Occupational, Public and Process Safety and Occupational Health
Our ability to operate safely is very important to us, our employees, our contractors, our customers, the public and our regulators. Our financial performance can also be affected by our performance in this area.
We believe that all work-related injuries and illnesses are preventable. We are committed to integrating safety and occupational health considerations into our business decisions to help ensure the safety of our workforce and the public.
Our Vision for Safety and Occupational Health and Vision for Process Safety set out our commitments in this area.
Climate Change
As we move to a low carbon economy, there will be significant change in the gas and electricity markets and, in particular, the infrastructure requirements. We have a vital role to play in helping society deliver these requirements but also have an individual contribution to make.
Our Climate Change Policy Brief sets out what we are doing in this area.
Environmental Management
We are committed to a year-by-year improvement in our environmental performance. Our Environmental Policy sets out the key areas we are addressing, and we continue to implement environmental management systems certified to the International Standard ISO 14001 to help us deliver improvements in these areas.
Our Environmental Policy can be found in the policies section.
Contaminated Land
We manage an inherited portfolio of historically contaminated land including former manufactured gas plants, industrial landfills, former gas holders and older substations on our transmission and distribution networks. Sites can sometimes have a complex mix of contamination dating back over 100 years.
More detail on our clean-up programme in the UK can be found on the National Grid Property website
Electric and Magnetic Fields
Electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) can be generated from a wide variety of sources, including our distribution and transmission power lines and wireless infrastructure.
National Grid recognises that there is some scientific evidence suggesting certain adverse health effects are linked to EMFs. We take these issues very seriously and continually assess the scientific evidence in this area, determine any implications for the way in which we conduct our business and explain to society what the science is telling us.
Our public position statement on EMF sets out our commitments in this area and can be found in the policies section.
Talent and Skills
Identifying, recruiting and developing talented people is critical to our future success. We aim to support all our employees so that they can operate to the best of their abilities by creating an environment that allows them to realise their full potential.
To succeed, we need to engage our employees to strive for continued improvement. For that purpose our aim is to implement a world-class performance management process.
Find out more about employement opportunities at National Grid in the careers section of our website.
Inclusion and Diversity
In order to develop, recruit and retain talented people, we aim to achieve a more inclusive and diverse workforce, reflecting the composition of the communities in which we operate, and to be seen as an employer of choice across diverse communities.
We aim to ensure that our employees, regardless of race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, political opinion, nationality, social origin and status, indigenous status, disability, age or other status unrelated to the ability to perform work, have the opportunity to develop to their full potential.
Find out more about our performance in this area in the reporting our performance section.
Business Ethics and Compliance
We have set out the ethical standards we expect each employee to meet while conducting business in our Standards of Ethical Business Conduct .
Copies of the Standards can be found in the Publications and Speeches section.
Society rightly expects companies to comply with the law as a minimum. We believe that our legal record and our willingness in many cases to go beyond the minimum is a positive attribute as we look to secure further opportunities to grow our business.
Our Company-wide policies set out our approach in relevant areas.
Human Rights
Long-term growth and respect for the rights of individuals go hand in hand. We are committed to the protection of human rights within our sphere of influence and to ensuring that our own operations are a force for good wherever we operate in the world.
Our public position statement on human rights sets out our commitments in this area and can be found in the policies section.