As an international organisation, Hamworthy is very much aware of its responsibilities to its employees, the communities and the environment in each of the diverse areas in which it operates.
Our people
The Group values communication with its employees, involving them in the wider Group and keeping them informed on matters affecting them as employees and on the various factors affecting the performance of the Group. Hamworthy has developed an intranet that regularly disseminates a significant amount of employee related information and is accessible at all our locations. Employee feedback is encouraged on a range of issues, developing a culture of openness and honesty. Hamworthy seeks to provide an environment which allows individuals to develop to the best of their abilities.
Equality
The Group’s employment policies include a commitment to equal opportunities regardless of sex, age, race or ethnic origin.
Disabled people
It is the policy of the Group to give full and fair consideration to applications made by disabled persons taking into consideration the respective aptitudes and abilities of the applicants concerned. In the event of a member of staff becoming disabled every effort is made to ensure their continued employment within the Group and to provide specialised training where appropriate.
Training
The Group is committed to employee training and this year has spent £0.5 million (2009: £0.6 million) in this respect. This is in addition to the cost of on-the-job training which, whilst substantial, is impractical to quantify. The Group has initiated a leadership and talent development programme across all businesses aimed to increase the strength in depth of the Group’s management capabilities.
Core values and ethics
The Group places great importance on a set of values and beliefs which inform actions taken within the Group and bind together its employees. These are publicised and promoted internally in all businesses, to see these values please visit this page on our website.
In 2009 Hamworthy also issued a new Code of Ethics and Business Conduct with which all employees are required to comply. The Group seeks to be an ethical and responsible part of the business community and will carry out its business fairly, honestly and transparently.
Whistleblowing
The Company operates a whistleblowing policy. This provides the necessary access for, and protection of, employees wishing to bring matters they suspect as being malpractice or impropriety to the attention of the relevant person.
Health and safety
The health and safety of Hamworthy employees is of the highest priority. The Group has strengthened its approach to safety throughout the Group led by a member of the Group executive committee. The Executive Committee reviews the safety performance of each business every month and has implemented a consistent reporting system both for accidents and for ‘near misses’ where a potentially unsafe situation arose but no accident occurred. Safety performance has now been included as one of the Group’s key performance indicators. All of the Group’s principal business sites have achieved accreditation under OHSAS 18001 health and safety standard.
Suppliers
It is the Group’s policy to agree terms with its suppliers that are appropriate for the markets in which they operate and to abide by such terms where suppliers have also met their obligations. Creditor days as at 31 March 2010 were 40 days (2009: 46 days). We seek to engage with our major suppliers and attempt to understand and, if appropriate, encourage their approach to environmentally friendly and ethical sourcing of materials.
The Group has made progress in its approach to strategic purchasing with the expansion of dedicated procurement personnel and adoption of group-wide standards of performance and monitoring.
Shareholders
The Company meets with institutional shareholders and analysts as appropriate and uses its website to encourage communication with private, existing and prospective shareholders. Hamworthy plc welcomes feedback from investors about its published reports and website. Please address your feedback to our investor relations team by e-mail to investor@hamworthy.com or in writing to Hamworthy plc, Fleets Corner, Poole, Dorset BH17 0JT.
Our environmental impact
We are very conscious of the environmental impact that our activities may have on the communities in which we operate and we constantly strive to minimise the effect of this. It has been the Group’s policy to achieve accreditation under the ISO 14001 environmental standard at all the principal sites and that has been achieved during the year. Many of our products have a direct environmental benefit and they are often designed to ensure that our customers can meet relevant environmental legislation. The Group has added to its portfolio of such products during the last year with the development of ballast water systems, helping to protect the world’s oceans, and ships’ exhaust emission cleaning, reducing the levels of sulphur emitted to the atmosphere from ships’ engines.
Hamworthy is a constituent of The FTSE Environmental Opportunities Index Series. The Index measures the performance of global companies that have significant involvement in environmental business activities, including renewable & alternative energy, energy efficiency, water‑-technology and waste & pollution control. Forming part of the overall FTSE Environmental Markets Index Series, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities Index Series recognises companies that derive at least 20% of their business from environmental markets and technologies.
Our communities
The Group seeks to contribute to the communities in which it operates both directly and through the encouragement of participation by employees.
The single largest social impact is the wealth created within communities both economical and in development of skill sets and knowledge.
The Group contributes directly to charities with donations totalling £5,150 during the year of which £2,450 was to UK charities. In addition, employees give time to social causes which is often provided during Company working periods.
Employee time contributed during the year is estimated at £20,000 with employees participating in activities such as educational support, social benefit projects and charity management. The Group made no political donations during the year.
The Group’s Charity Policy specifies the nature of those causes that the Group will support as being for the benefit of sick, disabled or underprivileged persons or for special educational causes particularly involving children and with links to the communities in which Hamworthy businesses operate.
