The concrete industry has made significant progress over the past decade in ensuring its approach to environmental, social and governance (ESG) is robust. However, as well as tackling sustainability challenges posed by carbon reduction, it’s important that we address the people at the heart of the concrete plants themselves.
Following on from carbon reduction, the industry is now championing improvements to the social wellbeing of its workforce. Health & Safety has always been paramount, but there is an increasing focus on improving the daily working lives of employees and providing an environment that allows staff to thrive in their roles.
The British Safety Council’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing Manifesto noted that the UK lost an estimated 32.5million days to work-related ill-health and non-fatal workplace injuries in 2022/23, with sickness and illness having reached a 10-year high. The estimated cost associated ranges from £20-£77.5 billion, demonstrating the real impact the workplace can have on the lives of workers.
We therefore believe that there is a real opportunity for the concrete industry to enact improvements that can make a substantive difference to the site teams coming into contact with hazards and non-value adding tasks on a daily basis. 
We are proud to launch our second industry white paper report titled “The right mix: Addressing the “S” of ESG for concrete batch plants – putting people at the centre of investment decision-making”.
The 20-page report is free to download, and highlights the direct link between concrete batch plant performance and the wellbeing of site teams who operate batching plants. By evolving the CAPEX and OPEX decision making process, we believe the plant can directly impact wellbeing through the removal of hazards, or the avoidance of repetitive, unpleasant and unproductive tasks. The white paper features:
With the understanding that small changes to decision making and the plant itself can have a huge impact on both the physical and mental health of workers, in terms of improving work-life balance, job satisfaction and overall happiness – what are we waiting for?
