I. INTRODUCTION

Construction Helpline (CHL) is one of the largest national training providers in the UK, providing education and training nationally. All companies within the CHL family uphold the same company Vision, Mission and Core Values and follow our group policies and procedures.

Construction Helpline will seek to achieve continual improvement in how we measure and respond to our environmental impacts and will formulate a strategy and action plan with targets to structure this response. In support of this belief, we wish to play a central role in protecting and enhancing sustainability locally, nationally, and internationally, by ensuring that this principle underpins all our operations and activities. Thus, the board are committed to creating a difference by:

• Reducing our carbon emissions through efficient and responsible use of energy and water and by promoting resource efficiency associated with day-to-day activities and new developments.

• Preventing pollution whenever possible by reducing emissions & discharges and minimising waste production as far as is practicable by reusing or recycling waste where appropriate.

• Protecting natural habitats and local wildlife and conserving biological diversity

• Continually improving our environmental performance through the annual development and review of environmental objectives and targets

• Meeting and where appropriate applying more stringent standards to ensure we comply with applicable legal requirements and with other requirements to which we subscribe which relate to our environmental aspects.

• Increasing awareness of environmental responsibilities among colleagues and learners

• Participating in dialogue to build partnerships with local community and national organisation’s to reduce our environmental impact within the regions in which core activities take place.

• reducing inequality – narrowing the gap in outcomes

• delivering together efficiently, effectively, and equitably – ensuring that all learners have appropriate access to and choice of high-quality services.

• making this Policy available to the public and to all parties working for or on our behalf.

Applies to:

Construction Helpline is one of the largest construction-based training providers in the UK, providing health and safety courses plus training nationally. This policy has been adapted by the CHL and is to be adhered to by all employees and stakeholders across the business.

Reason for policy:

This policy is in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act 2011, The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and all other relevant legislation.

II. POLICY

Environmental Policy Statement

This Policy is in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act 2011, The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and all other relevant legislation, and it applies to all Construction Helpline sites and activities. The Chief Executive is responsible for ensuring policy formulation and development, and implementation throughout the organisation by operational management teams.

Construction Helpline provide health and safety training programmes to a wide range of learners and employers. Our aim is to engage actively with learners and employers to identify their training needs, and then provide cost effective, flexible and high-quality training programmes that enable learners to achieve and progress.

This policy is implemented by active cooperation of all our colleagues through the process of a reduce, reuse and recycle process wherever possible. Effective implementation of this policy will contribute to improved business performance by the setting and reviewing of objectives, which are set against improving our environmental performance. Compliance with legal requirements is considered as a minimum level to be achieved and we will seek, through a programme of continual improvement, to achieve higher than regulatory standards wherever possible.

The continuing development, education and training of colleagues will be a key activity in the implementation of our environmental management systems. Adequate resources will be committed to ensure that any environmental objectives are achieved.

This policy statement must be communicated to all colleagues. It will be reviewed at least every twelve months or if changes are made due to deficiencies highlighted by a review, new legislation or by business development, with any revisions being further communicated to all employees.

We will achieve results by setting environmental targets and measuring performance while working with our colleagues, suppliers and local communities to minimise our environmental impact.

Purpose and Scope

We recognise that our economic, social and civic responsibilities are central to our activities and that the core business and teaching operations have the potential to affect the environment, health and prosperity of our colleagues and learners and the communities in which we operate. We acknowledge our responsibility for environmental protection and aim to contribute to the national commitment to sustainable development.

This policy will be reviewed annually. A series of targets will be identified annually and detailed in the Environmental Sustainability Action Plan. Progress on achievements towards these targets will be reviewed and reported to the board via the Director of Performance and Development and the Director of People on an annual basis and to the Executive Board twice a year.

Targets

Please refer to the Environmental Sustainability Action plan for our definitive targets. These will be reviewed annually, and performance against them will be reported to board level.

As part of the annual targets, we will endeavour to:

• Encourage learners to actively participate in environmental projects.

• Further lessen the need for our colleagues to travel by supporting alternative working arrangements, including home working etc.

• Use couriers where practical, to avoid single delivery journeys.

• Minimise our use of paper and other office consumables, e.g. by double-siding paper use, and identifying opportunities to reduce waste.

• As far as possible arrange for the reuse or recycling of office waste, including paper, computer supplies and redundant equipment.

• Lower the energy consumption of office equipment by purchasing energy efficient equipment and good housekeeping.

• Promote employment and economic sustainability – tackle unemployment and facilitate the development of skills.

• Promote equality and fairness – target effort towards those in the greatest need or facing the greatest disadvantage and tackle depravation.

One part of our key objectives is to make a positive contribution to the local and regional economy through the employment and career opportunities that we provide to our staff, and with the suppliers, partners, and stakeholders that we do business with.

Energy Use

As part of ongoing commitment to reducing energy use, we will:

• Seek to maximise provision of natural lighting whilst minimising solar gain wherever possible.

• Seek to optimise natural ventilation and aim to eliminate the need for mechanical ventilation where practicable.

• Monitor energy consumption. Investigate and try to address the causes of any particularly periods of energy use.

• Minimise energy use through active energy management and good maintenance.

• Encourage staff to switch off non-essential equipment out of hours and ensure Building Management System time controls are set to minimise energy use.

• Communicate the importance of energy minimisation to staff on an ongoing basis.

Water Conservation

As part of ongoing commitment to reducing water usage we will:

• Monitor water consumption.

• Minimise water use through active management, use of low water fixtures, ongoing maintenance, and awareness-raising.

Waste Management

As part of ongoing commitment to reducing waste to landfill we will:

• Ensure waste management complies with all relevant environmental legislation, and ensure contractors comply with our standards.

• Maximise provision of recycling segregation facilities on our sites, and only use landfill as a means of disposal as a last resort.

• Monitor waste production and recycling rates.

• Continually communicate the importance of waste segregation and recycling to colleagues, learners, contractors, and service partners.

• Ensure that all waste electrical equipment is disposed of as per the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013.

Social Value

One part of our key objectives is to make a positive contribution to the local and regional economy through the employment and career opportunities that we provide our staff, and with the suppliers, partners, and stakeholders that we do business with. Our social value objectives reflect our definition of social value, and we will:

• Promote employment and economic sustainability – we will tackle unemployment and facilitate the development of skills.

• Promote equality and fairness – we will target effort towards those in the greatest need or facing the greatest disadvantage and tackle depravation.

III. DEFINITIONS

Term	Explanation
Environment	the natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area, especially as affected by human activity.
Sustainability	avoidance of the depletion of natural resources to maintain an ecological balance.
Environmental impact	Possible adverse effects caused by a development, industrial, or infrastructural project or by the release of a substance in the environment.
Habitat	the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism
Biological diversity	the variety of life that can be found on Earth (plants, animals, fungi, and micro-organisms) as well as to the communities that they form and the habitats in which they live.
Pollution	the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects.
Solar gain	the increase in temperature of a building, object, or space that is caused by solar radiation.
Landfill	the disposal of waste material by burying it, especially as a method of filling in and reclaiming excavated pits.
Social value	quantification of the relative importance that people place on the changes they experience in their lives.

IV.RELATED POLICIES

HSP 2.1 Health and Safety Policy