Following our purpose of creating sustainable infrastructure and safe transport through innovation, we are committed to ensuring that our Environment Social & Governance (‛ESG’) strategy provides the foundation for the successful delivery of our Group strategy and business model.
Our sustainability priorities were identified following a comprehensive materiality assessment carried out in 2021, which also included comparing the results to the relevant Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (‛SASB’) materiality maps, see page 33 for more details. We have maintained the same sustainability priorities for 2022, however we will continue to review and adapt as our sustainability strategy evolves.
Our Executive Chair, Alan Giddins, has Board responsibility for ESG and is also a member of the ESG Committee. The ESG Committee works with our operating companies to create common sense, actionable plans with measurable near and medium term targets. We were delighted that Lucinda Farrington Parker joined as Group Head of Sustainability in February 2022. Lucinda is a key member of the ESG Committee and is leading on the Group’s carbon reduction plans including establishing a baseline for the Group’s Scope 3 emissions. The ESG Committee also includes the Group CFO and the Group Company Secretary, alongside a number of other Group employees who are passionate about our ESG focus areas. The Committee reports directly to the Board on a six-monthly basis, providing updates on progress made against targets.
Dimension | Category | SASB matrix | H&S materiality study | ESG Focus | |
Engineering & Construction | Road Transport | ||||
Environment | Ecological Impacts | . | |||
Waste and hazardous materials management | |||||
Waste and wastewater management | |||||
Air quality | . | ||||
Energy Management | . | . | |||
GHG Emissions | . | . | |||
Social Capital | Selling practices and product labelling | ||||
Customer welfare | |||||
Product quality and safety | . | ||||
Access and affordability | |||||
Data security | |||||
Customer privacy | |||||
Human rights and community relations | |||||
Human Capital | Employee engagement, diversity and inclusion | . | . | ||
Talent development/employment practices | . | . | |||
Employee health and safety | . | . | . | . | |
Labour practices | |||||
Business model and innovation | Physical impacts on climate change | . | |||
Sustainable products | . | ||||
Materials sourcing and efficiency | |||||
Supply chain management | |||||
Business model resilience | |||||
Product design and lifecycle management | . | ||||
Leadership and governance | Systemic risk management | ||||
Critical incident risk management | . | ||||
Management of the legal and regulatory environment | |||||
Competitive behaviour | |||||
Business ethics | . | . | . |
We determined our ESG focus areas by taking a materiality-based approach to ESG.
This two-stage materiality process identified the following seven sustainability priorities for Hill & Smith:
01
Greenhouse Gas ('GHG') emissions and energy management
02
Sustainable products - infrastructure
UN SDGs
02
Sustainable products - safe transport
03
Health & safety
04
Talent and engagement
05
Inclusion and diversity
UN SDGs
06
Climate risks
07
Ethical conduct
UN SDGs