Sustainable Business

At Cardinal Group we understand that to be a sustainable business, we must adapt our operations to succeed in an increasingly resource constrained and rapidly changing world. This means that sustainability must exist at the core of our decision making process and not on the periphery.

Cardinal’s approach to sustainability is driven by these principles and our desire to play a key role in the delivery of our customers’ sustainability plans. In practice, this means being aware of the need to reduce our reliance on scarce resources and fossil fuels; operating in a way which does not impact negatively on the communities within which we operate; trading in an ethical and responsible way; being efficient in our use of resources; being a responsible employer and ensuring that we comply with all regulatory requirements across the organisation.

To develop our Sustainable Business strategy we decided to engage closely with our customers, colleagues and suppliers. During this process we learnt a great deal and this led us to focus our strategy on both our environmental impacts and our corporate responsibility:-

 

Environment

  • Climate Change and Carbon – we focus on energy use and transport choices which are our main impacts.
  • Natural Resources – we take a leadership position in FSC accreditation, manage our water usage carefully and, where possible, use only water based paints . We are expanding and developing our lean manufacturing expertise to deliver more resource efficient ways of working. We call this CLEAN.
  • Waste –We work to eliminate as much waste as possible in the production process and re-use and recycle extensively.
  • Supply Chain – By understanding our own material impacts, we are able to identify which of those impacts can be materially addressed within our supply chain and implement procurement policies and supplier engagement to improve performance.

 

Corporate Responsibility

  • We work extremely hard to ensure that our supply chain conforms to the highest ethical trading standards whether in the UK or across the globe, and to evidence this we are a SEDEX registered organisation.
  • We actively work to support our local community via investment in sport and support to local charitable organisations. We particularly focus upon economically disadvantaged areas.
  • Cardinal Group is proud of our culture and outstanding track record in promoting a safe and healthy work place.

Our approach to sustainability is supported at the highest level of the business and is reviewed on a regular basis by a Sustainable Business committee. The committee is assembled from a diverse range of our colleagues and business leaders to ensure that we continually improve. The committee reflects our core principles of Innovation, Efficiency and Respect and continually engages with customers, colleagues and supply chains to drive direction and deliver results. The committee is now working to develop further measurable impact reductions and our regular Blogs will keep you up to date with progress!

 

Ethical Trading Policy Statement

At Cardinal we believe strongly in ethical principles and good stewardship. We are therefore proud to guarantee that we trade according to the following Ethical Trading Criteria:

  • All employment is freely chosen
  • Working conditions are safe and hygienic.
  • Child labour is not used.
  • Wages are fair and comparable to industry standard and will always exceed the minimum wage.
  • Deductions from wages as a disciplinary measure shall not be permitted.
  • Working hours are not excessive.
  • No discrimination is practised.
  • Regular employment is provided for those who are employed on a permanent contract.
  • No harsh, cruel or degrading treatment or practices are allowed.
  • No bribery, corruption, blackmailing or bullying is permitted.
  • Third Party Suppliers and buyers are both free to sell and buy from any number of other
  • businesses. No restrictions, as a way of guaranteeing business, are allowed.

We also ask all our suppliers to affirm in writing to us that their businesses are also built on these ethical criteria. We have developed a full policy statement outlining how we expect our practice to develop in order to be able to offer strong guarantees to our customers that the services they receive from us have been ethically designed, managed and implemented.

 

Health and Safety Policy Statement

It is the Company’s objective to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work, of its employees,
contractors, visitors and members of the public, so far as is reasonably practicable by:

  • Seeking to provide and maintain for every employee systems of work, equipment and working conditions which are safe and without risk to health.
  • Carrying out detailed risk assessment of all hazards associated with work carried out and developing and implementing control measures appropriate to the degree of risk.
  • Providing appropriate information, instruction, training and supervision for new and existing employees to enable them to cope with the specific health and safety aspects and responsibilities associated with their job and place of work.
  • Providing to contractors and visitors, information on hazards that might affect their health and safety.
  • Providing adequate facilities and arrangements for employees’ welfare at work.
  • Conducting operations in such a way as to avoid endangering the health and safety of the general public.
  • Ensuring the collection of up to date information on the toxicity and potential hazards of all substances used by the Company. This information will be available to those with a legitimate need for it.
  • Limiting exposure to, and where necessary monitoring the use of substances hazardous to health as an ongoing priority. Particular care will be taken with the introduction of new substances and the risk will be assessed as required.
  • Endeavouring to identify any risks to health of habitual VDU users.
  • Supplying products, which are safe when properly used for their intended purpose.
  • Developing, implementing and reviewing policies, procedures and standards to achieve safe working conditions which avoid risk to health and taking all other steps necessary to fulfil its statutory duties.

The Company believes that real progress in this field can only be achieved by a continuing commitment
to optimise health and safety standards in the day to day conduct of the business.
The Company recognises that the promotion of health and safety at work is an essential function of good
management.
Health and safety at work is of the highest priority, therefore the management will lead initiatives to
improve operating procedures and safe working practices. Every employee is expected to participate
actively in improvements which support a safe, healthy working environment.
Every person has a legal duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of fellow
employees. Compliance with Company standards and procedures will ensure that appropriate safe
methods of working are employed and that individuals are fulfilling their statutory duties