A coalition of leading construction sector institutions and associations has been formed to raise awareness and eradicate modern slavery in construction supply chains.
The Construction Coalition Charter was announced by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), the British Standards Institution (BSI) Supply Chain Services and Solutions and Sustain Worldwide, and has garnered wide support from across the industry.
The charter supports the principle that slavery has no place in commerce of any type. Signatories commit to seek opportunities to uphold, preserve and promote the right of freedom in the UK’s construction industry. The charter asks signatories to:
Dr Shamir Ghumra, Director, Centre for Sustainable Products, BRE, said: “The construction sector’s institutions’ and associations’ support for the charter demonstrates their intent to raise awareness among their members of the heinous practice of modern slavery. The charter acts to coalesce the construction industry and provides a focal point for government and civil society to collaborate with the sector on business human rights issues.”
Established in 2015, the Modern Slavery Act has highlighted the risks that the issue poses to businesses and points out examples of it in global supply chains.
A 2016 report, titled Hidden in Plain Site – Modern Slavery in the Construction Industry, found that throughout the global construction industry and its material supply chains, modern slavery is common, concealed and subject to inadequate prevention, policing and prosecution.
The International Labour Organisation has estimated that there are 21 million people in forced labour around the world, generating profits in the private economy of $150 billion. It is thought that 13,000 of modern slaves are currently employed in the UK.
Several standards and initiatives have been set up to support the Modern Slavery Act, including the Ethical Labour Standard (ELS), established by BRE to support business to meet its human rights challenges. The ELS provides a framework for verifying ethical labour sourcing, and provides a route to verification of products and services.
The BSI supports tackling modern slavery through its Supply Chain Risk Exposure Evaluation Network (SCREEN) solution, Supplier Compliance Manager (SCM) solution and the Trafficking & Supply Chain Slavery Patterns Index.
The Index is a new tool used to assess and avoid the risks posed by slavery and trafficking, by look at the intersection and relationship between source countries of displaced people and the likelihood of being exploited through human rights abuses, security threats and business continuity risks upon arrival in destination countries.
Chris McCann, Principal Consultant, Supply Chain Services and Solutions at BSI, said: “The UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commission has identified construction as one of its four core focus sectors.
Through the charter, the construction industry demonstrates to Government, civil society, and indeed all stakeholders, that leaders in the sector are committed to working together to ensure human rights are actively promoted in their direct operations and global supply chains.”
Mitsubishi Electric welcomes a new code of conduct on energy smart appliances which the European Union (EU) announced yesterday at the Hannover Fair in Germany.
Posted in Air Conditioning, Articles, Building Industry Events, Building Industry News, Building Products & Structures, Building Regulations & Accreditations, Building Services, Exhibitions and Conferences, Facility Management & Building Services, Heating Systems, Controls and Management, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning - HVAC, Plumbing, Retrofit & Renovation, Seminars, Sustainability & Energy EfficiencyHamworthy Heating, technical experts in commercial heating and hot water products, announce the expansion of its market leading CIBSE approved Continuing Professional Development (CPD) portfolio with the launch of three new learning modules.
Posted in Articles, Building Industry Events, Building Industry News, Building Products & Structures, Building Services, Continuing Professional Development (CPD's), Facility Management & Building Services, Heating Systems, Controls and Management, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning - HVAC, Plumbing, Retrofit & Renovation, Seminars, TrainingPassivent has partnered with Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) to make a number of its products available to model within the Virtual Environment (VE) platform IESVE.
Posted in Air Conditioning, Articles, Building Industry News, Building Products & Structures, Building Services, Facility Management & Building Services, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning - HVAC, Information Technology, Innovations & New Products, Posts, Retrofit & Renovation, Roofs, VentilationVisitors to this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week (21 – 23 May) can step into a parallel world and discover the benefits of cleaning with water, thanks to Geberit.
Posted in Articles, Bathrooms & Toilets, Bathrooms, Bedrooms & Washrooms, Building Industry Events, Building Industry News, Building Products & Structures, Building Services, Exhibitions and Conferences, Innovations & New Products, Interior Design & Construction, Interiors, Plumbing, Restoration & Refurbishment, Retrofit & Renovation