This voluntary statement has been published in accordance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the Act). It sets out the steps taken by the Operator Skills Hub, to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chains.
The Operator Skills Hub is committed to improving our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking. We recognise that slavery and human trafficking remains a real problem in today’s society and is a material risk to the construction sector.
Our Modern Slavery Policy Statement reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships. We will implement effective systems and controls to mitigate the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in our business and supply chains
This Policy has been reviewed by the board and signed on its behalf by Paul Allman, Director of Flannery.
Organisation Structure and Supply Chain
The Operator Skills Hub is an unincorporated joint venture between:
- Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet Services Limited (company registered number: 02449888) as agent for Balfour Beatty Group Limited (company registered number: 00101073) (“Balfour Beatty”); and
- Flannery Plant Hire (Oval) Limited (company registered number: 01058421) (“Flannery”) collectively (“Operator Skills Hub” or “we”, “us” or “our”).
The organisation’s purpose is to provide a best-in-class training to prepare plant operators and apprentices for the modern-day, digitally-enabled construction site. We are located at a purpose-built facility in Birmingham.
Our people are employed directly by our parent companies, Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet Services Limited and P. Flannery Plant Hire. All our people undergo identity and Right to Work Checks. The recruitment procedure ensures that we comply with all legal requirements.
Additionally, we verify that all employees are paid into an account held in their name, or the name of a next of kin, to mitigate the risk of exploitation.
Due to the scale of our operation, our supply chain is limited. Our key purchase categories are, office supplies and cleaning products, training materials, IT equipment, PPE, training simulators and semi-autonomous vehicles.
Policies in relation to slavery and human trafficking
Formal procedures concerning slavery and human trafficking have been established, including disciplinary procedures when breached. Additional procedures ensure that this policy is understood and communicated to all levels of the company and that it is regularly reviewed by the Directors to ensure its continuing suitability and relevance to the company activities.
Please see the Modern Slavery Policies of our JV parent companies
Flannery Modern Slavery Statement
Balfour Beatty Modern Slavery Statement
Balfour Beatty Modern Slavery and Labour Exploitation Guidance and Requirements for Suppliers
Due diligence
To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and our business, we provide training to relevant employees. All Directors have been briefed on the subject and are aware of the signs of modern slavery. Employees are expected and encouraged to report concerns to management, who are expected to act upon them.
Our Speak Up helpline can be used by employees, supply chain partners, trainee and members of the public to confidentially report any ethical concerns, including modern slavery.
Risk assessment and management
Due to the scale of our operation, we have identified that there is a low risk of modern slavery from our direct employees or trainees. We have identified that the greater risks are in our supply chain, particularly for high-volume, low-cost goods which are manufactured in higher risk countries of origin, such as PPE and office supplies.
We work closely with our parent companies on this matter and use their PPE supplier to ensure that enhanced due diligence checks are conducted. We take a similar approach with the Cleaning supplier we use, as this sector has a higher inherent risk of modern slavery.
Key performance indicators to measure effectiveness of steps being taken
We use the following key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure how effective we have been at mitigating the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in our business or supply chains:
- Audits of key supply chain partners carried out by Directors, Managers, Safety Managers and Safety Advisors every two years.
- Level of communication and personal contact with next link in the supply chain and their understanding of, and compliance with our expectations.
- In 2022 we will increase awareness of the Speak Up helpline by displaying posters about it in communal areas.
Implementation and review
We will communicate, implement, and maintain this policy at all times throughout the organisation.
This policy is effective from the 31st of December 2021 and will be reviewed annually. Overall implementation of this policy lies with Paul Allman (Flannery) and David Walton (Balfour Beatty). Any queries relating to this policy should be directed to Paul Allman in the first instance.