At Vetter UK, we strive to prioritise health and safety and have recognised that this can only truly be achieved through a holistic approach. As such, we are undertaking a new strategy as part of the Laing O'Rourke Group: ‘Rethinking Safety through Inclusion + Wellbeing’.
Inclusion – ensuring everyone (not just operational teams) has a safety voice and a part to play in our safety journey.
Wellbeing – ensuring we consider our people’s holistic health and safety and that we demonstrate genuine care for their physical and mental wellbeing.
Inclusion + Wellbeing builds resilience into the organisation, founded on engagement and trust. We place our people at the heart of health and safety decision making, with a focus on understanding successful performance and the things which go right. Inclusion + Wellbeing challenges us to move beyond traditional health and safety practices and measures by applying the principles of ‘safety differently’ and advancing our performance.
Inclusion + Wellbeing is underpinned by the following three pillars, which outline our focus areas:
Engineered Safety is about engineering out risk and engineering in health at every stage of the project lifecycle. This is achieved through working closely with our design consultants and employing a modern methods of construction approach.
Delivery Excellence ensures a robust implementation of our leading standards and H&S management system, where we will champion consistent engagement with our workforce. This is underpinned by clear lines of operational accountability and competence.
Human Performance is how we enable our people. We will create a working environment that supports people’s holistic health, enabling them to sustain high performance by managing their personal energy and capacity levels.
As part of the Laing O’Rourke Group, we understand the role we must play in improving the lives of people while preserving the health of the planet as we deliver the buildings and infrastructure projects society needs.
For our clients
We aim to deliver innovative products and solutions for our clients that help them minimise their environmental impacts and assist them in meeting their sustainability goals. This includes provision of the appropriate technical, design and material advice/solutions based on proposed end use, through to the use of modern methods of construction, such as Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA). DfMA is a more sustainable method of construction. The enhanced efficiency of a factory environment means we can reduce energy consumption and waste materials when compared with in situ construction methods.
For our people
Our staff and operatives are the very heart of our business. We seek to attract, develop, and retain the very best people, and continue to create a workplace that is diverse and inclusive. The business offers a range of benefits from flexible working to help employees balance the demands of work and personal life, through to private health insurance and an industry-leading equal parenthood policy.
For the environment
To preserve our planet, the Laing O'Rourke Group has set the ambitious targets of achieving operational net zero by 2030 for scope 1 and 2 emissions, and to become a fully net zero company before 2050 across scopes 1, 2 and 3.
There are several steps the Group has already taken on this journey, with achievements including:
- Being one of the first UK construction companies to achieve Carbon Reduce certification having already achieved a 72% reduction (Scope 1 and 2) across the entire business (from 2008/2009 baseline)
- Delivering a project to decarbonise manufactured concrete components, alongside experts from the University of Cambridge and the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)
- Investing in sustainable plant and vehicles, including the world’s first electric crawler crane
- Upskilling our business so that staff have a minimum level of carbon literacy
- Phasing out diesel use by switching plant to be fuelled by sustainably-sourced Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO)
- Transitioning our company fleet to electric vehicles
Our procurement processes reflect our passion to secure the best value and quality for our clients. We seek to source our materials from suppliers that have good ethical, social and environmental practices. ‘One Team’ working means we also ensure that our supply chain operates to the same high standards as ourselves. Our policies and processes ensure responsible sourcing, prevent pollution, reduce packaging and waste, and maximise energy efficiency. As part of our supply chain onboarding process, we ensure that our suppliers also adhere to these principles.
The plant and machinery we operate is supplied by the Group's in-house specialist plant business, Select Plant Hire, which ensures we use the best plant on the market in terms of emissions generated and energy consumed. Laing O'Rourke's precast concrete offering is BES 6001 accredited, and we have recently achieved Declaration Level certification for the Stone Federation Great Britain Ethical Stone Register.
For society
We take great pride in knowing that with every project that we deliver we are enriching lives and ensuring that local communities continue to thrive, from schools and universities, shopping and leisure facilities, office buildings, hospitals, railways and more.
The Laing O’Rourke Group has set ambitious 2030 social value targets of enriching the lives of two million people and creating £2bn of social impact through a social value strategy containing five themes - inclusive employment, thriving local economies, healthy communities, inspiring future generations and environmental net gain.
When we go to work, we should feel we are going to a place where we are accepted, understood and valued. Just as importantly, we should go to work committed to making others feel the same way. Such a working environment does not happen by chance. It does not happen overnight. It happens starting with each of us – today – and it is simply the right thing to do.
Vetter UK is committed to a journey of ensuring workforce inclusivity and diversity.
Our goal is to have equal numbers of men and women within our staff population by 2033 and to encourage, train and mentor our women to ensure they are confident to apply for senior positions.
We are committed to building a more diverse workforce and ensuring we have a fully inclusive culture across our business.
