People
Safe and inclusive
Working safely
The wellbeing of our customers, our workforce and our communities remains paramount. We take a proactive and progressive approach to our health and safety strategy and objectives.
Employee training days delivered in 2022
Over 700 trainees and apprentices in 2022
Our health, safety and environment (HS&E) approach
- Following a comprehensive review of its strategy the HS&E department is continuing to roll out a set of fully digitalised HS&E standards.
- We have launched our improved Environmental Management System (EMS), which provides a comprehensive set of environmental standards. The EMS has been supplemented by a full programme of training. All sites going forward will receive an enhanced specific periodic environmental inspection.
- Once all our new systems have been fully embedded across the business, our processes will be externally verified in line with the relevant International Organisation for Standardisations (ISO).
- In 2022 we have recognised good HS&E performance through our internal ‘HS&E Excellence Awards’.
- The Group will be implementing a digitalised site induction process via a new internally developed and bespoke App to ensure site personnel and our supply chain workforce are given a consistent induction in relation to HS&E risks.
- We are partnering with the British Safety Council and leading UK charity ‘Mates in Mind’ to develop and implement a wellbeing strategy to ensure that all our workforce feel supported.
Training
Investment in training is a key element of mitigating the Group’s health and safety risk. All members of our workforce, including our subcontractors, undergo extensive training to safeguard the wellbeing of everyone that comes onto our sites, into our manufacturing facilities or into our offices.
Inspections
Under the direction of our senior management team, the HS&E Department perform regular inspections of the Group’s operating activities. The results of these inspections are provided to relevant management and have been used to identify both areas for improvement and areas of best practice that can be shared across the business. In 2022, the HS&E department undertook 6,231 pro-active site inspections.
Work related injuries
During 2022, the number of construction work related injuries in our housebuilding operations we reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Reporting of Incidents, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) was 29 (2021: 32). Injuries per one thousand workers, which includes injuries sustained by our contract workforce, has decreased to 3.6 per one thousand workers (2021: 4.0). The level of build per injury, including contractor injuries, was 265 legal completions per injury which was broadly in line with 2021 (2021: 296).
Our Group Annual Incidence Injury Rate (AIIR) for 2022 was 1.8 per 1,000 workers (2021: 2.5), lower than the ‘Home Builder’ average AIIR (2.3). In our manufacturing operations, we reported 3 RIDDORs in 2022 (2021: 2).
Building Safety
We are one of only ten companies to have been awarded a Certificate of Commitment and Progress as the first stage to achieving Building a Safer Future Champion status. Dame Judith Hackitt has publicly applauded those who have achieved this award as an example to drive cultural change for the right reasons rather than waiting for regulators to drive the change.
The foundation for a diverse workforce
Early 2022 saw the conclusion of an external Diversity & Inclusion Review across the Group, leading to the establishment of our D&I strategy. To support the implementation of this strategy we have commenced a programme of diversity training that, following presentation to the Board and the Senior Executive Team, is being delivered throughout the Group.
To further support the introduction of the strategy, we have established a Diversity & Inclusion Working Group, consisting of colleagues with diverse backgrounds from across the organisation. Rather than just a ‘talking shop’, the Group has received training on their role and each member has responsibility for a work-stream aligned to the strategy. They are working actively with their wider colleagues in the Company, in conjunction with the Director of Talent and Diversity and the Diversity & Inclusion Council, which comprises senior leaders and is responsible for ensuring implementation of the strategy.
The Company also recognises a selection of events in the D&I calendar and amongst others during the year, marked International Women’s Day, Pride and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
In March 2021, the Group set some stretching diversity targets with the specific objective of increasing the representation of women across the Group by the end of 2025. After two years, our progress against these targets is as follows:
- The percentage of females in the senior management team is currently 34%, against a target of 35%.
- Of all our management roles in the Company, the female percentage is 32%, against a target of 45%.
- The percentage of female employees in the Group is 27%, against a target of 40%.
The Group has made good progress in increasing diversity at senior levels and the overall proportion of women in management roles is increasing. The proportion of females employed in the Group as a whole, has only moved very slowly and reflects the fact that site based roles for skilled tradespeople, operatives and labourers, are still favoured by men, despite Company and national initiatives to promote site skill-based roles and apprenticeships to women.
An additional measure of progress is the percentage of salaried employees who are women, which includes site management and currently stands at 39%, comparing favourably to our proposal that by the end of 2025 this will be 45%. To help with further progress against these targets, the Group will be establishing a Women’s Network during 2023, which will be launched by the Group Chief Executive at a conference, with the objective of determining the appropriate strategies to promote positive experiences for women who are, or are considering, working for Persimmon at any level across the Group.
Targets
Open
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We will create a safe and inclusive culture focused on the wellbeing of our customers, communities and workforce. Recruiting and retaining the right people means we deliver our strategic objectives and provide excellent customer service. It is a priority that our processes meet stringent standards. This significantly reduces risk and meets customer expectations for quality and value.
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SDG alignment
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| Material issue | Target | How we will achieve it | Progress | Update and next steps |
| Build quality and safety | Report on Independent Quality Controller Review metrics and target to improve our % score year-on-year. |
Implemented and monitored through Group Construction policies and procedures. |  |
23 out of 31 operating companies remained within the Group’s best practice range of 85%. All operating companies achieved over 81% |
| Report on the results of independent quality audit against The Persimmon Way with target to improve % year-on-year. |  |
Completion of external audit of each operating company by summer 2022. | ||
| Health and safety | Report on Annual Injury Incidence Rate and reduce the rate year-on-year. | Implementation of key health and safety processes delivered and monitored through Group Health, Safety and Environment teams |
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2021: 2.5 per 1,000 workers (2020: 1.7 per 1,000 workers). (2020 was an unrepresentative year because of COVID. 2019 figure was 2.8 per 1,000 workers. Average industry rate is 2.6 per 1,000 workers). |
| Aim to achieve third party certification/auditing to ISO 45001/18001 or similar. | To be reviewed and implemented through Group Health, Safety and Environment department. | |
Health & safety, and environmental management systems are under development. | |
| Annually report on KPIs following our site inspection regime with a target to improve year-on-year. | Implementation of key health and safety processes. | |
All members of our workforce, including our subcontractors, undergo extensive training to safeguard the wellbeing of everyone that comes onto our sites, into our manufacturing facilities or into our offices. | |
| High risk suppliers by trade to be encouraged to utilise Supply Chain Sustainability School’s Modern Slavery training. | Engagement with supply chain and Supply Chain Sustainability School. | |
A number of initiatives, such as membership with the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), have been implemented in 2021 to further build on existing controls in this area. | |
| Talent attraction, development, diversity and engagement | By the end of 2025, aim for 40% of Persimmon employees to be female. | • Investment in diversity training and initiatives across the Group. • Programmes to ensure effective development of talent. • Development of enhanced policies and procedures to support women in the workplace. |
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• Appointed a new Director of Talent and Diversity in May 2021. • A Group wide Talent Review is currently ongoing to provide a robust succession plan, which will ensure we can identify and nurture our talent by providing the appropriate support. • External diversity and inclusion review undertaken to provide insights from across the business and support development of an action plan. • ‘Target 50 challenge’ – to recruit 50 female apprentices or technical trainees into construction-related roles across the business. |
| By the end of 2025, aim for 35% of Persimmon’s Executive Committee and direct reports to be female. | |
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| By the end of 2025, aim for 45% of Persimmon employees in management roles to be female. | |
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| To become a Living Wage Foundation accredited employer. | Working with the Living Wage Foundation to ensure everyone who works on site or in our offices is paid a rate based on real life living costs. |  |
All employees and subcontractors included. | |
| Deliver a tailored training programme to every direct employee via the Persimmon Pathway. | Programme developed through Group Training delivered through a combination of class-based and online learning. | |
Rolled out a Persimmon Site Manager Essentials course and c.90% of our site managers have gained an NVQ (2020 21%). | |
| Work with the Social Mobility Pledge to implement a number of recommendations from their independent social mobility assessment of Persimmon. | Independent review to be carried out in 2021 identifying key opportunities for Persimmon to further improve social mobility. | |
Since signing the Social Mobility Pledge, Persimmon has continued to engage with its aims and objectives, particularly in the areas of social mobility and sustainability and we are pleased to be recognised as the lead for the homebuilding sector in ‘The Purpose Coalition’. | |
| By 2021, 150 Persimmon employees to be trained mental health first aiders. | Continue to increase the number of trained colleagues throughout the Group. | |
Persimmon now have 193 mental health first aiders across the business. | |
| Continue to monitor and improve employee engagement through Persimmon’s employee engagement survey. | • Launched employee engagement survey in 2020. • Annual employee engagement surveys to be performed, with 2021 already underway. |
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• Achieved an engagement score of 78% in 2021. • Included sustainability related questions in 2022 survey. |
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| Establish sustainability specific introduction training for all new employees of Persimmon Homes & internal sustainability training module. | Liaise with the training department to create a sustainability training module to be taken by all new and current employees of Persimmon Homes. |  |
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