Focusing
on Performance

Sustainability

Elland Sign up to the Steel Construction Sustainability Charter And Have Been Successfully Audited In July 2006 And Achieved Silver Standard

Sustainability is rapidly moving up the agenda as a procurement issue. Increasingly construction clients are looking for for sustainable forms of construction and companies which operate in a "sustainable" manner. Steel is being promoted to clients, specifiers and designers as a more sustainable form of construction than concrete, e.g. it is recyclable, fabricated offsite, safer to erect etc. In order to complement this, there was a need to establish a mechanism for clients, specifiers and designers to be able to determine what a "sustainable steel construction company" is and how to identify such companies. This has resulted in the steel construction sustainability charter which was launched at the Steel Construction conference and Exhibition on the 15th November 2005.

Objective

To develop steel as a sustainable form of construction in terms of economic viability, social progress and environmental responsibility.

Audit Process

During the sustainability audit process a company must demonstrate that it has at least half of the following 12 management systems in place:

A published sustainability policy (mandatory)
Monitoring of progress towards sustainability using specific management targets.
A programme of involvement with their local community on social issues and with the steel construction community generally.
An accredited H&SMS to OHSAS 18001.
IIP accreditation or a structured programme for personnel training, development and communication.
A published equal opportunities policy.
A published ethical trading policy.
An accredited EMS to BS EN ISO 14001.
Use of environmental impact assessment for process improvement.
A policy to manage energy and vehicle fuel usage in the business.
A policy to question whether suppliers have published sustainability policies.
An accredited QMS to BS EN ISO 9001