Taken from the Annual Report 2006
This is the Group's fifth Corporate Social Responsibility Report, the first was in the Report and Accounts for 2002.
Although no corporate social responsibility report was published for the years prior to 2002, the Group has always taken a caring and considerate approach to social, environmental and ethical matters throughout its operations worldwide and this has continued, and will continue, into the future. The Group regards compliance with all relevant laws and guidelines as important and socially responsible. The Group's website is compliant with Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which covers access to goods and services. For full details refer to the Accessibility Statement on the website (http://www.vitecgroup.com/accessibility.aspx). It is planned to continue the development and promotion throughout the Group of its social responsibility and the inclusion of an environmental report in the future.
The heads of each of the Group's operations are responsible at local level for complying with the relevant environmental regulations in all the geographical areas in which they operate. As part of the Group's system of internal control and risk management process, reporting to the Board takes place through the Group's Chief Executive who has ultimate responsibility for such matters.
Overall the Group continues to believe that it has limited environmental impact. However, we recognise that we continue to have a responsibility to understand the impact that our activities have at local, national and global level. These have been monitored and assessed locally and solutions have been implemented as appropriate according to best practice, local legal and other requirements. Over the last few years we have developed and implemented a more consistent approach to adopt sound policies throughout all our operations. As part of this implementation programme we continue to put in place more systems and procedures for identifying, measuring, reviewing and reporting on social, environmental and ethical matters. Group policies are in place in the key areas of employment, environment, human rights, community impact and involvement and relationships with suppliers, customers and other stakeholders. These policies have been implemented at the centre and within each operating entity. Specific responsibility for such matters has been assigned to designated employees. Reviews by local management take place at each Group location and reports are made of the major risks in these areas. These reports identify risks, the current measures being taken to control them and the steps being taken to eradicate or minimise their effect in the future. The compilation of statistics commenced in 2002 and they are being used for reporting purposes and to monitor improvements.
