We are creating a better place for all our people by offering robust health and wellbeing initiatives, putting safety first, being open and inclusive, and by helping people realise their full potential through training and development opportunities.
Safety first
We promote a culture where safety, health and environmental (SHE) considerations are integrated into everyday processes. We actively engage with all levels of staff, including management, our directly employed operatives, and contractor workers on SHE issues throughout all stages of our operations.
Reduction in AIRS
An Accident Incident Rate (AIR) is an industry standard set by the Health and Safety Executive and measured by the ratio of the number of legally reportable personal injury accidents multiplied by 100,000 and divided by the average number of employees.
Monitoring our performance in this way, allows us to benchmark ourselves against our peers and by thorough investigation of all accidents gives us an opportunity to understand root causes and trends within our operations We are committed to reducing the AIR within our business year on year.
How we do it
Each year we develop an improvement strategy to improve our AIR performance, based on the benefits attributed to past actions and any weaknesses we identified the previous year. We encourage better performance by promoting Pride in the Job awards, as well as a Miller Homes annual SHE initiative where all sites participate and best practice is recognised across the business.
How it is measured
We measure a combined figure which includes both directly employed workers and those employed through sub-contractors. On average this equates to about 4,000 workers per day.
Legally reported accidents include fatalities, specified injuries and injuries that cause more than seven days of absence. We have measured AIRS for all accidents since 2004 and over this period have seen an overall reduction.
Our progress:
Dec 2021
AIR 535
Dec 2022
AIR 459
ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 accreditation
We are one of the few UK housebuilders to accredit our management systems to ISO Standards 45001 and 14001. Using the cornerstones of plan, do, check, act, these standards create a model of management systems that allow for continuous improvement.
How we do it
We have aligned all our policies, process and procedures to ISO Standards 45001 (health and safety) and 14001 (environment).
How it is measured
A third party assessor verifies that we are compliant with the standards. We obtained initial recognition in 2009 and since then we have demonstrated through 3-yearly audit and assessment that our systems and processes remain compliant. Our last renewal was in August 2021.
Health and wellbeing
We have had a health and wellbeing strategy in place since 2019. This strategy demonstrates care for employees and aims to encourage a healthier, more engaged and productive workforce. We have set ourselves a target to improve the health and wellbeing of our people over a five year period and a strategy refresh is underway.
Better for people, better for business
We believe that investing in a programme that is designed to create an enabling environment, by providing health and wellness services, which enhances mental health, supports positive lifestyle change, coping skills, and healthy relationships resulting in improved wellbeing, productivity and engagement for our people.It also delivers benefits of reducing absences from work whilst improving staff retention and motivation.
How we do it
We have conducted a thorough review of our health and wellbeing strategy to prioritise areas that most affect employees. We identified that mental health absence was increasing whilst there was low uptake of the support available. We were also aware that our employees are facing pressures from an inflated cost of living, and wanted to add financial wellbeing as a pillar of our strategy.
For the first time we have five generations in the workforce, and we need to recognise the different needs of each group during each stage of their career by developing more individual and flexible solutions.
We are working towards each region having a Health & Wellbeing team consisting of Champions and Mental Health First Aiders to drive local plans. We will ensure our Health and Wellbeing teams receive the development and support required to enhance the working environment for all.
Strategic Focus Areas
How it is measured
We monitor usage for our Employee Assistance Programme, absences, collate feedback from our Champions and First Aiders on a quarterly basis and use employee engagement surveys and our IIP programme to inform the performance and refinement of our plans.
We will survey our people regularly to understand baseline levels of employee awareness of Health and Wellbeing so that we can measure engagement and progress in the future.
Future skills and training
We recognise that Learning & Development (L&D) is a key driver to creating a sustainable business, contributing to professional development, long-term retention, enhanced engagement and ultimately our ability to grow.
How we do it
In 2021, we invested significantly in L&D, bolstering our team and building a strategy in support of the company’s strategic objectives. During 2022 we set ourselves a target to increase the number of training days per employee.
We are the only major house builder to have achieved business-wide Investors in People (IIP) accreditation at Platinum level. IIP is awarded to companies that demonstrate high performance across a range of employee-focused assessment criteria, including its approach to leadership, support and staff development.
To receive Platinum accreditation requires businesses to achieve ‘high performing’ status in seven of the IIP framework’s nine themes. We achieved Platinum status in September 2022. Only 6% of construction sector companies in the UK have achieved this accolade.
How it is measured
While we have achieved IIP Platinum accreditation, we will be re-accredited every three years. Our next assessment will commence in 2024.
Diversity & Inclusion
The construction sector has found it challenging to attract a more diverse workforce and in particular females. We therefore want to initially focus our diversity and inclusion efforts to encourage more females into the business. By 2026 our target is to increase the number of females we employ across every area, paying specific attention to both management positions and entry level, by identifying talented apprentices and trainees.
How we do it
How it is measured
Our targets are continually monitored and will be reported annually:30.3%
The number of females employed as a total (monthly and weekly) headcount
19%
The % of females in the business who are in management positions
21%
We report the number of female early talent (our trainees and apprentices)