40 years and we're still 'Green'
“We need to be greener, save money and make sure - above all - that we maintain a duty of care to our employees and thus ensure our corporate responsibility remains strong and intact…..how do we do it?” was the opening statement of Keith Midgley, Chairman of local company Consultant Services Group Ltd at the most recent Board meeting.
The company is well aware of the environmental impact of its 100 strong fleet of vehicles as a result of the 1,000,000 miles per year covered. In these times of environmental awareness and unstable fuel prices CSG are again being proactive by implementing policies that not only help the environment, but also reduce costs, whilst still maintaining a duty of care to its employees.
The first initiative was to fit trackers to operational vehicles. These trackers help make sure employees are receiving the correct amount of rest required by law and as a by product of this, implementation of more economic routes have been found by better utilisation of computerised mapping - this in itself has shown considerable fuel savings.
The second initiative is for all vans in the fleet to be fitted with speed limiters. This is as a result of the company’s continued policy of lessening its environmental impact – spear-headed in this instance by Simon Midgley commissioning an independent report into making the fleet “greener”. The report suggested that the fitting of limiters would benefit the company three fold:
Firstly, a significant decrease in CO2 levels can be gained by just a small reduction in mph and with the size of the current fleet this would mean tons less CO2 emitted per year.
Secondly, this would obviously reduce fuel costs which again is a significant proportion of the company’s yearly spend - bearing in mind an onsite 50,000 litre tank is continually filled throughout the year – therefore a projected one less tank full per year would be a significant saving.
Thirdly, statistics show that accidents can be reduced by lower speeds - subsequently lower speeds mean less stressed drivers - which equates to more alert and potentially safer drivers on our already busy roads. CSG sees this as an important part of its role as a responsible employer and shows its commitment to its investors in people status.
“We see corporate responsibility as part and parcel of our duty of care to all employees and fundamental to our family values as a company. If implementing new policies helps ensure our employees’ welfare then this can only be a good thing. As long as we are in business CSG will continue to invest in these long term environmental projects and if necessary commission the help of outside organisations who have the skills to help.” stated Simon Midgley Chief Executive Officer.
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