Our code of conduct

Duncan - Area Authority, Aberdeen UK

BP’s code of conduct outlines our commitment to high ethical standards and compliance with applicable laws wherever we operate

Our code of conduct is based on our values and clarifies the ethics and compliance expectations for everyone who works at BP. Where rules are not stated explicitly, our everyday business decisions are guided by our values. The code includes sections on operating safely, responsibly and reliably; our people; our business partners; the governments and communities we work with; and our assets and financial integrity.

The code takes into account key points from BP’s internal standards related to anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering, competition and anti-trust law, and trade sanctions.

Who the code applies to

Our code applies to every employee and officer in every BP wholly-owned entity. In joint ventures and entities over which BP does not have overall control, the code outlines our expectations to influence our partners to follow similar principles.

We seek to work with contractors who operate under principles that are similar to those in our code. Where feasible, we seek a contractual commitment from such contractors to comply and work in line with our code. Where we have the right to do so, we will consider terminating contracts where a contractor has not complied with their obligations, or not renewing a contract where a contractor has acted in a manner that is not consistent with our values or our code. In 2012, our businesses reported that six suppliers’ contracts were either terminated or not renewed, compared to 14 in 2011.

Managing ethics and compliance

Knowing the code

We conduct code training and refresher sessions to help employees apply the code requirements and its principles to their work. New BP recruits attend induction training which addresses our values, our code and expectations.

Code of conduct training in the field

We want all our people to understand our code of conduct and why it is relevant for their work. Code of conduct training for field workers in our biofuels business in Brazil was particularly challenging and we needed to apply our programmes to workers with varying levels of education and literacy who were widely dispersed across three rural locations, 200 kilometres apart. To meet this challenge we developed a short, interactive play to explain the code of conduct using local actors and references. The actors toured the work sites, performing the play to more than 1,800 workers. We also prepared a pamphlet on the code of conduct in Portuguese.

Giovanna Ditscheiner, a member of the ethics and compliance team for our biofuels business in Brazil, said: "We wanted to make our code of conduct come alive for our colleagues so they could learn critical information in an informative and engaging way."

Certifying to the code

Each year, we engage our employees in code of conduct certification. Participation in code of conduct certification is mandatory for senior leaders up to the group chief executive and is also open to all other employees. When participants complete their certification, a record is kept that they understand the code and have been in compliance with its requirements. Code certification reminds individuals of their accountability to uphold BP’s values, to do the right thing and to create an environment where people can confidently raise concerns.

Speaking up

The certification process gives leaders an opportunity to engage their staff on the need to comply with the code and understand the various channels available, including OpenTalk, to report any violations. This informs their understanding of the ethics and compliance risks and consequences BP faces as an organization. In this way, certification helps mitigate future ethics or compliance risks.

The group ethics and compliance officer independently reports on the results of the certification process to the executive team and two board committees - the safety, ethics and environment assurance committee and the main board audit committee.

Attestation

The information on this page forms part of the information reviewed and reported on by Ernst & Young as part of BP's 2012 sustainability reporting.

View Ernst & Young's assurance statement

Our code is available in several different languages

Our code

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