Embracing Sustainability - Gammon Construction · 2019-09-10 · process to identify and assess a wide range of project risks and opportunities during the tendering and execution

Embracing Sustainability

Sustainability Report 2003

The concept of sustainable developmenthas existed for a number of years, and themost widely accepted definition is thatpresented in the 1987 World Commissionon Environment and Development reportentitled Our Common Future. The reportdefines sustainable development asdevelopment that meets the needs of thepresent without compromising the abilityof future generations to meet their ownneeds. The construction industry has ahuge role to play in global sustainability,and as a prominent South East Asiaconstruction company, we believe that itis essential for us to rise and meet thischallenge. As part of this on-goingcommitment, we are pleased to bereleasing our first publicly available

sustainability report. EmbracingSustainability is a presentation of oureconomic, social and environmentalperformance during the calendar year2003. The content builds upon last year’sHSE Report entitled Staying Ahead onHSE, and covers all of the company’soperations. This embraces all operationsand support services across Hong Kong,China, Singapore and Thailand. Oursupport services include LambethAssociates, our engineering consultancy,Entasis interior contracting and theConstruction Services Division based atthe Gammon Technology Park in HongKong, which manages our plant andequipment and operates three concretebatching plants in Hong Kong and our

steel fabrication plant at Pristine Works inDongguan, China.

Our report is structured as follows topresent the three cornerstones ofsustainability, with a section dedicated tohealth and safety, reflecting its importancewithin our business and industry as awhole:

• Our commitment• Sustainability in practice • Economic and business performance• Social performance• Health and safety• Environmental performance• 2003 progress• Outlook for 2004

Verification statement

Embracing sustainability

The Business Environment Council(BEC) was commissioned by Gammonto provide a verification statement forits 2003 Sustainability Report(hereinafter the ‘Report’), which coversthe Company’s performance in theyear 2003 operating under the nameGammon Skanska Limited. BECconducted sample checks of the dataand claims contained in the Reportthrough data and document review,meetings with responsible staff andvisits to selected project sites. Ourfindings are as follows:

Completeness of the Report Scope

The Report was found to provide arepresentative account of Gammon’smanagement process and initiatives forcorporate sustainability, especially inrelation to buildings, civil engineeringand foundation works. The Reportcovers the Company’s operations inHong Kong, China, Singapore andThailand, and is able to link and reflectGammon’s sustainability commitmentacross the region.

For future reports, we recommendmore in depth presentation of

sustainability programmes andinitiatives for their specific areas ofbusiness and operations.

Adequacy of Data

BEC considers the coverage of safetyand accident statistics necessary andappropriate, as safety is a key concernfor the construction industry. We alsoconsider the inclusion of data relatedto staff and contractor training, andpartnerships with subcontractors,suppliers and clients appropriate andfitting in presenting Gammon’s effortin sustainable development.

Gammon have presented anencouraging first-time sustainabilityreport, including some keyperformance indicators (KPIs) forsocial and economic performance.For environmental performance, theReport provides a wide coverage ofenvironmental management practicesand green innovations, but relativelyfew KPIs have been included. BECrecommends including relevantindicators in future reports to meetthe increasing concern fromstakeholders both local and overseas,

and encourages the use of the GlobalReporting Initiative’s guidelines in thisrespect.

Accuracy of Data

The systems and processes forgathering the data used in this Reportwere considered effective. Minorinaccuracies were identified duringthe verification process, andrecommended amendments weremade to improve clarity and ensureaccuracy. These were subsequentlyincorporated into the Final Report.

Opinion

BEC considers the Report accurateand reliable in presenting Gammon’sefforts in corporate sustainability. Wecongratulate Gammon for pioneeringsustainability reporting in the regionalconstruction industry.

Dr Andrew Thomson Chief Executive Officer

Business Environment Council

5 August 2004

Front cover: The Asian Honey Bee, Apis Cerana, is found from the Himalayas to Japan.They play a key role in the region’s ecosystems as well as being highly productive and organised.

We have long realised that ourbusiness, and the way we do business,has an impact on the economy,society and the environment. Weconsider that the time is right toexpand on last year’s Health, Safety

Sustainability Report 2003 1

Our commitment

and Environment Report and start adialogue on how we are integratingthe concepts of sustainability into ourcore business.

Many of Gammon’s key customersare already actively committed tosustainability issues and expectnothing less of their contractor. Thisemphasis is likely to increase as theirrequirements develop and publicawareness and sensitivity intensifies.Our focus on sustainability inconstruction will help us tostrengthen our brand and improvethe way we manage risk. Thiscommitment also reinforces ourobjectives to be both the employerand partner of choice. Employees andpartners want to work withcompanies that share their personal

values, and with which they can growand develop. If Gammon is to maintainits leading position in the market, wemust attract and develop the bestemployees and work with the bestpartners.

We very much welcome your views andlook forward to playing a leading role indeveloping an industry sector wideapproach to sustainability in the region.

Martin Hadaway Chief Executive

Gammon Construction Limited

August 2004

2 Sustainability Report 2003

Balanced scorecards

Gammon is fully committed to the principles of sustainability and is developing aninternal framework to manage and implement these principles. The integration of sustainability into our business, in combination with our corebrand values and mission, is driven by our use of Balanced Scorecards. Thescorecards document key performance objectives and targets in the four areasconsidered essential to the success of our long-term business goals. Three of these(Customers & Markets, People & their Future Growth, and Internal BusinessProcesses) are closely related to our responsibilities to society and theenvironment, whilst the Finance area is related to achieving balanced economicreturns. Each region and sector of our business, as well as our staff, work toachieve annual objectives and targets presented in their respective balancedscorecards. These management tools are helping us to build the foundations forour ongoing commitments to sustainable development.

Our missionOur mission is to develop, build andservice Asia’s physical infrastructurefor living, working and travelling. Weaim to be one of the leadingproviders of construction services inAsia, by focusing on our customers’needs and how we can best use ourabilities and resources to add valuefor them by developing innovativeand sustainable solutions and bymanaging risk. We recognise thatbeing a leading constructioncontractor entails responsibilities thatgo well beyond traditional conceptsand established ways of working. It isour contention that incorporatingsustainability into our activities makesgood business sense, enabling us to:

Sustainability in practice

• Strengthen our brand. We want tobe recognised as a responsiblecontractor that is leading theindustry.

• Improve risk management.Minimising and reducing risksthrough the incorporation ofeconomic, social andenvironmental considerations intoour operations is good businesspractice.

• Gain respect from our employeesand business partners. We believethat people will increasingly preferto be associated with a socially andenvironmentally responsibleorganisation.

• Help us realise our vision to be theleading provider of constructionservices in Asia.

Alignment with ourbrand valuesOur ultimate goal is to deliver a highlevel of quality to our customers. Inthis, we mean not only the quality ofour built products and serviceoutcomes, but also the quality of theway in which they are delivered in asustainable, reliable, safe andresponsible manner. We believe thatwe can best deliver the level ofquality to which we aspire byconcentrating on four brand values,which are naturally aligned to ourcommitment to sustainability.

• Being customer-centric, focussingon the broader needs of ourcustomers and not solely on theconstruction process.

• Being resource-rich, able tocombine our own extensive localresources with the global resourcesof our shareholders in a way thatputs us ahead of our competition.

• Being innovative, a technologyenabled, learning organisation thatis committed to finding better waysof doing things that make the mostefficient and sustainable use ofavailable resources.

• Being risk-managers, having theforesight, attentiveness to detailand tenacity to anticipate andeffectively deal with the problemsand challenges that constructioninevitably entails.


Economic and business performance

Our businessSince Gammon was established in thelate 1950s, we have grown to becomeone of the leading providers ofconstruction services throughout HongKong and South East Asia. Owned onan equal basis by two majorinternational companies – JardineMatheson and Balfour Beatty – we areable to deliver a unique combination oflocal presence, technical capability,financial strength and internationalexpertise. Drawing on these strengths,we are committed to maintaining ourposition as a market leader. Our mainoffices in Hong Kong aresupplemented by offices in Beijing,Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore andBangkok. In addition to ourinvolvement in many landmark projectsin Hong Kong, Gammon has

completed around 250 projects inChina and Singapore, together withprojects in Thailand, Vietnam,Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Gammon sees exciting opportunitiesin all these markets in the comingyears, and we look forward tocontributing, at the highest possible

standards, to developing, building and servicing Asia’s physicalinfrastructure for living, working andtravelling.

2003 presented a challenging businessclimate in the region, including adownturn in South East Asia marketsand the impacts of the SARS outbreak.These factors have inevitably impactedon our turnover with a decrease toaround US$735 million in 2003. Thisdecrease also reflects completion of anumber of major projects in China.However the outlook for 2004 is morepromising, with new projects securedin 2003 such as Shenzhen WesternCorridor, Nam Wan Tunnel, Deep BayLink North and Penny’s BayReclamation Phase II that willcontribute significantly to our turnoverin 2004/5.


Management andgovernanceGammon has robust systems in placeto ensure effective governance withcomprehensive audits and monthlymanagement reporting on financial,productivity, risk, health, safety,environment and people. In 2003, wewent live in Hong Kong with anEnterprise Resource Planning (ERP)system (an integrated informationtechnology management platform)to further integrate our businessmanagement processes and provide agreater level of real time informationfor improved control andtransparency. It is our responsibilitytowards our customers, employees,shareholders and other stakeholdersthat we safeguard and ensure ahealthy business environment. We

have clear codes of conduct for ouremployees and it is important thatwe ensure that these are understoodand implemented.

We have developed a systematicprocess to identify and assess a widerange of project risks andopportunities during the tenderingand execution stage of projects,including those associated withresources, health, safety, theenvironment and community issues.These systems are supported by goodpractice measures to ensurecompliance with legal and regulatoryrequirements and to driveperformance improvements. In HongKong, these include certifiedmanagement systems for quality (ISO 9001), health and safety (OHSAS 18001) and environment(ISO 14001). Singapore also has an

ISO9001– certified system in placeand is in the process of implementingenvironment, health and safetymanagement systems for certificationin 2004. In China, except for theShenzhen office where we implementthe Hong Kong systems, we havesimilar objectives for 2004 to gaincertification of our managementsystems.

These management systems provideus with the necessary tools tomanage sustainability within ourbusiness. We are committed tocontinuous improvement and haveestablished a system of performancemeasurement and accountabilitythrough benchmarking, datacollection and verification.

Gammon Technology Park

We have invested US$30 million in a newconstruction support facility – theGammon Technology Park – at the TseungKwan O Industrial Estate in Hong Kong.This will provide plant, constructionservices, fitting out and Academy trainingsupport facilities. The Technology Park isthe company’s biggest single investmentin its history. It demonstrates ourcommitment to and confidence in thelocal and regional economies.


Sustaining theorganisationThe Quality of the Organisation

The quality of our staff is the lifebloodof our success. We place greatemphasis on how we recruit andsubsequently develop people for thefuture of the Company. We haveHuman Resource programmes inplace to monitor the competency ofthe organisation as a whole in termsof its ability to deliver bothcommitted and anticipatedworkloads, as well as to plan thesustainability of the Company’shuman resources through successionplanning and risk management. Wecontinually develop and maximiseour existing staff skill base, bring inthe right new resources wherenecessary and aim to minimise losses

in intellectual capital throughout therecruitment and staff developmentprocesses. These approaches haveenabled us to develop one of thestrongest and most experiencedtechnical teams in the region.

Improving Productivity

Gammon is taking a leading positionin the construction industry byinvesting in people. We see this askey to increasing our productivityboth individually and collectively, andin January 2003 we launched theGammon Academy. Our investmentin management time and facilities inthe Academy has been verysignificant and has resulted in a 50% increase in trainingopportunities for staff, presenting aunique opportunity to broaden theirskills and increase competences.

The Academy is being increasinglyutilized as a conduit for improvingeconomic, environmental and socialawareness across our areas ofoperation. It marks a major advancein staff development anddemonstrates our long-termcommitment to supporting theintegration of sustainability principlesinto our business.


Our businesspartnersCustomers

Gammon actively promotespartnering with all customers as anapproach to help project participantswork more effectively and efficientlytogether. In 2003, we issued aPartnering Capability Sheet, whichhelps to detail our experience withpartnering and provides guidance onhow to ensure its successfulapplication. Recent examples ofsuccessful partnering have includedthe Chater House and Three PacificPlace developments in Hong Kong,the Firmenich project in Shanghaiand our relationship with Oiltankingin Singapore.

Suppliers and Subcontractors

We are committed to working with allour subcontractors to raise standardsacross the industry on criticalbusiness issues such as: employmentof registered staff; prevention ofcorruption, bribery and anti-competitive practices; health, safetyand environmental performance;

Social performance

Three Pacific Place is a US$112m, forty storey office tower in the Wan Chai/CentralDistrict of Hong Kong. Swire Properties and Gammon signed a formal PartneringCharter to work together to ensure the project’s overall success. Through thepartnership, each organisation within the project team has been more involved inthe decision-making process, helping to eliminate the potential for conflictsassociated with more traditional methods of contracting. The Partnering Charterenabled a number of best practice construction techniques to be incorporated suchas self climbing formwork, prefabricated building services and fully enclosedperimeter safety screens. The project was also the first development in Hong Kongto make full use of Prolog Manager, an on-line project extranet system, allowingpartners to access to key project information at any time from anywhere, thusensuring transparency of project data and accountability.

Customer Satisfaction

We believe that our commitment toand implementation of partnering,HSE initiatives and sustainabilityultimately results in higher levels ofcustomer satisfaction. Our CustomerSatisfaction Surveys in 2003 showedcontinued progress in key aspects ofour social responsibility. Attitudes andbehaviour, processes and procedures,health & safety, and environmentalperformance were rated by ourcustomers on a scale of 1 (veryunsatisfactory) to 5 (very satisfactory)as illustrated in the following charts.

employees’ compensation insurance;and fair and on-time payment ofsubcontractors.

To reinforce this commitment,Gammon initiated a consultationprocess during 2003 comprising aninteractive workshop withsubcontractors and video interviews.Five general principles were identifiedand agreed between Gammon and itssubcontractors as follows:

• Compliance with legal requirementsin all respects;

• Commitment to conducting businesswith a high standard of integrity andbusiness ethics;

• Responsibility to respect businesspartners’ rights and adherence toindustry best-practice onsubcontracting;

Through our involvement in developing, building andservicing Asia’s physical infrastructure for living, working andtravelling, Gammon makes an important contribution to theregion. We employ 2,000professional and office based stafftogether with approximately1,500 daily paid workforce staffand indirectly engage a further7,000 personnel through oursubcontractors. We thereforehave an important responsibilityto the communities within whichwe operate.


3.0 3.5 4.0

• Remain open-minded in dialoguewith all those affected byGammon’s operations and ensurecommunication in a timely andeffective manner; and

• Work together to develop measuresconducive to continuousimprovement.

This engagement process has helpedbring focus to our commitments toimprove subcontracting standards. In2004, we plan to expand ourformalised subcontractor and supplierpartnerships and we will also beundertaking opinion surveys to solicitfeedback for further developmentand improvement of our strategies.

Gammon peopleOur staff are our future, and wereward and recognise this throughthe comprehensive benefitsprogramme we offer, as well asperformance bonuses. It is importantthat we protect and maintain thewelfare of our staff. We fully respectour staff's views and encourageinternal communications andfeedback, through variousmechanisms such as our StaffOpinion Survey and internalnewsletters. We also encourageintegration of staff at all levels and wecontinue with regular staff breakfastsessions for younger employees withsenior management.

We also actively encourage andpromote personal development and

employability training, where staff are able to benefit from our internaltraining schemes as well as ourextensive contacts with traininginstitutions around the world.

We have been offeringapprenticeships and graduatetraining in conjunction withprofessional institutions including theConstruction Industry TrainingAuthority (CITA), Hong KongInstitution of Engineers (HKIE),Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) andHong Kong Institute of Surveyors(HKIS) since the early 1980s. In 2003,Gammon awarded certificates to 29Apprentices and 14 GraduateTrainees. We also have establishedlinks with some of the region’sleading universities, and activelyrecruit their best graduates.


Gammon in thecommunityJardine Ambassadors

The Jardine Ambassadors Programmewas formed in 1982 and has raisedmore than US$2 million for over 350charitable projects. Currently, three ofGammon’s senior staff are JardineAmbassadors involved in solicitingGammon staff support in variouscommunity activities. One example ofa Jardine Ambassadors programme inwhich Gammon are involved isMINDSET, a charity founded in HongKong in June 2002, which aims tochange peoples’ attitudes by raisingawareness and understanding ofmental health issues, as well assupporting individuals, families andorganisations in need of help.

Community Activities

Our staff have also been participating in andsponsoring a range of other annual communityactivities, including the Green Power Hike, theMatilda Hospital Sedan Chair Race, Dragon BoatRaces and Oxfam’s Trailwalker. In Shanghai, weparticipated in the Terry Fox Run for charity anddonated books to a middle school in a poor area ofAnhui province. We also actively promote andsupport participation by our staff in industry andcommunity-wide sporting events such as football andbasketball tournaments. In addition, many of oursenior staff and directors take a personal interest insector wide issues by voluntarily holding offices in awide range of professional bodies and charitableorganisations in Hong Kong and the region.

Gammon University Fellowship

The Gammon University Fellowshipaims at enhancing careeropportunities for universityundergraduates by providing aneffective start to their careerdevelopment. The first Fellowshipwas launched in March 2002 and atotal of 14 second yearundergraduates from variousuniversities in Hong Kong wereselected to join this programme withthis increasing to 16 in 2003. Thescheme aims to provide aninteresting and challengingopportunity to learn, at first hand,about current practice in a world-standard construction business. We

have also been sponsoring anengineer with a Gammon Scholarshipthrough the National University ofSingapore.

Gammon Scholarships in China

We have an established scholarshipprogrammes set up with threeleading Chinese Universities:Tsinghua University in Beijing, TongjiUniversity in Shanghai and the SouthChina University of Technology inGuangzhou. Approximately 100scholarships are given each year tostudents from poor or deprived areasto provide them with the opportunityfor further education.


Health and safety

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We attach the highest priority to the health and safety of ourworkforce, subcontractors, customers and the public. Wecontinue to implement a comprehensive range of safety initiativesincluding safety risk assessments at project design, deployment ofregistered safety personnel on all of our sites, promotion of safeworking practices and providing professional advice and training.

Health & safetyperformanceOur 2003 Accident Incident Rate hasimproved compared to 2002,remaining significantly below theindustry average, and we are pleasedto report that there were no fatalities in2003 across any of our operations.

China’s statistics are not incorporatedin the graphs below. During our 2003internal audits we have confirmed thatthe 2003 accident incident rate for ourChina projects is significantly less thanthat of other regions. We have notincorporated the China data at thisstage to avoid distortions in thecomparisons illustrated.

Thanks to initiatives to improve safeworking at height and sitehousekeeping, the number of accidentsrelated to ‘falls from height’ and ‘slips,trips or falls’ on same level in HongKong have decreased by 50% and 68%respectively compared to 2002. Nosafety fines or breaches in China or

Thailand were received, although thenumber of safety non-compliancesrecorded by the Labour Department in Hong Kong increased in 2003. InSingapore, a slight increase inbreaches was recorded in 2003compared to 2002. We treat theseissues with utmost seriousness, andeach case has been fully reviewed byinternal Panels of Enquiry.

Safety awareness andmanagementTo address safety issues, and bringabout on-going improvements, weaim to take actions based on theattitudes and perceptions of all our site staff and subcontractor workers.To help identify areas of focus, inFebruary 2003 we commissioned asafety climate survey in Hong Kong,conducted by the Occupational Healthand Safety Council (OSHC) assisted byBeijing’s Tsinghua University, toexamine the values, attitudes,perceptions, competency, and patterns

of behaviour in safety among ourstaff and workforce, including oursubcontractors’ workers, sitesupervisors and management. Thissurvey covered over 5,000 personneland we believe was the first of itstype in Hong Kong. The results havehelped to identify areas forimprovement, to provoke behaviouralchanges and to improve the overallsafety culture. For example, our 2004targets show that we will expand thelevel of training of subcontractors andestablish minimum levels of trainingfor their supervisory staff.

As the benefits of our efforts in thelatter part of 2002 began to be betterrecognized amongst our staff andworkforce, the Workers’ Injury RiskManagement programme has been afocus of attention during 2003. Thishas helped us to sustain a continueddecline in the severity of accidents asillustrated below. Furthermore theaverage cost for accidents managedunder this programme has droppedby approximately 60% since 2001.

Hong Kong operations. Days lost per 100,000 manhours

* The Accident Incidence Rate is the total number of reportable accidents per 1,000 workers. A reportable accident is onewhich results in a period of incapacity exceeding three days.


scoring system with results publishedon-line in league tables. Through theERP and company intranet, sitemanagement and procurement staffalso have easy access to overallsubcontractors’ and suppliers’performance reports and monthly HSE results.

During 2003, our tender selectionprocess for subcontractors andsuppliers has been expanded to includenew requirements on conviction andaccident history, HSE performance, HSEpolicies and management systems.

Safety Promotion and Awareness

The ‘How to promote safety culture’and ‘Competition and Cooperation’

Working with oursubcontractors andsuppliersRecording Performance

As part of our health and safetymanagement system, in 2003 westarted to collect further data fromexisting and new subcontractors ontheir Health, Safety and Environment(HSE) policy, procedures andMaterial Safety Data Sheets. Throughimproved training andcommunications, we will work withour subcontractors and suppliers toachieve better workplace safety.

Project HSE performance is assessedin a number of ways, includingweekly safety walks, audits andinspections. Collectively, overallperformance is reviewed duringmonthly meetings with feedbackprovided in monthly HSE reports.From 2003, incidents and accidentsare now entered into the ERP systemfor real-time review and updating bysenior staff. The HSE performance ofsubcontractors is evaluated across theHong Kong operations using a

Safer MeasuresSeminar in Shanghai

Gammon in conjunctionwith the TsinghuaUniversity ConstructionSafety Research Centre,supported by theMinistry of Construction,China, hosted a seminarentitled ‘Staying ahead inConstruction Health,Safety and theEnvironment’ at theShanghai InternationalConvention Center inNovember 2003. Over120 construction HSEprofessionals, businesspartners and customersattended the seminar.

drama plays arranged at the ProjectManagers’ meeting in June 2003 areinnovative examples of how wepromote further improvements to the safety culture with oursubcontractors. We also encouragesubcontractor supervisors to attenddesignated courses organized by theGammon Academy.

For several years we haveimplemented an incentive scheme,which allows each project tonominate subcontractors with goodHSE performance for our Best Safety,Environmental and Partner Awardspresented at our Spring Dinner ascaptured in the photo above.


Rewarded for oureffortsIn 2003, we won the SafetyManagement System Award underthe Hong Kong OccupationalSafety and Health Award foroutstanding achievements inoccupational health and safetythrough implementation of soundsafety management systems.

In addition, we won six prestigiousawards in the Safe Working CycleCompetition 2003 organized by

the Hong Kong OccupationalSafety and Health Council includingthree Gold Awards for our ThreePacific Place project.

We also won six awards underHong Kong’s ConsiderateContractors Site Award Scheme2003, and our Reclamation Worksin North Tsing Yi won the GoldAward in the Site Cleanliness andTidiness Grand Award for publicworks. We also won a Silver Awardfor our Three Pacific Place project.

Workplace hygieneWe signed a Workplace HygieneCharter in Hong Kong demonstratingour commitment to ensure goodstandards of workplace hygiene. Thiswas particularly important given theDengue fever and SARS outbreaks in2003. We incorporated health risksassociated with SARS into our healthand safety risk assessmentprogramme and improved welfareprovisions, on sites accordingly.

Environmental performance

Benchmarking ourperformanceIn 2003, we began more detailedbenchmarking of the environmentalperformance of our projects andestablished a new set ofenvironmental objectives and targets.A company-wide ‘ProjectEnvironmental Performance DataForm’ has been developed formonthly updates from eachoperational site. The data focuses onour main impacts and identifies areasfor improvement such as resourceand energy consumption and wastereduction. Benchmark targets havebeen set and once measures havebeen validated, these will form partof an Environmental PerformanceLeague Table for projects. Forbenchmarking, we have also begunresearch into construction practices inother regions such as Europe andNorth America.

We have evaluated performance inmeeting our 2003 environmentalobjectives and targets and achievedthe following:

• To minimise the impacts of noiseand smoke fumes from our plantand equipment we needed toensure they were running atoptimum efficiency. To do this weimplemented preventivemaintenance schedules for all mainitems of plant in our fleet, recordsof which are now hooked up to ourbusiness management system (ERP)for common user access.

With environmental protection becoming a prominent issue,particularly in the densely populated and development-intensivecities of Asia, it is important that we understand and manage theenvironmental impacts associated with our activities. An integralpart of our Brand Values is our commitment to the environment,where we actively promote innovative, leading edge and cost-effective environmental solutions across all of our operations. Wealso actively engage with our customers and business partners topromote environmental awareness.

• To avoid land contamination wetargeted to install drip trays under90% of relevant plant on our sites.By the end of 2003, we hadachieved 87%.

• To reduce water consumption weset various targets and managed toconfirm that on heavy foundationprojects, 100% of the fresh watersupplied to site is now recycled.

• To encourage responsible wastemanagement and reductionpractices we targeted to participatein Hong Kong in the EnvironmentalProtection Department’s Wastewi$eScheme on six of our majorprojects. We are now activelyengaged with this scheme on sevenprojects and have receivedindependent recognition.

We recognise that these are smallsteps towards improved performancebut shall continue to build on thedata obtained and experience gainedin setting further challenges for 2004.No fines or breaches relating toenvironmental performance wererecorded for 2003 in China, Thailandand Singapore, however we haveunfortunately seen a small increase inthe number of environmentalbreaches in Hong Kong. Eliminatingthese breaches remains a majorobjective for us.

Promotion andawarenessWe continue to actively raiseenvironmental awareness in theconstruction sector and amongst the


Energy Savings: Tsing YiGreen Office

At our North Tsing Yi Reclamationproject in Hong Kong, we haveput environmental thinking andinnovation into practice whendesigning and constructing ourproject site office. Adoption ofenergy improvement measures,including the use of skylights toincrease natural light levels, a roofplanted with grass to serve as aninsulation blanket and the reuseof excising materials have cutenergy costs during 2003 in theoffice by approximately 45%when compared to aconventional site office.


general public through sponsorshipand participation in environmentalevents, conferences and communityoutreach programmes. As part of ourwider quest to promote innovation,we established an internalEnvironmental Innovation Centre in2003 to develop new environmentalproducts for construction, topromote environmental bestpractices, and to identify newbusiness opportunities inenvironmental improvement projects.The Centre has conducted designs onvegetated noise barriers, is exploringwith Shell the opportunities for theuse of solar energy and otheralternative fuels, and is also compilingindustry best-practice notes.Environmental training remains aprominent commitment across ourbusiness, where we offer training toall staff levels from formal courses atour Academy through to toolboxtalks on site.

We are also working closely withsubcontractors and suppliers toimprove awareness and promotebetter environmental performance. In2003, we started to collect moredetailed data from subcontractorsand suppliers on their environmentalmanagement systems andenvironmental non-compliancerecords. In addition, environmentalawareness is now included in ourAcademy training for subcontractors.

Wastewater Recycling

At the Three Pacific Place project (above) in Hong Kong, an innovative automaticwastewater recycling system was designed and built to reuse treated wastewaterfor dust suppression. Site runoff and wastewater generated from basementexcavation and rock drilling, washing of concrete joints, curing, wheel washing andgeneral cleaning are collected and treated by a wastewater treatment plant, whichuses citric acid, a naturally occurring substance. The treated wastewater is thenpumped to a refuse chamber for water spraying to suppress dust generation.Results from check meters found that over 90% of fresh water originally used fordust suppression could be saved.

Pipejacking in Thailand

In 2003, we successfully completed a section of Stage 2 of Bangkok’s ambitiouswastewater project (right). Our contract works included the installation of 4.4km ofsewers using pipejacking techniques and 420 manholes of varying sizes. Drawingon our extensive experience of this type of work, we developed an innovativetechnique for installing thesmaller diameter pipes, whichgreatly reduced excavationrequirements as well as the sizeof the access manholesrequired. Since these manholeswere invariably located incongested areas theconstruction impacts in termsof disruption, noise and dust tothe surrounding areas weresignificantly reduced.


Environmentalmanagement onprojectsEnvironmental management is afundamental consideration in all ouroperations. We have a number ofsignificant contracts where thesensitivity of the project and its settingrequires additional management plans,monitoring, audits and controlprocedures in order to minimise andmitigate potential environmentalimpacts. These include several projectsin Hong Kong requiring anEnvironmental Permit as set out in theEnvironmental Impact AssessmentOrdinance requirements.

Commitment to sustainablebuildingsThe design and construction ofsustainable or ‘green’ buildings isbecoming increasingly important,and new tools are being developedto measure and compare theenvironmental performance ofbuildings. One such methodologyis the Hong Kong BuildingEnvironmental Assessment (HK-BEAM) scheme. Our staff andengineers are fully conversant withthe scheme, and have worked on anumber of buildings and projectswhich have been or are beingassessed.

One Peking

A recent example of a sustainable building is One Peking, a Grade-A 30-storeyoffice and retail development in Tsim Sha Tsui, which was rated as ‘Excellent’ inthe HK-BEAM assessment scheme. One of the building’s many environmentalfeatures is an active curtain wall system. The system consists of a triple-glazedfaçade that is mechanically ventilated and integrated with solar sensors andcomputer-controlled Venetian blinds, which operate using power sourced froman array of photovoltaic panels located on the rooftop. Apart from the designs ofthe steel support frame for the photovoltaic panels, we successfully overcame thedifficulties of incorporating such an active curtain wall system into a commercialbuilding and met the construction challenges.

Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor (HK-SWC)

In 2003, a Gammon – Skanska International – MBEC joint venture won thecontract for the construction of the Hong Kong section of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor. The northern and southern shores of Deep Bay,where this new bridge starts, comprise mud flats with mangroves, which are ofsignificant ecological value. As such, proactive measures have been adopted priorto and during the construction works to reduce damage/contact with the mudflats and to limit additional sedimentation. Measures include the construction of atemporary steel access bridge, the use of cofferdams for bridge foundations andspecially made cranes with built in oil drip trays. Ecological works include seagrassand bamboo transplantation, replanting of mangroves, the search and removal ofexotic mangrove species and weeds and habitat creation and management.


Winning recognitionOur 2003 environmentalperformance and initiatives wererecognised at a number of awardceremonies in Hong Kong. Inparticular, we received the GreenContractor Award 2003 – Gold Awardfrom the Architectural ServicesDepartment (for Penny’s Bay FireStation and Centre for YouthDevelopment in Chai Wan). Ourability to efficiently manage wastealso brought us the Gold Wastewi$eLogo awarded by the EnvironmentalProtection Department for the ThreePacific Place project. Our North TsingYi Reclamation project was awardedthe Skanska 2003 Environmental Prizefor Innovative Solutions for the

Environmentally Friendly Housing

In Chengdu, China, Gammon adopted a wooden frameapproach for structures for the Scientific Center of theChengdu Institute Southwest Architectural Design andResearch Institute. The method, initiated by Sweden’sNordic Timber Council AB and developed by the ResearchInstitute, is beneficial in terms of social, commercial andenvironmental aspects. The goal of this project is topromote building of energy efficient and environmentallyfriendly structures.

innovative green design andconstruction of its site office. It alsowon a certificate of Merit in theGreen office Award Category at the2003 Eco-Business Awards.

2003 progress

In Staying Ahead on HSE, we set ourselves a number of challenging Health, Safetyand Environment targets for 2003 – progress against these is summarised below.

Summary of 2004 targets

Economic and business 1 Certification of our management systems in China and Singapore, and update our internal control procedures2 Undertake suppliers and subcontractors opinion surveys regarding business dealings3 Engage a dedicated Sustainability Manager4 Implement company wide training on sustainability issues5 Continue to promote and enhance productivity and staff engagement

Social 1 Improve overall satisfaction of customers2 Work more closely with customers during pre-construction3 Expand strategic partnering alliances and training4 Based upon opinion survey feedback, take actions to improve supplier and subcontractor relationships5 Seek to engage local communities on new projects

Health and safety 1 Implement new initiatives to promote the Zero Accidents vision2 Reduce the Accident Incident Rate to 123 Reduce breaches in safety legislation4 60 subcontractors’ management staff to receive 1-day safety training given by the Gammon Academy5 100% of Assistant Project Managers and above on operational sites to receive safety management training

Environment 1 Zero breaches of environment legislation2 Complete audits and quantification of waste generation and water and energy consumption in Hong Kong operations3 Extend benchmarking to China and Singapore operations4 Investigate and promote best practice across our operations5 Promote and support increased environmental performance amongst the supply chain

Progress against HSE targets for projects across the regionTargets 2003 Hong Kong China Singapore Thailand

In working towards Gammon’s mission of providing a workplace that is without accident or incident, the following goals applied to our projects across the region.

No fatal accident Achieved Achieved Achieved AchievedContinual improvement in Accident Incidence Rate Achieved Achieved Not achieved Not achievedContinual reduction in breach of statutory safety requirements Not achieved No breaches/fines Not achieved No breaches/finesContinual reduction in breach of statutory environmental requirements Not achieved No breaches/fines Achieved No breaches/fines

Progress against HSE targets for Hong Kong projects For our Hong Kong operations, we set the following longer term targets 2003 Progress

Reduce Accident Incidence Rate to 11.6 by year 2005. On trackZero breaches of safety legislation by year 2005. Off trackZero breaches of environmental legislation from 2003. Off track

In order to proactively engage sub-contractors, we will 2003 Progress

Ensure that HSE issues are specifically addressed during tender evaluation and on award of contract. On trackCollate, monitor and disseminate data on sub-contractor HSE performance. On trackEnsure that HSE terms and conditions in the sub-contract are fully explained. On trackEnsure that sub-contractor workforce is trained for specific projects. On track



For 2003, we set a series of challenging targets to promote and progress HSE issues.Much remains to be achieved regarding our balance of economic, social andenvironmental performance criteria and this will require a concerted effort for years tocome. To continue our journey of progressively implementing sustainability into ourbusiness, we need to strive for continuous improvement. Our outlook for 2004 thereforerequires us to continue to commit ourselves to more demanding and challenging targets.

Economic & businessperformanceManagement and Governance

During 2004, we plan to extend ourexisting Prevention of Briberycommitments into an overall Code ofConduct as a company specificdevelopment consistent with ourShareholders existing guidelines. Weshall also be updating our internalcontrol procedures for procurement,subcontracting and commercialissues. We shall underpin our actionsby seeking feedback from oursuppliers and subcontractors to assesshow they perceive our businessdealings in terms of fairness, honestyand integrity. To achieve this we planto conduct opinion surveys during2004 and to hold a Partners Forum inHong Kong to encourage opendiscussions. Our Singapore and Chinaoperations are aiming to achieve ISO14001 and OHSAS18001certification.

Corporate Sustainability

Our products and services affect thelives of many people around us andas a major player in the constructionindustry we have a responsibility toreact quickly to the changingenvironment and continually re-examine developments inconstruction to promote a moresustainable approach. We have putsustainability firmly onto thecorporate agenda and in 2004 wewill expand and further implementkey performance indicators tomonitor and track our progress. Wewill also engage a dedicatedSustainability Manager and throughthe Gammon Academy we will beginimplementing training onsustainability issues to all staff levels.

Sustaining the Organisation

The productivity of the organisationand its capacity to perform in thefuture will continue to be monitoredand managed through theimplementation and refinement ofour Human Resource programmes.

Social performanceCustomers and Business Partners

If we are to succeed in the integrationof sustainability into our operations,we need to develop and maintaineven stronger relationships with ourcustomers and business partners inorder to develop meaningful andshared values. This can only beachieved if there is a high level ofsatisfaction with our services andrelationships, and thereforeimprovement in this area becomes akey target for 2004.

Staff Engagement

We will continue to work hard toensure we provide an enjoyable yetchallenging working environment,and that we remain a company ourstaff are proud to work for. We willcontinue to engage with our staff andreact to their comments, and we willwork further to encourage personaldevelopment and employabilitytraining.

Community

We will maintain our active supportof the Jardine Ambassadorsprogramme, and continue toencourage and promote staffinvolvement in community activitiesand events. In 2004, we will also lookto greater communication with localcommunities with any new projects,in order to encourage greaterunderstanding and help forgestronger community links.

Health and safetyOur attentiveness to the care ofinjured workers has been veryeffective in reducing the severity ofaccidents but to realise our goal to‘provide a workplace withoutaccident or injury’ across each andevery site requires that we plan andimplement new initiatives toinvigorate further commitment andurgency into the process. Our 2003safety culture survey across theworkforce was invaluable in giving ussome clear indicators of where toapply our resources to effectcontinual improvement. Objectiveshave been incorporated within our2004 targets, including extendingour training programmes through thesupply chain.

EnvironmentalperformanceSeveral of our environmentalobjectives for 2004 reinforce theconfirmation and completion of theprocess of auditing and quantifyingour environmental performance inorder to establish reliable baselinedata upon which we can benchmarkour projects, set improvement targetsand subsequently measure theeffectiveness of our actions. We aretherefore committed in 2004 tocompleting this review, concentratingon the focus areas of pollutioncontrol, waste management, watermanagement, resources and energyusage and environmentalmanagement.

Outlook for 2004

Designed by Sedgwick Richardson

Gammon Construction Limited28th Floor, Devon HouseTaiKoo Place, 979 King’s RoadHong KongTel : (852) 2516 8823Fax : (852) 2516 6260

www.gammonconstruction.com

This Report adopts Gammon as an abbreviated form of the company name, Gammon ConstructionLimited. During 2003, however, the companyoperated under the name of Gammon Skanska,when Skanska was a shareholder prior to BalfourBeatty’s acquisition.

Embracing Sustainability - Gammon Construction · 2019-09-10 · process to identify and assess a wide range of project risks and opportunities during the tendering and execution

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