The Fenner Group is a leader in reinforced polymer technology across the globe. It designs, manufactures and distributes sophisticated reinforced plastic polymer products such as conveyor belts, seals, medical textiles, industrial textiles, hoses and bespoke critical polymer components for a broad base of international customers including high technology industries and mining companies. Its markets include industrial automation, office equipment, oil and gas, aerospace and bulk material handling.
The Group acknowledges that its market leading position means it has social and environmental responsibilities that must be embedded within the business decision making process. This Report describes the actions taken in the five key areas of Health and Safety, Valuing our People, Business Behaviours, Environmental Impact and Community Involvement that have been taken over the past year to ensure that the Group's commitment and approach to these responsibilities continues to contribute to its overall business success; bringing with it an enhancement to reputation, profitability and shareholder return.
The risks associated with each area are managed within the Group's risk management framework and are continuously monitored and assessed, with necessary controls put in place in order to reduce the potential impact.
The Chief Executive Officer has overall responsibility for the development and monitoring of the Group's policies related to Corporate Responsibility. The task of ensuring these policies are communicated and applied at a Divisional and Business Unit level is delegated through the Divisional Managing Directors to each Business Unit's senior management. The policies and associated management systems are reviewed at least annually and at any time when significant changes in the business, legislation or industry standard demand. Each Division is also responsible for ensuring that, as a minimum, it meets local statutory requirements and is encouraged to reflect identified best practice within the Group.
All employees are expected to take personal responsibility for their conduct and Fenner recognises the need to create a culture and behavioural environment within the Group to facilitate the successful implementation of the Group's policies.
The Group's Health & Safety Policy and Environmental Policy are available to view on the Company's website www.fenner.com or by contacting the Company Secretary.
The Company is proud to continue to be a member of the FTSE4Good UK Index which measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised Corporate Responsibility standards and facilitates investment into those companies.
Health and Safety
Fenner promotes a strong health and safety ("H&S") culture where it is expected that everyone who works for Fenner, wherever they are, is responsible for the safety of themselves and their colleagues. This individual and collective responsibility helps ensure the environment they work in is safe for themselves, colleagues, customers and all those with whom we work.
The Group endeavours to set the highest practical H&S standards; as a minimum each Business Unit will always comply fully with its local statutory obligations and all employees are trained to recognise that the health and safety of themselves and others is their first priority.
All Business Units have a H&S committee which meet regularly to discuss H&S topics and concerns, make recommendations and implement and monitor any improvements or initiatives. H&S issues and key measurements are also routinely reviewed and discussed at management meetings, with accidents, serious incidents and near misses reported and escalated to the Executive Committee and Board where appropriate.
The dissemination of information on a Group-wide basis is also important to ensure continual improvement in all H&S matters. The findings of H&S investigations relevant to the wider organisation are communicated across locations and a general exchange of information and resources between operations is actively encouraged.
From March 2009, in line with published advice from the World Health Organisation, a number of Group-wide health alerts were issued in response to the heightened risk levels resulting from Influenza A(H1N1) (swine flu). The health alerts informed our employees as to the risks associated with infection; recommended preventative practices; the need to undertake travel risk assessments; and a requirement for each location to review its business continuity plans with respect to a pandemic outbreak.
Group Health and Safety Management System Framework
The Group Health and Safety Management System Framework, now known as "The Framework", was launched in January 2009. To reinforce the concept of embedding The Framework in each Business Unit, the roll out was led by management in each Division with help and coordination from Group to ensure a consistent message was communicated.
As part of this programme a multilingual DVD has been developed with the Chief Executive Officer's unambiguous message regarding the commitment to The Framework and continuous improvement in H&S performance. This message is supported by four case studies from the Group, highlighting systems which are considered to be world-class in our operations:
- Incident investigation
Fenner Drives in Manheim, USA has used a Safety Investigation Database for a number of years to capture data about injuries and illness that have occurred within their facility. The inclusion of Near Miss reporting has enhanced the process and encouraged greater employee engagement, which in turn has resulted in improved safety performance. - Handover of plant and equipment
At the FAST operations in Hampton, UK, H&S procedures are centrally available on the intranet to provide the greatest possible access for all. The 'handover of plant and equipment' procedure ensures that there is direct communication between the Works Engineer, Health and Safety Department and Production Managers. It also confirms that all work equipment on site complies with relevant legislation and is risk assessed before being put into operation. - Health screening
At the conveyor belting facility in Johannesburg, South Africa healthcare screening is provided for all employees. This work is especially important in a country like South Africa with over 20 per cent of the young population infected with HIV/AIDS and where not everyone has access to adequate primary healthcare. As well as offering screening for common aliments, occupational healthcare is provided for eye tests, hearing tests and lung function. - Take 5
Across Australia, the Apex Fenner Conveyor Services risk assessment procedure 'Take 5' has been developed. It is focused on making employees stop and think before undertaking a task. The process is focused on five steps: thinking through the task; spotting the hazards; assessing the risk; making changes to control the hazards; and undertaking the task safely.
The Framework covers those areas key to ensuring a robust, all encompassing and continually improving H&S culture within the Group:
- Accountability and Leadership;
- Risk Assessment and Management;
- Training and Behaviours;
- Operations and Maintenance;
- Information and Documentation;
- Customers and Products;
- Incident Analysis and Prevention;
- Monitoring, Assurance and Improvement;
- Crisis Management and Business Continuity Planning;
- Management of Change;
- Working with Third Parties;
- Design and Construction of Facilities; and
- Community and Stakeholder Awareness.
The response within the Group to the structure and clarity provided by The Framework has been extremely positive. Our Business Units fully embraced the concepts and have completed the required self-assessments, enabling them to develop local implementation plans tailored to their local environment and culture.
Health and safety awards
A number of the Group's Business Units have received external recognition and awards during the year for their performance in
H&S. These included:
- The conveyor belting operation in India gained the OHSAS 18001 accreditation and become the first Fenner facility to achieve ISO 9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS 18001 accreditations.
- The FAST operations in Hampton, UK secured the prestigious RoSPA Gold Award for the third successive year highlighting the site's continued excellence in the management and control of H&S.
In 2008 we launched the Fenner Group Health and Safety Improvement Award with the conveyor belting operations at Drachten, Netherlands being the inaugural winner.
There were a number of Business Units that were in contention for this year's award with the conveyor belting operation in India, the FAST operations in Houston, USA and Fenner Precision in Lincoln, UK all receiving commendations for the improvements they made over the last year.
The winning Business Unit was Fenner Drives in Manheim, USA for not only having returned an excellent performance through the whole year without suffering any LTIs, but also impressing with their continual leadership across the whole workforce in terms of driving home the safety message and making major strides in developing a strong safety culture where everyone is fully engaged and which promotes health and safety.
Valuing Our People
The Group's success in consistently delivering reliable and superior solutions to customers is founded upon a stable, technically
skilled, innovative and committed workforce across the globe.
Fenner takes its responsibilities as an employer very seriously and aims to provide a positive work environment for all employees, wherever they work. The Group is an equal opportunities employer and believes in treating all employees with dignity and respect. It does not tolerate any form of harassment, discrimination or bullying and is committed to progression based on merit. The Group recognises the importance of providing training and development opportunities to enable employees to increase their contribution to the Group and realise their full potential.
The global nature of the Group's business and customers leads to a workforce which is geographically and culturally diverse. On average during the year the Group employed 3,874 people of which 27% were located in Europe, 46% in the Americas, 4% in Africa and 23% in Asia Pacific. The Group fully embraces its multinational dimension and is aware of and complies with local labour rights and employment practices.
Communication
At the Group level, the 'Fenner Focus' magazine is produced and distributed to all employees and is an effective route to
communicate matters of Group and operational significance. The magazine informs employees of any major Group developments
and also provides an opportunity to highlight and recognise Business Units and individuals for their work in the community, health
and safety initiatives and long service awards. The annual results are summarised in the publication enabling all employees to be
kept informed of the Group's performance.
At the local level, Business Units communicate regularly with their employees using a variety of methods including staff meetings, management walkabouts, newsletters, consultative councils, suggestion schemes, electronic messaging and social events. All Business Units encourage two way communications and provide channels for feedback and comment on the Group's activities.
Recruitment and retention
The recruitment and retention of a skilled workforce is essential to the Group. Each Business Unit employs recruitment practices
which identify the best available candidate for each position. All employees are actively encouraged to apply for roles, including
cross divisional opportunities where applicable.
In general, the businesses within the Group have positive histories of high employee retention and the majority of operations have a long service recognition programme in place. The current average period of service across the Business Units of the Group stands at 9.5 years.
Training and development
Annual employee appraisal processes have been locally developed in the majority of the Group's operations. Employees take part
in a formal annual appraisal to discuss performance, achievements and potential areas for development and progression. The
process also ensures that a continuing communication between management and employees takes place.
Health and safety training is an integral part of all employee induction programmes. All operations continuously monitor and plan training to meet both the business' and employee's development needs.
The risks associated with inadequate succession planning are recognised at the Group level. These risks are continuously monitored and, where possible, the Group aims to identify high potential employees and through a process of training and development, prepare them for potential senior management.
Business Behaviours
The Group recognises that both its corporate conduct and relationship building are key elements to its business strategy
succeeding. By having a high standard of ethical conduct, partnerships can be formed with third parties throughout the Group's
supply chain which create value on both sides of the relationship.
Business conduct
The Group's culture is one of openness, integrity and accountability. These are enshrined within the Group's Ethics Policy which is
applied to all business activities and relationships and sets out the behavioural standards expected from all employees - fairness,
honesty and integrity.
The Group operates a confidential whistleblowing procedure which enables all employees to raise any concerns they have.
Competition and anti-trust procedures are co-ordinated at the Group level and training is provided for all relevant employees.
Third party partnerships
The Group recognises that strong relationships with its suppliers and customers are crucial. Having strong supplier relations
ensures a reliable, high quality and fairly priced source of goods and services which can then be passed onto customers.
The Group seeks to identify and develop appropriate and long term strategic partnerships with suppliers and customers to create mutual value, access to new markets and to mitigate resource and commercial risks. These strategic partnerships are especially relevant to the number of highly technical niche markets where joint development agreements can expedite research whilst protecting intellectual property rights.
All Business Units have or are working towards ISO 9001 or equivalent status and each undertakes rigorous customer satisfaction assessments including senior face to face meetings and customer surveys. Performance and the timing and handling of any complaints are routinely discussed at management meetings and are used as a key measurement in determining the success of the Business Unit.
Environmental Impact
Concern for the Group's impact on the environment is a fundamental part of the Group's corporate business strategy as it
endeavours to contribute towards a sustainable future.
The Group is committed to identifying and assessing the risks of pollution and other forms of environmental impairment arising out of its activities and actively seeks to reduce its impact on the environment to the lowest practical level by ensuring that all operations and activities of the Group exemplify best contemporary practice in respect of the environment.
Waste minimisation
The minimisation of manufacturing waste and the maximisation of energy efficiency are both recognised as beneficial to the Group
from an environmental and commercial viewpoint.
Waste minimisation is driven and managed at the Business Unit level. All major manufacturing operations monitor their waste emissions and all Business Units comply with local environment legislation. General waste management programmes and initiatives are encouraged and the recycling of materials takes place where practical, either internally or through external programmes with suppliers or other third parties.
Greenhouse gases
The Group recognises the increase in public awareness of the climate change debate and the need for companies to understand
the scale of their greenhouse gas emissions. It also recognises that there is no globally accepted methodology for calculating
emissions, with most countries having a portfolio of emission factors for various energy sources based upon either the average
composition of primary fuels or averaged emission factors for secondary energy sources such as electricity purchased from a
national grid. Whilst these averages are inherently inaccurate they are the generally accepted methodology of estimating the end
user's greenhouse gas emissions for year on year reporting. To this end the Group has elected to report global figures based upon
emission factors published by the UK Government department responsible for climate change issues, DEFRA.
The Group uses a variety of energy sources. The main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions are imported electricity and natural gas which combined account for over 85% of the Group's emissions.
If these figures are analysed across the Group, the heavier engineering aspects of the conveyor belt manufacturing and servicing operations account for nearly 80% of the Group's greenhouse gas emissions.
Environmental management systems
Taking into account local requirements and needs, Business Units have established a number of different local environmental
management systems. These are in line with the Group Environmental Policy and The Framework which outline a set of Group
Environmental Expectations. Currently 25% of the Group is either accredited or working towards accreditation under the
internationally recognised ISO14001 scheme.
Community Involvement
The Group recognises that good relations and long term partnerships within the communities in which it works are fundamental to
its success. Social and environmental impacts on the community are embedded within the Group's decision making process. The
Group's support for the communities it operates in is driven at a local, rather than corporate level. The approach, adopted across
the globe, is to support and enhance employee efforts in their communities through the application of the Group's resources.
In addition to the time given to community projects and for charitable purposes by the Group's employees, charitable donations totalling £61,000 were made across the Group during the year. This included a contribution of over Australian $23,000 being given in February 2009 to the Bush Fire Appeal in the aftermath of the 'Black Saturday' bushfires in Victoria, Australia. Donations were received from Group employees based in the UK and USA as well as Australia.
Employees and Business Units give their time and help raise funds for a variety of charities and projects. Examples include:
- Fenner Drives Manheim was honoured as 'Company of the Year' for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Junior Achievement. Junior Achievement helps young people understand business by bringing volunteers from the business world into the classroom to help students learn and understand business in their lives and the world around them. As well as helping in the classroom, Fenner Drives' employees support through marketing and fundraising events.
- Fenner India employees once again celebrated World Environment Day this year with a mix of activities including the planting of saplings around its site. The prime motivation behind the event continues to be to highlight the need to protect the environment and combat climate change, as well as pave the way for a cleaner and healthier future.
- As part of its 65th anniversary celebrations Prodesco sponsored a local Community Day, with all employees asked to participate in a company-wide volunteer day during normal working hours in order to help their local communities. Prodesco received a letter of commendation signed by the members of the Perkasie Borough Council that included an appreciation of the company's support of the community.The letter concluded "Your spirit of civic mindedness and community cooperation are unparalleled."
Mark Abrahams
Chief Executive Officer
