The SHP Awards judging panel has selected a winner and two finalists from this year’s Trailblazer in ESG shortlist.
Launched by SHP in 2020, the Trailblazers are health & safety professionals who are going above and beyond to make a positive difference – in some cases within their own organisation, in other cases more widely in the community. This year was the first for Trailblazer in ESG.
Trailblazer awards are brought to you as part of the wider SHP Awards, which, for 2022, is once again in collaboration with Shirley Parsons, global HSEQ talent experts.
The Trailblazer in ESG Award recognises individuals who contributed the most towards environmental, social and governance (ESG) in their organisation.
Stephanie joined Chevron Group as ESG Analyst in the middle of a pandemic, a very difficult time to join a company, on top of this being her first job after graduation. But in that short space of time Stephanie has shown herself to be a Trailblazer in the construction industry.
Stephanie has shown she is passionate about the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) agenda and has quickly grasped complicated issues, for example being instrumental in Chevron publishing its first Sustainability Report.
Stephanie Berwick, Group ESG Strategy Lead at Chevron Group
Following the success of the first year’s report, Stephanie built on that by developing a GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) compliant report for the following year. A key to that was the engagement of stakeholders, from investors and customers to supply chain and employees, which required her to liaise with the Executive Board, and develop a stakeholder engagement plan to ensure all relevant stakeholders were identified and engaged with. From that process, she then developed a business Materiality Assessment, giving the internal and external perspectives on the key sustainability issues facing stakeholders.
Making a difference
Stephanie has been instrumental in the development and raising of the bar in the analysis of Chevron’s ESG data, creating visually, intuitive dashboards in collaboration with the business’ operations teams, that enable decision-making to be based on hard data and facts. For example, in identifying a trend at one depot of an increase in female operatives, she worked with the business to identify the best practice and help share it with the rest of the company, as well as recruitment teams, which led to an increase in female employees by over a third from the baseline year.
Passionate about promoting females in construction Stephanie did a lot of self-learning to become a FIR (Fairness Inclusion and Respect) Ambassador – the construction industry programme to make workplaces better for everyone. A requirement of being an Ambassador is for continual development, as well as attending and promoting the scheme within the industry, and Stephanie recently attended the Supply Chain Sustainability School Summit in Coventry engaging with senior leaders in the industry and other ambassadors.
With Social Value, Stephanie has developed a strategy which delivers on a number of issues such as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Employment Opportunities, supporting local charities, and SMEs, delivering carbon reduction and providing volunteering opportunities as part of our employee offering. She developed and implemented the Social Impact policy, Volunteering policy and Charity Match Funding policy, and has also led the implementation of software that enables the business to quantify its social impact.
Stephanie’s passion for the ESG agenda has helped raise awareness of EDI issues, particularly highlighting the use of language as a barrier to females entering the industry.
She also recognised the growing danger of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and has become a Mental Health First Aider, able to support her team and the wider business.
Her role as ESG Analyst helped her identify the rise in a number of Chevron’s operatives having to intervene with vulnerable people who were considering suicide on the strategic road network.
After receiving an award from our investors with regard to Governance, she was able to choose the charity on which the prize money could be donated to, and subsequently chose Samaritans, the UK Charity dedicated to reducing feelings of isolation and disconnection that can lead to suicide.
Working in partnership with the charity she was also instrumental in the rollout of ‘Making a Suicide Intervention’ training course to Chevron’s operatives, who are many times the first responders in these types of situations.
Taking the lead on ESG
In 2022, her work was rewarded with a promotion to Group ESG Strategy Lead, enabling her to have a direct hand in the setting of the future strategy of the business, but also taking the responsibility of managing an apprentice ESG Analyst.
Since her promotion she has led the development of a number of ESG strategies, the Green Fleet Strategy and Social Value Strategy. The Green Fleet Strategy was a particularly challenging process, as 97% of the business’ carbon emissions come directly from vehicles, and with technology lacking in some areas, had to persuade senior leadership that change was needed now, which was a great achievement. Following that initial presentation, a number of projects are now up and running on transitioning vehicles to greener energy, plus changing operational processes to reduce carbon emissions.
Having made the case and persuaded senior management to make a commitment to setting Science Based Targets (SBTs) for Carbon Reduction, Stephanie is now in the process of developing and having these targets validated by the SBT Initiative. Taking this step of signing up with the SBTs is a big commitment to the business Stephanie’s determination to persuade the executive decision makers to also take it seriously showed excellence and courage.
In addition, Stephanie’s work in the reporting of progress on EDI issues, helped the business achieve the highest score within the EDI reporting for National Highways, which then enabled her to share the learning and good practice with the wider industry in a case study of best practice.
She also sits on a number of industry working groups such as the CECA National Highways Maintenance Task & Finish Group for Achieving Net.Zero, sitting amongst many of the tier one contractors looking at how to deliver carbon efficiencies on the strategic road network in the Midlands.
Stephanie works with Thame Green Living, a local group, where Chevron’s head office is located, on the promotion of environmental projects and more sustainable ways of living, and recently organised a volunteering day for head office staff with the Thame Wombles litter picking group.
Turning issues into opportunities
Commenting on the winner, Shirley Parsons at global HSEQ talent Experts, Shirley Parsons praised Stephanie by saying: “The winners of this year’s Trailblazer Awards all highlight the importance in stepping outside the usual ‘OHS’ box – keeping up with the issues of today and turning these into opportunities to keep people safer and healthier. Stephanie Berwick highlights the importance of ESG, which is increasingly becoming a vital part of every Health & Safety role. Well done to all of the other nominees and finalists – your stories are inspirational and make me so proud to be part of this wonderful profession.”
David Bibby, Senior Director, EMEA Operations at ISN
Since joining ISN in 2013, David’s leadership at the firm has been instrumental in developing ISN’s current suite of tools and offerings that allow companies to formalise and streamline their ESG requirements. Through the continued efforts of ISN’s global teams to further product innovation and industry education, including the EMEA team under David’s leadership, ISN has seen a 237% increase in the number of Hiring Clients outside the US and Canada since 2017.
David was heavily involved with the formulation of ISN’s 2021 ESG White Paper, which provides the industry with valuable insights into contractor perception of ESG practices.
Through emphasizing the importance of HSE and ESG, David is helping companies across the globe meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations.
From speaking at industry conferences and assisting with educational white papers and webinars, to conducting contractor diligence assessments and implementing effective ESG systems for global companies, David’s efforts have spread the message of HSE and ESG best practices throughout the broader industry and ISN’s client base in EMEA and beyond. This ultimately results in enabling organisations to meet their ESG goals and supporting efforts that improve sustainability and promote safer workplaces in society at large.
Nikki Polden, Waste and Sustainability Manager at Spire Healthcare
At Spire Healthcare, Nikki has developed an excellent working relationship with the different hospitals and warehouse sites throughout the Spire Group focusing on reducing the carbon footprint of the organisation and working towards Spire’s carbon neutral 2030 target. This has involved a number of waste management initiatives across the hospitals around management of contaminated and offensive waste.
Nikki has developed waste leads and carbon champions at hospital sites to take ownership of waste initiatives such as the introduction of offensive waste streams and dry mixed recycling. She’s introduced a polystyrene recycling initiative for the work environment and at home and is currently sourcing an initiative for the reduction of waste used within the theatre environment such as disposable coated tray wraps and privacy curtains.
In addition, Nikki has created an in-house educational programme which has trained over 250 new hires in waste segregation and 500 staff in spills management in the first 2 quarters of 2020, ensuring that staff are trained on waste segregation and the management of chemical spills within the hospital environment, for staff to be well-versed in the crucial actions to be taken in the event of a spill.
Nikki led the introduction of a Biosharps Systems to allow for the re-use of sharps containers, therefore reducing the number rigid plastic containers that would previously have been incinerated which is demonstrated in the first 6 months of 2022 where Spire has saved 136,000kgs of CO2 which is the equivalent of 465 trees being planted, 50 cars off the road and 82 houses being powered.
