within our society is anchored in our beliefs. Present and future generations face multiple challenges, some of which relate to health and the environment.
DECTRIS was founded in 2006 as a Spin-Off of the Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, and has subsidiaries in the USA and Japan. At the headquarters in Switzerland, 166 full-time equivalent employees worked in December 2024. DECTRIS develops and manufactures the most accurate X-ray and electron cameras to spark scientific breakthroughs around the world. While photographic cameras capture visible light, DECTRIS cameras count individual X-ray photons and electrons.
We are the global market leader at synchrotrons, and our efficient detector systems help scientists achieve high-quality results also in their own laboratories. DECTRIS electron detectors create unique opportunities in materials and life science, and we offer novel solutions for medical applications.
DECTRIS' Business and Modern Slavery Risks
Reliability of DECTRIS, its clients and suppliers is a part of trust-based culture developed and visible in the company. DECTRIS recognizes that modern slavery is a significant worldwide problem and commits to the UN Agenda 2030 - the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, DECTRIS supports aim 8.71 to end modern slavery and respect human rights of all individuals. Also, we recognize and support the following United Nation and International Labour Organization conventions:
● International Bill of Human Rights
● UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress & Punish Trafficking in Person
● ILO Convention 29, Forced Labour
● ILO Convention 105, Abolition of Forced Labour
● ILO Convention 182, Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour
● ILO Convention 189, Domestic Workers, 2011
DECTRIS is strongly connected to the greater area of Baden, Switzerland, and tries to purchase and produce within the region wherever possible. DECTRIS detectors are produced at the headquarters in Switzerland and DECTRIS ensures a safe working environment for all employees. DECTRIS established a safety and health organization with representatives of different departments and is compliant with Swiss standards and laws. The risk of modern slavery in the production of DECTRIS detectors is negligible. Suppliers are chosen carefully. DECTRIS has had strong relationships with most relevant suppliers for more than 10 years.
In addition, DECTRIS is focused on developing and producing high-quality, high-performance hybrid photon counting (HPC) X-ray detectors. High-precision electronic components and boards are needed to ensure the production of these highest-end X-ray detectors. The boards are strongly customized and purchased in low volumes. All electronics manufacturing services for the products MYTHEN2, PILATUS3, PILATUS4, SELUN, EIGER2, ELA, QUADRO, SINGLA, ARINA are done in Switzerland with respect to Swiss laws and ecological and social standards. The risk of modern slavery for first-tier suppliers of electronic boards and components is very low.
With every detector, a DELL server and SMC chiller are delivered to provide a reliable, easy-to-integrate detector system. The server and chiller are the most expensive single components purchased for the detector systems. Both DELL and SMC provided statements against slavery and human trafficking.
DECTRIS detectors are operated and calibrated with software that is developed and maintained by DECTRIS engineers. The risk of modern slavery for software development and maintenance is negligible.
How DECTRIS Addresses its Modern Slavery Risks
DECTRIS’ values
DECTRIS is a Swiss company and is compliant with Swiss laws, regulations and quality standards. DECTRIS recently changed its structure to a flat hierarchy without middle management to give each employee the possibility to participate in decisional processes. Today the organization is organized in 3 main value streams and a top management. The office is organized as an open space where employees are encouraged to collaborate as equals, regardless of their level.
The compliance and sustainability team ensures that DECTRIS is compliant with topics such as modern slavery.
DECTRIS is a Spin-off of the Paul Scherrer Institut and recognizes the importance of education for an economically independent life. More than 70% of our employees have a technical college or university degree or higher, and 30% of them have a Ph.D. This is one example that shows how much DECTRIS supports young researchers and regional schools. In addition, DECTRIS offers professional training concerning Swiss laws and standards and actively takes part in scientific workshops worldwide on its domains of competence in order to educate the next generation of scientists.
Assessing Modern Slavery Risks
DECTRIS employees are paid following regional, Swiss, US, and Japanese standards. An external company (Landolt & Mächler Consultants AG) is auditing and advising the salary standards. DECTRIS checked the equality of male/female salaries in 2021, finding no discrepancies, and has since monitored it at every salary adjustment round. It always was compliant with equal salary standards in Switzerland.
DECTRIS cares about the physical and mental health of all employees. All employees are regularly prompted to contact HR or an external company if they need help. Employees have access to a mentoring program as well as team retrospectives in order to discuss any point of discomfort. From 2024 every employee was encouraged to self assess their level of mastery, ultimately giving them ownership of their career progression. Additionally, dedicated coaching and people awareness teams allow any issues to be handled with the utmost priority. A standard escalation mechanism allows reaching up to the CEO in order to solve conflicts. In parallel, the “Trust team” (one of the core teams dedicated to, among other tasks, collaboration
between employees) is establishing guidelines and can offer assistance as last resort. Finally, anonymous psychological assistance is offered at the cost of DECTRIS to prevent the risk of burnout.
DECTRIS organizes an anonymous written survey once per year, where employees can address problems, irregularities, and other issues. The survey is managed by an external company and discussed within the management of DECTRIS. DECTRIS takes action to enhance the employee situation as soon as problems are reported. Survey results can be provided if requested.
To increase well being and work-life balance for all the employees, DECTRIS introduced the following internal policies:
● flexible work from home/work from the office policy, which allows employees to choose when they would like to work from home and when from the office
● flexible vacation options policy for all employees, allowing to adjust the workload in order to have more holidays during the year.
● “company holidays” between 23rd of December and 3rd of January, where DECTRIS remains closed and all employees benefit from extra days off.
The mentioned policies have a significant impact on the work-life balance of all the employees.
Contributing to our Communities
DECTRIS is aware of its social responsibility and considers this in the profit redistribution. 1.5% of the profit above a given threshold is distributed to different local and non-governmental organizations. This indicates DECTRIS's commitment and support within the region of Baden, Switzerland. A fraction of the benefit is also directly redistributed to the employees themselves to acknowledge the importance of everyone in the company's success.
In compliance with the next steps mentioned in the modern slavery transparency statement of 2023, DECTRIS identified various teams that, interacting with external suppliers, could potentially encounter Modern Slavery. We then organized specialized internal training sessions to raise awareness on the topic and the steps to take in case Modern Slavery were encountered. Finally, the yearly salary adjustment to inflation is calculated in order to benefit proportionally more the lower incomes, therefore effectively decreasing the salary gap between employees.
Assessing Our Measures and Next Steps
The compliance and sustainability organization at DECTRIS, established in the second quarter of 2023, has taken ownership of the topic and is actively working on measures to maintain the risk of modern slavery low and further raise awareness about the topic within the company, suppliers and end customers. During the course of 2024, a compliance and sustainability questionnaire was prepared for our suppliers which tackled modern slavery as well as other due diligence topics such as carbon footprint and conflict minerals. The newly established compliance and sustainability space on the webpage also allows us to raise awareness on the topic with our customers. In 2025 we plan to extend the training on modern slavery to the entire company via an e-training platform.
REACH Article 33 Duty to Communicate Information on Substances in Articles
According to Article 33 of REACH, the manufacturer has the obligation to provide sufficient information to the consumer/recipient of the article if Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) of candidate list are contained in its products in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight (w/w). Below you can find documentation for each DECTRIS product series covering the information on SVHC-s.
