Social responsibility

Policies of “the Company” (Tynefast Holdings Ltd.) apply to all subsidiaries and associated Group organisations. Group will have the meaning attributed to it by section 1261 of the Companies Act 2006 and Group Company will be construed accordingly. Group Company and Group Companies shall mean Group Companies of the Employer.

 

Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the concept whereby The Company integrates social and environmental concerns into their business operations and into their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. The Company is committed to adopting best practice in this area.

We are fully committed to the principle of CSR with the intention that CSR should become embedded, where appropriate, into its policies and practices, to the benefit of staff, people we support, as well as the wider community.

Our aim is to be recognised as an organisation that is transparent and ethical in all its dealings as well as making a positive contribution to the community in which it operates. It is committed to the following core values in all aspects of its work, including the fulfilment of its social responsibility:

  • Clear direction and strong leadership
  • Customer/client focus
  • Respect for people
  • Open communication
  • Working to deliver best value
  • Openness and transparency
  • Integrity and Honesty
  • Equality
  • Probity
  • Development of positive working relationships with others
  • Commitment to the highest ethical standards of service; and
  • Valuing and harnessing the diversity of The Company staff

 

CSR Strategies

The Company will seek to achieve corporate and social objectives by focusing on five strategic areas:

  • Equal Opportunities - maintaining and promoting our commitment to the fulfilment of and on the promotion of equal opportunities.
  • Good Relations – The Company has developed and maintained good relations with other
  • providers and professionals.
  • Workplace – addressing the needs and aspirations of staff through the continuing development of diversity, work-life balance and health and well-being and initiatives.
  • Community Impact – encouraging and assisting staff to greater involvement in team/individual projects in support of the wider community.
  • Environment – further developing environmental management practices that minimise waste and maximise efficiencies.

 

Environmental Policy (see MS22 for full details)

We are committed to limiting the effects of climate change. As such staff should make every effort to reduce any negative impact on the environment as a result.

Staff should also encourage the people we support, stakeholders and suppliers to consider the environment in their work, activities and choices. All effort should be made whenever possible to recycle, re-use, switch off and limit our driving during The Company’s business in-line with this policy.

The following procedures include useful guidance on ways to reduce our personal impact on the environment.

General tips:

  • If you have to print a document or email, just print the text you need
  • Put on more clothes rather than turning up the heating!
  • Turn off your monitor when you go for lunch, a meeting or even a tea break
  • Turn off your PC if you're not going to be using it for a few hours
  • Make the most of natural lighting - open the blinds!
  • Use hand-dryers rather than paper towels
  • Use a laptop and projector to run meetings electronically
  • Stop junk mail by marking it RETURN TO SENDER and re-posting it. Register with the Mailing Preference Service by writing to MPS, Freepost 22, London, W1E 7EZ; phone 0207 766 4410 or visit www.mpsonline.org.uk  (service is for UK residential addresses only)

Personal Computer Monitors and PDAs:

  • Leaving your monitor or computer on stand-by mode still consumes significant amounts of electricity, as much as 30% of normal use in some cases
  • Switch off your monitor every time you are away from your desk for a few minutes
  • Shut down your PC every time you are away from your desk for more than a couple of hours
  • Change the settings (Start > Control panel > Display) to automatically switch off monitors and/or shut down when not in use
  • A light flashing on your monitor shows that it is still on and is wasting energy
  • Note that setting-up a screen saver does not save any energy. (They are there to stop the image of a static screen from being imprinted on the monitor glass.)
  • Leave your personal digital assistant switched off while in the holder. It will still charge and you only need to turn it on for a minute or so before removing it to let it synchronise.

Lighting

  • Make the most of natural light. Don't block it with filing cabinets, plants or blinds that are permanently shut!
  • Switch off lights when you are last to leave rooms and when they are not needed
  • Turn off lights in the toilets, kitchen, meeting rooms etc. when not needed
  • Flickering fluorescent tubes use up more energy. If you see one, report it!

Heating and Other Equipment

  • Keep doors and windows shut (and avoid opening them to cool a room if the heating is still on)
  • Water coolers, vending machines and boilers can be connected to timer switches so that they are not constantly in use over evenings and weekends
  • Never turn on A/C units for cooling purposes if the heating is on. The systems end up working against each other, wasting energy in the process
  • If you feel the cold, consider wearing a thicker shirt or blouse, a jumper or a fleece to work. It is not necessary to continually turn the heating thermostat up and down from minimum to maximum. Thermostats work by stabilising the local temperature to that set by the switch. Generally, once set, they do not need to be touched again

Photocopying

  • Use the size reduction feature offered on many copiers. Two pages of a book or periodical can often be copied onto one standard sheet
  • Photocopy double sided
  • Put a paper recycling box beside the photocopier
  • Recycle all toner cartridges. Switch off the copier overnight (a photocopier left on overnight wastes enough energy to make 5,300 A4 copies).

Paper

  • Re-use paper that's already printed on one side by manually feeding it into copiers and printers for draft documents
  • Once-used paper can also be reused in plain paper fax machines — they only need one clean side
  • Re-use old paper for notepad
  • Re-use internal and external envelopes by using re-use stickers
  • Recycle all paper including white and coloured stationary, stapled paper, magazines and cardboard that cannot be re-used again (if possible)
  • A box containing paper that has only be used once can be placed at printers
  • Do this by using the manual feed tray on the machine.

Printing

  • Do you really need a hard copy of it? Can you save the message/attachments instead?
  • Instead of printing a web page, bookmark it or save the page
  • Proof the document on screen before printing
  • Consider changing the margin sizes, especially on drafts
  • Reducing the point size of your text may save lots of paper
  • Check margins when printing on headed paper
  • If you only need the page you are working on, go File > Print > and click on 'Current Page' on the 'Page range' section
  • If you only need a specific number of pages, go File > Print > and put the page numbers in on the 'Page range' section
  • Check if your printer will print multiple pages on an A4 sheet (2, 4, 6, 9 or 16 pages)
  • Check if your printer can print double sided (most larger laser printers can
  • If you do print something, retrieve it immediately. This helps to avoid the need for printing it again (because it has gone walkabout etc.)
  • Switch the printer off at night - the last person to leave the office should do this

Meetings

Use this meetings 'hierarchy' to decide the most appropriate choice when organising a meeting:

  • If a meeting is necessary, can some people take part by video or telephone conference?
  • Can anyone travel by public transport to and from the meeting venue? When organising the meeting, take account of the extra time needed for people to make public transport connections
  • If you must take your own car, can you share with a colleague(s) to and from the meeting venues? Organise a pool vehicle

Whilst working for the people we support:

Travelling and driving

  • Limit the amount of time your car engine is running (idling) when you’re not driving – turn it off if you stop for more than 10 seconds (except in traffic). Idling also prevents the catalytic convector from working properly
  • Avoid rapid acceleration and heavy braking - accelerate smoothly, even in a traffic jam. Smoother driving can use 30% less fuel. Also, obey the speed limit. Doing 50mph can use 25% less fuel than 70mph
  • Service your car regularly (according to your cars’ manual)
  • Make sure your tyres are properly inflated. (For every 6psi a tyre is under-inflated, fuel consumption can rise by 1%)
  • Make sure your garage throws in an emissions test with the service. This can save you money as well as helping to prevent breakdowns by identifying problems with the engine
  • Wide-open windows, roof racks, heavy clutter in the boot and air conditioning can all add to your fuel bill
  • On cold days, limit warm-up idling to 30 seconds or less (the best way to warm up your vehicle is to drive it)
  • Choose a car with a three-way catalytic converter - it will reduce nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbon emissions by 90%
  • Fly less! Air travel produces three times more carbon dioxide per passenger than rail
  • Ask hotels or guest houses to change your linen and towels every other day
  • Take your waste home with you if you can recycle it (e.g. plastic drinks bottles)

Water

  • Use less water by taking showers rather than baths (unless it's a power shower!) – this can save 50 litres every time
  • Avoid putting sanitary products, nappies and cigarettes down the toilet.
  • Turn the tap off when brushing your teeth
  • 9 litres of clean water are used every time we flush the toilet so either install a dual-flushing mechanism (two levels of flush) or put something in your cistern to displace water (e.g. bag of water) to reduce the amount of water used
  • Repair dripping taps and always turn them off properly - they could be wasting 13 litres a day
  • Use full loads in your dishwasher and washing machine
  • Use environmentally friendly cleaning products (e.g. bleach, washing-up liquid)
  • Use a nappy washing service - they use 32% less energy and 41% water than home washing.

Cooking

  • Heat small meals in a microwave oven
  • Use plastic storage boxes rather than sandwich bags and plastic wrap
  • Drink tap or filtered water, not bottled
  • Cook more fresh food - it means using less packaging
  • Buy local produce or grow your own to reduce energy used in transportation
  • Check with your council about recycling facilities for plastic (e.g. drinks bottles), metals (e.g. food tins) and cardboard (e.g. food packaging)
  • Avoid using disposable cutlery and plates. For parties and picnics, cheap plastic sets are available.

Energy

  • Ask your utility supplier to provide you with power generated from renewable energy sources (e.g. wind farms)
  • Ask them for energy saving tips - they'll provide you with free advice
  • Use thermostats that switch off the heating etc when you don't need it
  • Add insulation to your home to conserve warmth - cavity wall insulation can cut heat loss by up to 60 per cent
  • Use a fan instead of air conditioning
  • Turn off appliances and lights when they're not needed
  • Fit energy-efficient light bulbs - they cost more but save money and energy over time
  • Insulate your water heater/hot water tank properly.

Garden

  • Choose plants that don't need much water (e.g. lavender, tulips, sunflowers, buddleia, wall flowers)
  • Avoid using garden sprinklers or hoses for long periods and water your garden after sunset as less water will evaporate
  • Use a bucket to wash your car rather than a hose
  • Make compost from your biodegradable waste (and use it on your garden!)
  • Dry your clothes on a clothes line - tumble driers use huge amounts of energy
  • Avoid putting oil, paint, varnish or solvent down the drain
  • Put out a bird feeder or nesting box
  • Build a pond in your garden to provide a habitat for dragonflies, frogs and other wildlife
  • Attach water butts to your shed roof to collect rain water.

Shopping

  • Check the label when buying new appliances to check they are energy-efficient
  • Buy products made from sustainable forests - it will help preserve the world's endangered forests
  • Buy products made from recycled material (e.g. toilet rolls, bin liners)
  • Choose products that use recycled packaging
  • Re-use plastic bags when shopping or use cloth bags
  • Supermarkets often have recycling facilities (saving a car journey if you were going anyway) and some take back plastic bags
  • Look for ways to swap or get items for free instead of paying for them on websites like www.uk.freecycle.org

Other re-using and re-cycling

  • Check about recycling facilities with your local council
  • Supermarkets often have recycling facilities (saving a car journey if you were going anyway) and some take back plastic bags
  • Send e-cards rather than paper cards at Christmas
  • Find someone who can use something you no longer want (e.g. children's toys) or take it to a charity shop
  • Use a cloth hankie - it takes 6,000,000 trees to make one-year’ worth of tissues for the world
  • Use the front of greeting cards to create a supply of postcards or gift tags
  • Donate leftover paint to a community project - the UK wastes 6.2 million litres a year
  • Use rechargeable batteries
  • Alkaline batteries (e.g. Duracel AA) should not be disposed in the general waste, unless your Council specifies differently
  • Mobile phone batteries (e.g. NiCad) can be recycled.

These procedures have been written with advice provided by the Environment Agency www.environment-agency.gov.uk