Indicators and certification
The Colas policy on certification clearly illustrates the compromise between the Group's aim for coherence and a desire to respect the autonomy of subsidiaries: - Quality: the aim is for all businesses to be certified (ISO 9001 for instance).
- Environment: all materials production businesses must be certified (ISO 14001 for instance), but the certification of contracting activities is left to the discretion of the subsidiaries: it is only very occasionally possible to carry out an environmental analysis, which is generally part of the duties and responsibilities of site owners.
- Safety: Colas' very strong and long-standing commitment to safety predates the current proliferation of certification standards. It has therefore been decided to leave certification to the initiative of the subsidiaries, considering that the current method, which is based on inspiring indicators and exchanges of experience, continues to achieve significant progress.
- Integrated triple certification: because of its varying positions on Quality, Environment and Safety certification, Colas does not systematically impose triple certification, although some subsidiaries have taken a pioneering stance in this area.
The indicators endeavor to reply to the following four criteria - the result being a compromise between these demands, because they can rarely all be satisfied at once:
- Authenticity: indicators must relate to key issues for the Group's businesses and areas where it is feasible to take action
- Simplicity: it must be possible to calculate them easily in all the Group's units, whether in France or in international locations
- Reliability: they must be measurable with greater accuracy than the annual range of values
- Group-wide relevance: they must be applicable to several Group businesses
The following list of indicators is not yet complete, and will be added to in the coming months:
