PROTECTING OUR PEOPLE AND MINIMISING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON THE PLACES WE WORK

Environment

‘Summit 2026’ is Esh Construction’s long-term sustainability strategy, helping us to communicate and promote our stainability priorities to our clients, supply chain, staff and communities.

Our ambition is to be regarded as one of the leading sustainable construction firms in the UK, recognised for our environmentally minded culture, embracing the principles of the circular economy and helping our clients and supply chain partners reduce their environmental impact.

All of our operations are certified to the ISO14001 environmental management system standard, this combined with the proactive actions taken through Summit 2026 ensures that we carry out our duty to protect the environment, on our sites and in our offices.

Summit 2026 focuses on 4 key environmental areas to help drive progress towards our overall objective of sustainable construction.

LOWERING CARBON EMISSIONS

Carbon emissions are the single biggest contributor to the Construction Industry’s environmental footprint. We are contributing to the industry wide effort to reduce carbon in order to protect the world for generations to come.

Euro 6 Fleet

We made a significant investment in our clean vehicle fleet. 90% of Esh owned vehicles are ‘Euro 6’ compliant – vehicles which limit the harmful exhaust emissions produced by petrol or diesel engines.

Vehicle Tracking & Driver Training

We operate Masternaut which gives us full fleet visibility. Effective vehicle management helps save fuel by preventing detours, idling and highlighting fuel-wasting driving behaviours in turn reducing carbon emissions.

Energy Efficient Workplaces

We connect to the National Gird (cleaner source of energy) where possible and use ‘ECO Smart’ site welfare facilities which reduce energy demand on site. We have also installed solar photovoltaic panels and a real time utility monitoring system at our Durham HQ and service yard which drive further carbon savings.

REDUCING WASTE

We recognise our construction activities produce a lot of waste material and employ a structured approach to handling waste through the ISO 14,001 framework. Careful management continues to help us reduce the environmental impact of our waste.

Re-Use

We ‘design in’ the reuse of materials on site; saving money, diverting material from landfill and reducing unnecessary vehicle movement. We have our own waste processing facility which collects inert materials from our construction sites, which, once checked and regraded, are used on other Esh sites or sold back to the industry.

Re-Purpose

Through partnerships with voluntary organisations such as ‘Community Wood Recycling’ we repurpose waste timber helping to create jobs, training and volunteering opportunities for disadvantaged people while protecting the environment.

Segregate

Over 90% of our skip waste is recycled and is not transported to landfill, this provides savings by lowering taxes and disposal costs. Where possible we segregate plastics, wood, plasterboard, glass, aggregates and packaging.

SAVING WATER

Reducing water consumption on our sites and in our offices reduces costs, chemical use and energy used in the pumping of water helping to protect the environment and reduce carbon emissions.

Water Reduction in the Workplace

We specify site accommodation and welfare facilities with water saving measures and have invested in Northumbrian Water’s Pipeline Solutions AMR system - a new system for reading and monitoring utility meters helping to cut bills and reduce unnecessary water consumption in our offices.

Water Monitoring

All offices are fitter with smart meters. Knowing how much we use helps us to identify areas of potential savings, quickly address leaks, and save this precious resource. We monitor your bills closely on an ongoing basis to identify changes to patterns of water consumption.

Sediment Management

We design in measures to control water runoff, sediment and reduce erosion ultimately reducing the environmental impact of our schemes. Our sediment management plans include minimising disturbance where possible, phasing construction activity, protecting storm inlets, using sediment traps and ditched and slope protection.

PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

We work near water courses in environmentally sensitive areas and sites of special scientific interest (SSIs). We are aware our duty to protect the natural world and go above and beyond to and minimise disruption and prevent lasting damage.

Ecological Watching Brief

On many schemes we employ an ecologist to guide our operatives and oversee processes under an ‘ecological watching brief’. The ecologist prepares relevant site documentation in advance of the works, delivers toolbox talks to operatives and provides instant ecological advice that complies with current wildlife legislation.

Near Miss Reporting

We report environmental ‘near misses’ - unplanned events that did not result in damage or disruption – but had the potential to do so. We have a reporting culture where operatives are encouraged to report these close calls, helping us to prevent future incidents.

Spill Kits & Training

Every site with an environmental risk has a spill response plan helping us to prevent accidents from becoming disasters. We stock the the appropriate spill response equipment and provide industry recognised training and PPE to our workforce.

Health and Safety

Our number one priority is the safety of our workforce, supply-chain and the communities in which we work. We strive for zero harm and are proud of our safety record – our performance exceeds the industry average.

Everyone Safely Home (ESH) is our integrated Health & Safety campaign which encompasses our policies, procedures, targets and goals for Health, Safety and Wellbeing across the Group ensuring we not only meet our legal and moral obligations, but we strive to exceed these standards.

We believe Health & Safety is everyone’s responsibility – regardless of job role – we encourage everyone to take personal responsibility for their actions and to help others. Strong visible leadership is key, with board members and directors attending our sites and offices regularly.

All of our operations are ISO 45001 certified ensuring we deliver occupational management best practice, alongside ISO 14001 (environmental management) and ISO 9001 (quality management) standards.

1.5m Hours Worked

1,800 Site Inspections

1,231 Realistic Accident Scenarios Ran

Our ESH ‘Everyone Safely Home’ Campaign

Mental Health

We are doing our part to affect change in the UK construction industry by working with our employees, subcontractors and supply chain to remove the stigma of mental health, raise awareness of symptoms and remedies and provide the best quality support to those in need.

We have partnered with Mental Health First Aiders England to train ‘Mental Health First Aiders.’

To date 1-in-20 members of Esh staff are trained Mental Health First Aiders. We offer ‘Mental Health First Aid’ support though discreet 1-to-1 sessions and hold regular meetings with our HR and divisional directors to discuss how we can imporve our support.

We include Mental Health toolbox talks in our day to day site operations and have call cards and promote the use of the Construction Industry Helpline App.

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