Commitment to employees
Social sustainability
Employees
Pennon Group demonstrates its commitment to its employees, and those of its operating subsidiaries, ensuring 'best practice' through a range of personnel policies, including, for example, its Health and Safety Policy and Equal Opportunities Policy. We also provide high quality training and employee development.
Health and Safety Policy
The Pennon Group Board is responsible for establishing a health and safety policy to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees of the Pennon Group. This is reviewed annually. All subsidiary company boards have a responsibility to establish a similar health and safety policy for their respective companies and are required to comply with relevant statutory provisions.
In pursuance of this policy Pennon Group and its subsidiary companies take such action as necessary and which is reasonably practicable and pay particular attention to the:
- provision and maintenance of a working environment for our employees that is safe, prevents injury and ill health and is appropriate as regards facilities and arrangements for welfare
- protection of members of the public who may be affected by our work
- promotion of an improved health and safety culture by consulting with and training the workforce and by making all employees and contractors aware of their individual responsibilities
- setting of health and safety objectives and targets within a continuous improvement framework that will be used to monitor and measure performance
- continuous improvement of our health, safety and security performance through the revitalisation of our health and safety management systems.
The Chief Executives of South West Water and Viridor are responsible for arranging appropriate organisational and responsibility procedures for the health, safety and welfare of employees within their respective companies and other persons not employed by those companies but who may be affected by the policy, such as contractors and consultants. The Group Director of Finance is responsible for such matters within Pennon Group Plc.
Pennon Group and each of its operating subsidiary companies:
- has prepared a statement on their organisation and responsibilities in respect of health and safety which, together with this policy statement, is brought to the attention of all employees and is displayed on notice boards and each company's intranet
- complies with all legislation, regulations and codes of practice relevant to their businesses and consults employees on measures for promoting health and safety at work
- requires all contractors and consultants working for each company within the Group to comply with each company's health and safety policy and each company communicates openly its policy, related objectives and performance to stakeholders.
International Labour Organisation core conventions
The Group supports the principles of the International Labour Organisation's eight core conventions for the protection and safety of workforces.
Community engagement
Pennon Group recognises that it has a responsibility towards the communities in which it operates and aims to be a 'good neighbour' in all its operations and activities which may impact on its local communities.
The Group's objectives relating to the community are to:
- Undertake its activities in a way that minimises potential adverse effects on society, the environment and those living or working in proximity to the Group's sites
- Aim to ensure that all the Group's business activities have a positive economic, social and environmental impact on the communities in which it operates.
During the year Viridor donated £9.7million to Viridor Credits Environmental Company, an independent charity established to distribute landfill community funding predominantly in areas surrounding Viridor's landfills.
The Pennon Environmental Fund awarded a total of £47,404 to 11 projects in 2008/09, including church repairs, community amenities and various habitat creation schemes to benefit wildlife.
The Pennon Charitable Donations Committee provided a total of £65,624 of funding during the year to over 200 causes across South West Water's operating area. For example, funding is provided to support senior citizens, hospices, playgroups and scout and guide troops. Examples include:
- Tavistock Area Disabled Fellowship Club
- Polperro Pre School Playgroup
- South Hams Citizens Advice Bureaux
- St Petrock's, Exeter
- Independence at Home
- Families for Childcare Adoption Agency
Stakeholder engagement
Pennon maintains a regular dialogue with institutional investors, City analysts, retail shareholders, local stockbrokers and the financial press through our proactive investor relations programme.
Pennon's Group Director of Finance is a member of the CBI Environmental Affairs Committee and the CBI South West Regional Council.
South West Water's Chief Executive chairs Water UK, the representative organisation which brings together all of the UK's water and waste water utilities. He also represents the company on the Environment Agency's Regional Environmental Protection Advisory Committee.
Viridor's Chief Executive chairs the UK's Environmental Knowledge Transfer Network which improves the competitiveness of UK environmental industries. He is a Director of Sustainability South West, is Deputy Master of the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators, a senior visiting research fellow in Earth Sciences at Oxford University and Patron of Energy and Utility Skills. He is also Chairman of the Government's Environmental Sector Advisory Group, which provides strategic advice to the Government on the promotion of exports and inward investment in the UK environmental sector.
Details of South West Water's and Viridor's respective stakeholder engagement are given in their own Corporate Responsibility Reports.