People
Now more than ever, businesses must demonstrate their support and commitment to those they employ and provide equal opportunities for people of all backgrounds to flourish. This is particularly true for the building materials sector, where there continues to be opportunity not only for employment, but the development of transferable skills.
A living wage employer
Forterra is an accredited Living Wage employer certified by the Living Wage Foundation. We aim to reward a hard day’s work with a fair day’s pay, ensuring a decent standard of living for our employees and their families. Being a Living Wage employer also helps to attract and retain good people in an increasingly competitive world.
We are also a member of the 5% club, a movement of employers working to create a shared prosperity across the UK by campaigning for greater skills training through ‘earn and learn’ job opportunities.
EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
Providing an engaging employee experience is critical for business performance, the retention of talent, and development of our people. We are very proud of the longevity of service from many of our employees, with over 300 employees having given over 25 years of service to the business.
To continue our aspirations in developing future generations, we are proud to have signed up to the 5% Club. In doing so, we pledge our commitment to 5% of our workforce being in “earn and learn positions” by 2025, including apprentices, sponsored students and graduates undertaking formalised training schemes. In 2021, we aim to increase our apprenticeship intake by a third.
HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELLBEING
The continuous improvement of our health and safety performance remains our number one priority, working towards our goal of zero harm. We recognise that our workforce is our greatest asset and we aim to provide a working environment that is free of accidents and ill health. To achieve this we strive to ensure that all relevant legislation and codes of practice are complied with, and regularly monitor leading and lagging safety performance indicators including safety observations and near misses, lost time and reportable incidents, and internal reviews.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace free from discrimination, where diversity is valued. Forterra recognise the need for people of different backgrounds, with different skills and perspectives, to help us succeed. We aim to ensure that our workforce is representative of the regions in which we operate, including a mix of gender and other under-represented groups. Our Diversity, Inclusion and Respect at Work Policy provides our ethical framework for conduct to achieve this.
Forterra golden rules
In re-visiting our Golden Rules of Safety, refresher training was conducted, concluding in a “Safety Passport” being issued to every colleague.
The passport contained an explanation of our Golden Rules. Everyone was asked if there would be any reason why they could not follow the simplified Golden Rules and to highlight any health or safety concerns they may have in their workplace.
The passport was then signed by the employee and their line manager and should be carried at all times as a reminder of the rules and their personal commitment to them.