We are a growing number of community builders

During the spring of 2020 we had the pleasure of welcoming almost 2,000 new employees into our organization after the acquisition of YIT’s Nordic paving and mineral aggregates operations. Each of our new employees contributes to strengthening our business model with their local presence in all of our many locations throughout the Nordic region. Peab currently has more than 15,000 community builders.

Challenging year for the work environment and health

No other industry has as many workplace injuries as the construction and civil engineering industry. We can never accept that people are injured or get sick because of their job. The work environment and healthy employees is, and will always be, one of our top priorities – which was definitely a challenge in 2020. COVID-19 required quickly establishing new ways of working. In addition to taking measures to stop the spread of the virus the pandemic entailed a significant responsibility for continually assessing the risks and creating action plans for working from home and remote working. Peab even established a specialist team to monitor, assess and manage the spread of the virus at our workplaces in the Group’s four countries based on the recommendations of national authorities.

Parallel to our crisis management as a result of the pandemic we continued with our accident prevention work in which risk observations from employees are one of several important factors. Monitoring this by executive management and requiring reporting on work environment risks is crucial, along with always resolving identified risks before work begins. In 2021 we will continue to strive to achieve our zero accident vision, in part by further developing our safety culture. Our zero vision, just like our systematic work environment work, comprises everyone at our workplaces.

In recent years we have focused on increasing reports on risks, incidents and accidents in order to prevent future events, and to be able to quickly take steps. After the past few years’ downward trend, during the year we noted an increase in the number of serious accidents which were 51 (24) among our own personnel. At the same time accident frequency¹ dropped from 13.4 to 11.7 percent and the vital risk observations continued to increase and amounted to 61,238 for 2020 (39,300). All our employees as well as subcontractors and suppliers are encouraged to report risk observations, incidents and accidents at every level, in all workplaces via support systems or to their closest supervisors. We analyze these patterns, follow-up every event, resolve every reported risk and continue our systematic work environment work to prevent any kind of incident or accident as well as promote health and well-being. Operations continually receive feedback in order to generate continuous learning. All our employees and non-employed at our workplaces have the explicit right to refuse to do a job if it cannot be done safely.

The work environment and healthy employees is, and will always be, one
of our top priorities.

One group of employees particularly vulnerable for risks in their daily work are road workers. One report from the union Seko made this abundantly clear. Lack of consideration, high speeds, threats and violence are examples of what occurs but which no one should have to endure at work. Peab takes this extremely seriously, investing in, among other things, our own traffic engineers in order to take the necessary steps to make our road workplaces safe. We are also involved in a collaboration in the industry for safer roadwork.

In 2020 we carried out another work environment evaluation where employees were given the opportunity to evaluate their work environment in the categories working hours, workload and equal opportunity. The result showed a positive experience of the work environment and generated a work environment index over national comparative figures. Equal opportunity had the highest rating. Nonetheless challenges remain, above all in workloads which is a prioritized area in 2021. Peab’s annual health and work environment focus week was held in August and concerned health and the work environment in order to spotlight these crucial issues, this year in digital form.

¹ Accident frequency is defined as more than 8 hours absence, per million hours worked.

Important steps in achieving equal opportunity

The construction and civil engineering industry continues to face major challenges in reflecting society in terms of gender balance. The problem is already noticeable in the education system which leads to a limited recruitment base for employers. Here we have a role to fill in making a change. The proportion of women in Peab is still way too low, 13.3 percent (13.4). Peab and the industry’s diversity challenge requires further measures, especially regarding female managers and skilled workers.

At Peab the nature, performance and skills level of an employee’s job decide their pay level. In accordance with Swedish law a salary survey is con­ducted every year in Swedish operations to ensure that all salaries are factually based. Peab’s analysis of salaries paid in 2020 detected 16 (24) cases of subjectively set salaries between women and men for comparable professions, skills and positions. These salary differences were corrected.

Crucial to increasing diversity among employees is ensuring equal opportunity and inclusion. Peab works actively on equal opportunity and has taken a number of steps to ensure everyone is included at our workplaces. In 2020 Peab continued the work on education that has reached almost 11,000 employees, now in Norway as well where 200 Norwegian managers and HR specialists were trained in discrimination and work environment law. The aim is to increase knowledge about employers’ legal responsibility, and how to investigate and handle these matters. We are observing more and more effects of the measures we take. Development discussions with our employees show that Peab’s handling of victimization has improved and that employees are less afraid to report infringements.

The educational measures we have taken are an important factor as is Peab’s Ethical Council which ensures that reports of victimization and discrimination are investigated by impartial expertise. In 2020 1,052 (1,586) employees were educated in diversity and equal opportunity. The proactive measures for equal opportunity will continue in 2021.

Inclusive construction through partnership

Peab has a number of ongoing initiatives to integrate newly arrived immigrants into the labor force and match more of them with our skills needs. A great example of this from 2020 is Inclusive Construction, where in a partnership between Peab, Alingsås Municipality and Alingsåshem newly arrived students were able to take a course in Swedish and construction that included internships at Peab’s workplaces. At the same time Peab School instructors taught the receiving workplaces about integration and diversity.

Digital shift for leadership and learning

In challenging times good leadership is crucial for the future of an organization and its employees’ well-being. Peab offers unique leadership programs on several levels suited to different roles. During the year 460 managers were able to develop within the framework of these programs and some other individuals took advantage of the available coaching and mentorship. As a result of the pandemic Peab has produced virtual courses and tools designed to help management lead remotely.

The crisis that marked 2020 also created opportunities for development. Peab had already begun producing digitalized competence development aimed at making flexible learning available to more people. The pandemic sped up the process and by the second half of the year there was a broad range of virtual courses on the Group digital competence platform. Today, no matter where they are or what their role is, employees can easily meet for virtual education.

More and more want to work at Peab

Peab strives continually to attract new employees and in 2020 Peab was declared by Universum to be one of the companies students found most attractive. Working together with the education system is a prioritized area and Peab continually tries to develop this through everything from internships and research projects to lectures, mentorship and tutorial help with master theses. A proper introduction to both our business and their role in it is essential for our new employees to get a good start. During the year we held a number of digital employee introductions and launched a digital introduction program for managers.

Today, no matter where they are or what their role is, employees can easily
meet for virtual education. 

Continued commitment to Finnish construction course

Peab’s Finnish operations are deeply committed to contributing to modern vocational education. For several years now Peab has participated in Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki by contributing to the composition of the education and by leaders from Peab lecturing on the demands made on managers in the construction industry. In 2020 Peab also recruited our own construction teacher who will assist in the national education of young skilled workers by, among other things, teaching about dampness in buildings.

Youths develop through the Peab School and Peab Life

Research has shown that there are huge social gaps when it comes to the opportunities Nordic youths have to participate in leisure activities, the education they dream of or entering the labor force. Our social responsibility in the local community is aimed at providing as many youths as possible with access to education and development.

Fifteenth year of the Peab School

The Peab School, Peab’s three independent upper secondary schools, concluded its fourteenth school year and in June 68 (76) students graduated. In 2020 there were about 220 (230) students in the construction and civil engineering program and 65 (50) in the introduction program for vocational training. This means that so far 1,336 youths have received their upper secondary education through us. The Peab School has been spotlighted for its quality and has once again flawlessly passed inspection by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate.

Social responsibility in the local community via Peab Life

During 2020 we further developed the concept Peab Life where we combine sponsorship of local organizations with engagement from our 15,000 employees and our substantial expertise in youths, education and community building². By making it possible for young people to participate in locally produced community building projects we want to build away inequalities and contribute to greater diversity, community and participation amongst Nordic youths. The past year entailed a number of challenges for Peab Life, which is based on meetings, but despite this 17 (40) projects were conducted with 880 young people. The goal is to increase this number in 2021.

² In 2020 Mentorship was discontinued as a disclosure and is now included in Peab Life.