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U4L pledges to plant a million trees Bournemouth and Southampton-based energy consultancy U4L has joined the Million Tree Pledge, an initiative where a group of UK businesses have all committed to planting a million trees before 2030. The initiative was born out of the feeling that not enough is being done to stop climate change. By supporting reforestation projects in locations such as Madagascar, Mozambique, and Nicaragua, it will help both reduce carbon in the atmosphere and restore important habitats for people and wildlife. Trees are a fantastic resource for reducing carbon emissions, with a million trees absorbing around 308,000 tonnes of carbon in their lifetime. This equates to the typical yearly emissions of nearly 67,000 cars. U4L specialises in helping businesses switch to clean energy and become more energy
efficient, reducing both their costs and their carbon footprint as a result. The consultancy manages the energy supply for some of Dorset’s most famous hotels and restaurants, as well as care homes, schools, factories, and independent businesses. “We help businesses become greener in their energy use, so we feel it’s important to really practice what we preach and support other climate projects too.” comments Karin Moestam, Brand and Sustainability Manager. “We’re all responsible for the environment in some way, and as businesses we have a real opportunity to make a difference. That’s why we’ve chosen to take the pledge, and we’re encouraging others to join us on this journey. Mitigating climate change is a huge task, but together we can all do something.” www.u4luk.com
Smart Quality Services help Construction businesses to benefit from implementing ISO standards The construction industry is characterised by complex supply chains, formalised procurement processes and a strong focus around health and safety. Implementing ISO management systems have a proven role in helping drive best practice and improved efficiencies, ensuring increased controls over health and safety and sustainability and to stimulating business growth through enabling successful outcomes in tendering. The three key ISO standards which are the most relevant for the sector are: ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environmental) and ISO 45001 (Health and Safety). ISO standards have been implemented widely by Tier 1 and Tier 2 contractors across the Construction sector and are being increasingly driven out across their supply chains. However, for smaller businesses there is generally a lack of understanding around the implementation and certification process, a shortage of internal resources capable and available to undertake the work and at times, a fear of getting tied up in more news online - www.dorsetchamber.co.uk/news
unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy. This is where Smart Quality comes in. We are a specialist ISO consultancy, based in Dorset, which provides a simple, flexible and cost-effective route for helping companies gain and maintain their ISO certification(s). We are also involved with a cloud-based QHSE compliance management platform which replaces traditional paper and spreadsheet-based systems driving improved efficiency in managing ISO and wider compliance activity resulting in proven time and cost-savings across a business. For more information about how Smart Quality can help your construction business, please check out their website at www.smartquality.co.uk
Nearly two months on from ‘Freedom Day’ in July and the effects of restrictions being eased are apparent. Workplaces are busier, facemasks have become less prevalent and the self-isolation rules have changed for the fully vaccinated. For employers, there remains a lot to consider in the wake of ‘Freedom Day’. “The relaxation in covid restrictions means that responsibility for keeping people safe has passed very much back to individuals and businesses.” This naturally comes with its own problems as employers must balance the need to protect staff and clients/ customers with employee’s other rights. Employers should still give serious consideration to maintaining a certain level of covid-security in the workplace. This is likely to mean reminding staff of the need to observe a degree of social distancing and, in some situations, mask-wearing. At the time of writing, the position on vaccinations remains unchanged and until such time as a case has been decided on actual policies, our advice remains that vaccines should be actively encouraged in most businesses rather than mandated. “Employers will still be at risk of claims relating to insecure workplaces. With that in mind, we would continue to advise routine and ongoing risk assessment in the workplace. At a minimum, this will help mitigate the outcome of any claim.” A reduction in the number of people in the workplace will help to ensure that businesses remain covid-secure, but flexible and hybrid working both require their own consideration. We are holding an online employment event on September 9th for Dorset Chamber members, where my colleague Chris Dobbs and I will be looking at Hybrid Working. We will discuss the benefits, the potential issues and the policies that employers need to consider. Booking information can be found on the events page on the chamber website, through this URL: www.dorsetchamber. co.uk/events/ Contact Information: Phone: 01202 499255 Email: pburton@frettens.co.uk www.frettens.co.uk
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