GHD - Managing our risk profile

We understand our risk appetite and manage our business to maximise opportunities by identifying and managing material risks to an acceptable level – in accordance with a risk management framework.

GHD has processes to systematically identify, assess and report on both financial and non-financial business risks. A strategic and operational Risk Report is prepared and analysed by both management and the Audit and Risk Committee of the Board four times a year. The report addresses impacts, risks and opportunities with respect to health and safety, reputation, business practices and ethics.

The Board receives regular reports including: risk, corporate responsibility, HSE, diversity and inclusion, unethical practices and other matters that may affect our reputation.

Potential business issues and impacts identified from internal and external sources (shareholder reports, employee engagement surveys, external trends, group risk assessments
- 1149 Clients in e-Survey program
- Participation in Beaton Research
- UNGC regarding performance reporting
- Review of peer reporting
Prioritised items identified in the Materiality Matrix feature in the Board and Executive performance reports. And are validated by senior management on regular basis.

Materiality Assessment

The materiality assessment assists GHD understand the current issues affecting our business and stakeholders. This comprehensive analysis utilises employee engagement and safety surveys, shareholder and investor reports, and group risk reports.

There are three main stakeholder groups identifiable: our people, our clients and our shareholders. Undertaking the materiality analysis to determine what economic, environmental and social issues are most important to our business and stakeholders enables GHD to:

Inform our sustainability strategy and operational programs to develop targeted programs to improve business sustainability
Identify emerging sustainability trends and issues
Improve internal decision-making using risk based thinking
Respond to expectations of our stakeholders.

Materiality Matrix

The analysis is a consolidated list of 23 economic, environmental and social issues. The engagement phase seeks feedback through surveys from our people (many of whom are shareholders) and clients, which are quantified via risk assessment and plotted on a Materiality Matrix.

The identified material issues have been consolidated, providing greater clarity for our efforts going forward. This consolidation, led to the creation of the following pillars that guide our sustainability efforts. These pillars are codified within our Sustainability Policy and include:

Managing our risk profile
Developing our people
Demonstrating good governance
Contributing to our world positively
Assisting our clients to be more sustainable

Detailed information on each of these risks, as well as the strategies implemented to mitigate risk are actively managed using the GHD Risk Register. Status is reported to Executive and Board Risk Committee monthly.

Managing our operations

The Executive General Manager - Risk is responsible for the design, implementation and continuous improvement of the risk management framework. This accountability extends to the development of the GHD risk management culture and the capability of managers and staff to identify, understand and treat risk. Delivering this accountability, the General Manager monitors and reports on the GHD risk profile in addition to providing independent assurance on the effectiveness of key risk management and internal controls in the business to the CEO, Executive Management Group, the Board and its Risk Committee.

In addition, the Board Risk Committee hold annual strategy discussions with the Executive General Manager - Risk to align the continuous improvement plans for the framework with the expectations of the Board.

All decision making within GHD should involve explicit consideration of risk to the degree appropriate to the criticality of the decisions being made. The Risk Management Framework provides a structured and consistent approach to risk management across all business activities that aligns strategy, systems and people in order to deliver on GHD's strategic objectives.

Quality Management

GHD’s Quality Management System was first certified to ISO 9001 in February 1993. Since that time it has evolved and improved as GHD has grown and expanded.

Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA), has been part of GHD’s journey since the beginning and provides independent auditing of GHD’s Quality Management System. GHD’s maturity in quality management is illustrated by award of a three year certification cycle.

GHD gained ISO9001 re-certification during 19/20 and continued to place significant effort in creating an enterprise-wide Quality Management framework. These foundations will guide the delivery of improvements in our electronic project management system - iConnect.

Health and Safety

We embed the key objectives of GHD's HSE strategic Plan into every aspect of our operations. This enables us to promote the delivery of our cultural objective: ‘Safe You, Safe Me,-Safe GHD’.

Our focus on lead indicators, communications and cultural aspects of recent years continues to bare results in incident frequency rates for GHD. A signifcant reduction in Total Incident Frequency Rate (TRIFR - 200,000 multiplier) from 0.21 in 18/19 to 0.05 in FY19/20 can be reported.

These results are primariliy attributed to continuing to focus on understanding the human factors directly impacting behaviours and also building on critical risk analysis in our operations. Re-alignment of organisational structures to improve ownership and leadership and simplification of systems to facilitate higher levels of employee engagement have equally played a role in this success.

The last quarter of FY19/20 was heavily dominated and influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and GHD's crisis management and business continuity efforts were tested on a daily basis. Our HSE team globally have played an amazing part providing strategic and hands-ons support, guiding and assisting the business in this repsect.

Our efforts to simplify and improve effectiveness of our HSE project management activities, including training, has rewarded us with significant improvemnt in incident rates.

Safety Performance

3.62
15/16
5.92
16/17
5.21
17/18
5.91
18/19
5.1
19/20

Positive Interactions by FTE

0.18
15/16
0.23
16/17
0.24
17/18
0.21
18/19
0.05
19/20

Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR)

(TRIR) per 200,000 hours worked

Why do we measure Positive Interactions?

Traditionally, predictions about a workplace's ongoing health and safety performance have been made based on past track records (e.g. incidents). Current research suggests that more effective predictions can be made by focusing on the active steps a workplace takes to prevent future incidents.

Referred to as "lead indicators," these active steps towards incident prevention include any action, behaviour, or process undertaken by a workplace to actively improve health and safety.

Industry and policy stakeholders around the world are increasingly using lead indicators to formally predict future workplace health and safety performance, and consequently reduce workplace injury rates.

GHD is ahead of the curve in this respect, having been recording and monitoring lead indicator performance for many years.

GHD’s combined individual “lead indicator” activities (e.g. project reviews, inspections, behavioural observations) are called “Positive Interactions”. We encourage our 10,000+ people to undertake three Positive Interactions per year and achievement against this target is measured monthly. The rate illustrated in the diagram (5.91) is the average per FTE achieved during the reporting period.

Integrity Management

GHD regards good corporate governance as a critical element in our business practices and culture. GHD is committed to ethical business behaviour. This includes both internal conduct, and our engagement with clients, and the community.

We have an established Integrity Management System. At its core are Integrity Management Policy and Integrity Management Guidelines. The pivotal element of our approach to integrity is a zero tolerance towards unethical or unacceptable business conduct.

GHD’s Integrity Management Guidelines establish our behavioural expectations and conduct requirements. As part of this commitment, we comply with the laws of the countries in which we operate, and promote ethical business and personal behaviour consistent with our core values of Teamwork, Respect and Integrity.

Our Child Protection Statement applies to our people, vendors and volunteers engaged within the GHD group of companies on international development assistance projects and its implementation facilities. It reaffirms our commitment not to use – directly or indirectly – forced labour or child labour.

During FY 19/20 we undertook review and updated our Whistleblower Policy and Gifts and Entertainment protocols and associated Limits of Authority. At the same time refreshing our existing Gift and Entertianment Register, into an electronic medium within our BWise governance, review and compliance platform. These updates provided the opportunity for the GHD Compliance Officer to deliver refresher training for all Executive and Board members.

GHD's headline initative of Global Integrity Day was celebrated, with a theme of "Accuracy in Record Keeping", and we also undertook annual review of the measures undertaken to comply with jurisdictional privacy legislation around the world, whic led to the development of a Data Breach Response Plan and associated desktop scenario gaming events.

Human Rights Statement

At GHD, we are guided and sustained by our core values of Safety, Teamwork, Respect and Integrity, a set of core principles that serve as a moral compass for how we conduct business and a common value set that the fundamental rights and dignity of all people must be respected. As mandated by GHD’s Board in our Sustainability Policy, we are committed to respecting human rights in our own operations and complying with the laws of the countries in which we do business.

Human Rights Statement

Through our Professional Services we believe we have an opportunity to positively impact the protection of human rights within our sphere of influence. To this end, we encourage and support our clients and other business partners in their efforts to act in accordance with internationally recognized human rights standards.

In delivering our services, we:

expect our people and suppliers to comply with this statement, in the context and spirit of GHD’s values and Code of Conduct
respect and support human rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ten principles of the UN Global Compact
comply with applicable legislation that supports human rights wherever we operate. Where our statement goes further than local laws, we will operate to our statement. If our statement conflicts with local law, we will follow local law while trying as far as possible to act in accordance with the spirit of our statement.
do not tolerate bribery and corruption in any form. Bribes, pay-offs, facilitation payments, secret, unjustified or inflated commissions, kickbacks and any like payments are strictly prohibited.
are committed to providing a fair, safe and healthy working environment for our people that is free from unlawful discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimization.
do not tolerate or support the use of child labour, forced or compulsory labour in our operations, as further articulated in our Child Protection Policy and Modern Day Slavery Statement
respect and support the right of people to establish, join or not join trade unions or other associations, and we recognize any local rights to collective bargaining.
are committed to being an inclusive employer, promoting and valuing diversity within our workforce, among our customers, suppliers and in the communities in which we operate.
respect our people’s privacy and protect their personal information.
care about the way our suppliers do business and we will work with them to continuously improve. Our Supplier Code of Conduct outlines our expectations of working with GHD.

Our people are encouraged to assist GHD sustain this commitment by reporting any behaviour which is inconsistent with this statement, via the GHD Integrity Management Reporting System.

We will report on our performance in GHD’s annual sustainability report and UN Global Compact Communication on Progress.

Our Business

GHD is a professional services company, privately owned by our people, providing engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services in global markets to private and public sector clients.

We have a diverse range of clients operating in the global markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. We provide engineering, architecture, environmental, construction and advisory services to private and public sector clients.

Through our professional services we believe we have an opportunity to positively impact the protection of human rights and eradication of Modern Day Slavery within our sphere of influence. To this end, we encourage and support our clients and other business partners in their efforts to act in accordance with internationally recognized human rights and Modern Day Slavery standards.

GHD will:

comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
comply with all relevant local and national laws and regulations with regard to Modern Day Slavery, employment practices, benefits, health and safety and anti-discrimination. Where national law and international standards differ, we expect them to follow the higher standard.
not use any form of child, forced, bonded or prison labour.
respect workers’ rights, in particular the right to form or join trade unions and to safe and healthy working conditions

While it is the duty of governments to protect the rights of their citizens, we recognize that businesses also have a critical role to play. As a global company, GHD is committed to respecting human rights in our own operations and complying with the laws of the countries in which we do business.

Our governance framework

We are committed to excellence in corporate governance, transparency and accountability. This is essential for the long-term performance and sustainability of our company and to protect and enhance the interests of our shareholders and other stakeholders.

Risk management and due diligence

We are a diversified, international business with a large workforce and, where appropriate, a vendor base that assists in delivering projects on behalf of our clients. Our commitment to identifying and eradicating Modern Day Slavery from our supply chains applies to all GHD locations worldwide.

We recognize that due diligence is a continuous process and we have policies and processes in place in furtherance of this commitment.

GHD has identified that Modern Day Slavery has the potential to exist:

In Our Operations
We expect each GHD employee to act lawfully toward other employees, colleagues, business partners and those in local communities as outlined in our Code of Conduct and other related enterprise-wide policies. All new and current employees are required to complete GHD’s training related to Integrity Management and People policies relating to Human Rights issues and undertake refresher at pre-determined intervals. Employees with roles and responsibilities relevant to aspects of Modern Day Slavery in our operations or in the supply base receive general awareness training on human rights and Modern Day Slavery.
In our Supply Chain
We expect our business partners, including vendors, to share our commitment to respect human rights and Modern Day Slavery. All vendors must comply with our Supplier Code of Conduct, which establishes our expectations around business practices. We also establishing processes to assess and monitor compliance of our vendors with labour, employment and business ethics provisions of the Standards.
In the Community
As an employer and a corporate citizen, we are aware of our role in the communities in which we operate. Our belief in respecting human rights and eradicating Modern Day Slavery in our global and local communities is embodied in our Core Values.

We respect the rights of local communities and those that live and work in them, consistent with international standards. We continuously monitor and address the environmental impacts of our business operations and strive to create positive impacts on adjacent communities through local engagement and charitable programs, facilitated through our GHD in the Community program.

General Rights and Obligations

Fair Employment Practices
GHD employment will act in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including those concerning hours, compensation, opportunity, and working conditions. For more information, see our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy.
In our Supply Chain
We expect our business partners, including vendors, to share our commitment to respect human rights and Modern Day Slavery. All vendors must comply with our Supplier Code of Conduct, which establishes our expectations around business practices. We also establishing processes to assess and monitor compliance of our vendors with labour, employment and business ethics provisions of the Standards.
In the Community
As an employer and a corporate citizen, we are aware of our role in the communities in which we operate. Our belief in respecting human rights and eradicating Modern Day Slavery in our global and local communities is embodied in our Core Values.

We respect the rights of local communities and those that live and work in them, consistent with international standards. We continuously monitor and address the environmental impacts of our business operations and strive to create positive impacts on adjacent communities through local engagement and charitable programs, facilitated through our GHD in the Community program.

Governance and Oversight

This commitment illustrates the measures that GHD implements, with the aim of eradicating Modern Day Slavery from its operations and supply chains. Practical support is provided by our internal systems and processes to promote and monitor compliance.

We understand we are at the beginning of our Human Rights and Modern Day Slavery journey and we will be reviewing this commitment every two years to ensure it is effective.

See GHD’s Annual Modern Day Slavery Statement

Information Security

GHD maintains information security management systems certified to ISO 27001. Our approach provides a solid governance and a foundation for our continuous efforts to improve the security of the information entrusted to us. To serve our clients who do not use ISO 27001, we have also certified a special environment to NIST 800-53, Revision 4. Our goals over the next few years see us actively aligning and certifying with other information security standards in the regions in which we operate, and further embedding information security into GHD’s culture. This includes effort embedding our Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans, training and processes.

Crisis Management

Our emergency response and crisis management processes were tested through a number of major events around the world, including fires, earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. We continue to test our response capability to potential business impacting crises through structured case studies to ensure our business continuity during adverse events.

GHD identifies the credible pathways for emergency or crisis events that may detrimentally affect our business. Crisis Management and Emergency Response Teams are trained and rehearse scenarios on regular basis.

During 19/20, like all business around the world, GHD's crisis management and business continuity capabiities were tested by the COVID-19 pandemic. GHD activated its crisis management protocols including an enterprise Crisis Management Team and Emergency Response Teams in each country, coordinating delivery of strategic decisions. We reviewed and updated our infection control protocols, created an app enabled electronic boarding pass (for contact tracting purposes) and developed a range of communication and support material (included within a new COVID-19 Intranet page) to guide the business through the once in a lifetime event.