CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN VEIDEKKE

In Veidekke, we believe that a modern understanding of corporate social responsibility – in which people voluntarily take hold of current social challenges in order to create value both for themselves and for their environment – produces significant competitive advantage over time. Veidekke has a global framework agreement with the Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions, Norwegian Union of General Workers and the International Federation of Building and Wood Workers. Under the agreement, Veidekke will actively adhere to several widely-accepted international standards, such as the ILO Declaration on Workers Funda­mental Rights, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the UN Human Rights Convention.

Stakeholder Dialogues

Investors see us in the cards

We have noted greater interest among various investors interested in seeing us more involved in sustainable development. Increasingly, mutual funds are being managed according to socially responsible criteria (so-called SRI), and in future CSR will be important criteria for access to capital. In 2009, Storebrand Investments conducted a control survey of Veidekke Entreprenør, and we have participated in the project, Sustainable Value Creation, an initiative by the largest institu­tional investors in Norway. In 2010, we will continue our efforts to implement GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) reporting standards. In this process we will also employ elements of the new ISO 26000 standard, currently in the works, for corporate responsibility.

The new social media

Our internal information policy emphasises the importance of openness and dialogue with our social environment. As a natural extension of this, in 2009 we actively adopted social media. CEO Terje R. Venold started, among other things, his own blog.

Economy

Salary freeze, no bonus for corporate management

In light of the troubled economic times, early in 2009 it was decided that neither the CEO nor the rest of the corporate management team would receive pay raises or bonuses, but only executives who delivered results in line with their performance targets. These were awarded their share of the value created.

Donations

In place of Christmas gifts to employees and business partners, in 2009 we made donations to the Norwegian People’s Aid and Save the Children (NOK 150 000 each). We also donated NOK 150 000 to the annual televised fundraising event for Care (a leading humanitarian organisation), and NOK 100 000 to the Red Cross’ work for earthquake victims in Haiti. Major sponsorship agreements for Veidekke in 2009 were track and field athlete Carolina Klüft (NOK 500 000), Menuhin International Music Festival (NOK 500 000), Barratt Due Institute of Music (NOK 350 000) and Skiforeningen, the Association for the Promotion of Skiing (NOK 350 000).

Environment

New environmental strategy

In Veidekke, we want to be a pioneer in environmental work. Therefore, in 2009 we adopted a new environmental policy for across the Group. The ambitions of the new environmental policy are to always have updated knowledge on available technology, to be creative in how we use this technology, and to be best at value-creating interactions between the various players in a building process. A good example of how this works is KLP Eiendom’s new eco-friendly building in Trondheim. Through participative planning we achieved the goal of creating the country’s most energy efficient office building with an energy consumption of just 83 kWh/m² (by comparison, the new regulatory requirement is 165 kWh/m²). Another example is our concept for climate-smart homes, TellHus. Through simple solutions we’ve decreased total CO₂ emissions by around 1.5 tonnes per house per year, compared to apartments in a typical building. Our Swedish property operations took a principled decision in 2009 to only build multi-family dwellings in accordance with the TellHus principle.

Energy consumption and recovery

In 2009, Veidekke reported its environmental work to the initiative Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) an organisation of investors working to expose large corporate’s greenhouse gas emissions. Veidekke received the highest scores among Scandinavian contractor companies in 2009. Veidekke’s energy consumption in Norway was 275 GWh in 2009, compared to 250 GWh in 2008. The total positive climate effect of the sorted recyclable waste was approximately 150 000 tonnes of CO₂.

Social issues

Number of injuries in Veidekke increased

Veidekke’s injury rate (number of injuries per million hours worked) in 2009 was 5.7, compared with 4.5 the year before. This is an increase of 27 per cent. We see the same increase across the industry. In 2009, there were two very serious accidents in Norway, in which three people were killed. One accident occurred during the tunnel work in Hydro’s hydroelectric plants Røldal-Suldal in Hordaland, and the second in a tunnel at Kjøsnesfjorden power plant.

Involvement of subcontractors

In 2010 we will increase reporting of all incidents that could potentially be dangerous. In 2009, 19 063 undesirable incidents were reported. Next year we expect the figure will increase in line with intensified focus on both reporting and investigating incident causes. In this work, we will take increased responsibility and involve our subcontractors.

New program for ethics training

In 2009, we began using new computer-based tools for dilemma training, in which all employees can train on realistic situations they may encounter in their everyday work. The tools are also open to external users. (www.veidekkehuset.no/se/dk)A theme we are particularly aware of, is possible price collusion. We have zero tolerance for crime at Veidekke, and when, in the spring of 2010, there was suspicion of such in our operations in Trøndelag, we immediately contacted the Competition Authority and requested investigation.

Important to recruit for rainy days

Despite the difficult economic times for the industry, we chose to maintain acceptance of new apprentices in 2009 to ensure adequate supply of competent labour. Veidekke has 206 apprentices within building, construction and asphalt. The number of trainees decreased from 80 to 60 in 2009.

Funding of two positions at NTNU

Veidekke is dependent on academic expertise. We have a number of cooperation agreements with schools and educational institutions in Norway. In the next three years we will fund two research assistant positions at NTNU, in the study of Civil and Environmental Engineering.