Safe and Inclusive - Our progress | Heidelberg Materials UK

Our Policy

We place the health and wellbeing of employees, communities, and suppliers at the core of our business operations

Headline KPIs

Fairness, awareness, inclusion and respect

100% completion of annual HR people strategy to enhance FAIR.

Health, safety and wellbeing

Implement divisional risk reduction plans by 2025 and embed risk-based H&S management system by 2030.

Enabling and supporting KPIs

Fairness, awareness, inclusion and respect

25% women in senior roles.

Our Progress

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Fairness, awareness, inclusion and respect (FAIR)

Our headline FAIR commitments	Our progress
100% completion of the annual HR people strategy to enhance fairness, awareness, inclusion and respect (FAIR)	In 2024 Heidelberg Materials UK developed a 2024/2025 people plan for the business, which was divided into 6 key areas: safe and inclusive, employee engagement, leadership and development, attracting and retaining talent, simplification, and digital technology.

Our supporting FAIR commitments	Our progress
25% of women will be in senior roles	There were 14% of women in senior roles; the same as the previous year.

Further FAIR measures	Our progress
Percentage of employees by age and gender (+ women in ops and overall)	20% (2023: 16.5%) of our employees are women and 3% of women are employed in operational roles. The age profile of all employees is: <30 years: 17% (2023: 17%) 30 to 50 years: 45% (2023: 43%) Over 50 years: 38% (2023: 40%)
Hours of training per full time employee (FTE)	On average each FTE has received 26 hours of training. 17.2% of our employees were in ‘Earn and Learn’ positions in the period 01/08/2023 to 31/07/2024. As a result we were awarded Platinum membership of The 5% Club for the second consecutive year.
Number of graduates and higher apprentices, and craft apprentices	There are 17 graduates and a total of 54 apprentices.

Health, safety and wellbeing (HS&W)

Our headline HS&W commitments	Our progress
Implement divisional risk reduction plans by 2025 and have an embedded risk-based H&S management system by 2030	Risk reduction plans continue to be developed for the main business lines, and approved at executive board level. All health and safety plans were focusing on the reduction of Fatal 6 risks and management controls on site.

Our supporting HS&W commitments	Our progress
100% of our sites have completed the annual operational safety improvement plan and annual health and wellbeing improvement plan	The annual operational safety and health and wellbeing plans were completed by 99% of our sites.

Further HS&W measures	Our progress
Network of diverse internal support groups, MHFAs and external EAP support	We have 260 mental health first aiders within our workforce, an armed forces network with 32 employees, a LGBTQ+ network with 56 employees, a Network of Women with 182 employees, 23 inclusion champions, an allyship network with 34 employees and a network of social value champions. We launched a neurodiversity network which already has 69 members. We also have a comprehensive independently managed employee assistance programme to inform our HR strategy.
Number of fatalities per year	There were zero fatalities.
Number of potential fatal Incidents per year	There were 28 potential fatal incidents.
Number of lost time injuries (LTIs) per year	There were 22 LTIs in total consisting of 9 contractor and 13 employee injuries.
LTI frequency rate (number per 1,000,000 hours worked)	The LTI frequency rate was 1.9, down from 2.0 in 2023.
LTI severity rate (days lost per 1,000,000 hours worked)	The LTI severity rate was 115 (2023: 94).
Total injury frequency rate (LTIs + medical treatment per 1,000,000 hours worked)	The total injury frequency rate was 3.7, down from 4.2 in 2023.
Significant near hits frequency rate (number per 1,000,000 hours worked)	The significant near hit frequency rate was 35.6 (2023: 37.3).

Social value

Our headline social value commitments	Our progress
100% of higher risk sites have community engagement plans by 2025 and all sites by 2030	We are on target to have community engagement plans in place for all 24 of our level 3 higher risk sites by the end of 2025 and for all sites by 2030.
One day per employee of paid leave offered for volunteering and 50% of employees uptake annually	We have a policy in place offering all employees one day of paid leave per year to carry out volunteering activities. In 2024 265 volunteering days were recorded, a 23% increase on 2023.

Our supporting social value commitments	Our progress
Standard annual social value monetisation report by 2025 and by site by 2030	Using our latest verified data from 2023 we generated £98 million (2022: £54m) of social profit in the UK, established through the delivery of a range of different performance indicators using the Loop social monetisation tool.
Charitable foundation in place	We have updated our sustainability policy, communications and consultation procedure, to ensure charity donations and material donations are aligned with our community engagement plans.
Social value strategy embedded and achieved highest level of certification within industry standards	Our social value strategy has been embedded within the business. We have achieved COMMIT – Level 1 stage of certification with SVUK and are working towards the IMPLEMENT – Level 2 stage of certification.

Further social value measures	Our progress
Volunteering activity events recorded	265 volunteering days were recorded.
Spend on charitable donations and payment in kind	Total spend on charitable donations and payment in kind was £102,000 (2023: £122,000).
Number of external visitors per year to operational sites	The number of external visitors to our operational sites was 17,448 (2023: 18,294).

Responsible sourcing

Our headline responsible sourcing commitments

Our progress

80% of spend on critical suppliers that have an approved ESG rating

Our critical suppliers have been identified by Heidelberg Materials Group and our procurement department is working to ensure they have reached an overall green ESG rating based on external 3rd party assessment from our ESG risk partners IntegrityNext.

In 2024 we achieved a level of 83%.

FAIR

RoSPA excellence for contracting team: Our contracting team achieved its 32nd consecutive RoSPA gold award and is the only building materials company to receive the Patron’s award, which recognises organisations that have achieved at least 25 consecutive gold certificates.
FAIR play guide launched: We have issued a FAIR play booklet to all employees to encourage everyone to play a part in creating a workplace which celebrates diversity and where every voice matters.
Still setting the standard for work-based training: We have been awarded platinum membership of The 5% Club for the second year in a row, demonstrating our commitment to offering a broad range of earn and learn training opportunities such as our apprenticeships and graduate programmes, which help support and educate our workforce so they can fulfil their career ambitions. Platinum status celebrates members who have 10% or more of their workforce ‘earning and learning’, for three consecutive years.
Forces-friendly employer: We have re-signed our Armed Forces Covenant and changed the livery of two of our concrete mixer trucks to reflect our commitment to being a forces-friendly employer and a fair, respectful and inclusive company. Signing the covenant recognises the range of transferrable skills former service personnel offer our business and the trucks show the iconic Royal British Legion poppy as well as dandelions, which symbolise the resilience of military children, as well as the Armed Forces Covenant logo.
Social impact report: In 2023 we generated over £98 million worth of social impact in the UK – approaching double the figure for 2022. The stated value is established through the delivery of a range of different KPIs, using the Loop social monetisation tool.
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Award-winning support for young readers: We were delighted to receive the Volunteer Growth Award at Chapter One’s Partner, Volunteer and School Recognition Awards. We have continued our work with the charity, which provides one-to-one reading support for struggling young readers. As a Chapter One Gold Partner, our employees have the opportunity to volunteer their time to help children transform their reading confidence and ability.
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Let’s Talk podcasts: We have launched a series of podcasts which focus on our 2030 sustainability commitments. Episodes include our volunteering program with Chapter One, the role of mental health first aiders and evoZero, the world’s first carbon captured net zero cement.
Taking Pride in EDI: Many of our colleagues, their family and friends took part in the Bristol Pride parade, wearing customised Heidelberg Materials-branded Pride clothing. Our colourful cement tanker, wrapped to show our support for inclusion and diversity, was also there as another example of the importance we place on ensuring that everyone in our business feels valued, accepted and empowered.
Material donations: Throughout the year we have donated materials to supported a number of projects including the Cheddar Gorge Walk in Somerset and the Essex Scout and Guide Jamboree.
Responsible sourcing first: We became the first building materials company to achieve certification to the updated BES 6001 standard across our business, demonstrating our commitment to sustainability and supporting our customers in our shared net zero ambitions.
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Data by business line

Number of lost time injuries

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Community Relations

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