Non-financial targets and sustainability
For more than 60 years Peab has contributed to sustainable social development and worked to improve everyday life for people in the local community. We do this by building everything from homes, schools and hospitals to bridges, roads and other infrastructure. Working sustainably is a strategic matter for Peab that always takes place locally, connected to everyday life based on our core values, business concept, mission, strategic targets and Code of Conduct.
We monitor our business based on nine external targets – both financial and non-financial targets – that also identify our prioritized sustainable aspects (Best workplace and Leader in social responsibility). We monitor our targets quarterly, semiannually or annually. In connection with the year-end report we present the outcome of all nine targets.
Most satisfied customers
It is imperative for a long-term, sustainable relationship that Peab deliver on its obligations. A satisfied customer is a customer that comes back and is fundamental to us. This is why our annual customer survey is a measure of how well we are meeting our customers’ expectations while also indicating where there is room for improvement. Our latest Satisfied Customer Index (SCI), carried out in 2021, added up to 81 (80), which is a continued good result and higher than our target of 75. Customers’ perception of Peab as priceworthy has developed in a particularly positive direction and regarding our business areas Project Development is notable for its strong development. At the beginning of 2022 we received yet another accolade in Prognoscentret’s customer survey which showed Peab Bostad had the most satisfied homebuyers in Sweden. Peab Bostad particularly raised its ranking in the areas personnel and reliability. At the same time it was announced that our project Hamnutsikten (View of the Harbor) had the most satisfied customers of any single project in Sweden in 2021. See a picture of Hamnutsikten in the Project Development section.
The next target update will be provided after the fourth quarter in connection with the presentation of the year-end report 2022.
Best workplace
Serious accidents
A safe work environment is the foundation of our business. Everyone at our workplaces should be able to be there under safe and secure conditions, despite the fact that there are risks involved in the work we do. In order to prevent incidents and accidents at our workplaces we develop quality-ensured work methods and train our employees. Our focus is on planning and risk assessment in projects as well as learning from reported risk observations, incidents and accidents. Peab employs a high portion of our own skilled workers compared to other actors in the construction and civil engineering industry, in addition to our many subcontractors. At the end of March 2022 Peab had 15,077 employees, of which 8,064 were skilled workers.
Our target of a contracting trend of serious accidents* comprises both our own employees and everyone at our workplaces. After a downward trend in 2021 the number of serious accidents at our workplaces increased in the first quarter and amounted to 13. Calculated for a rolling twelve month period the number was 34 per March 31, 2022 (32 per March 31, 2021). Of these, 14 referred to our own employees and 20 referred to subcontractors. It’s regrettable that the trend turned and it shows how important it is to continuously work on our safety culture so as not to loose focus on the risks in our work.
We also monitor the number of workplace accidents with more than four days absence, excluding the day of injury (LTI4), and workplace accidents according to the same definition per one million hours worked (LTIF4) for our own employees. In the first quarter of the year the number amounted to 42 (53 fourth quarter 2021) and the LTIF4 frequency rate for a rolling twelve month period was 6.8 (6.3 after the fourth quarter 2021).
Every remedied risk is one less potential accident, which is why we are highly focused on reporting and remedying risk observations*. During the first quarter 2022 the organization reported 14,200 risk observations.
During 2022 we will continue to strive for a contracting trend in serious accidents and incidents, above all by thorough investigations and taking measures to keep similar accidents from happening again.
* For a definition see section Alternative performance measures and definitions.
Attractive employers (eNPS)
We will be the obvious choice for anyone who wants to work in the industry. Everyone will be part of safe and including workplaces with good work conditions and opportunities to develop at Peab. Twice a year we hold our personnel survey The Handshake so that we can continuously develop and improve as co-workers and teams. The questions in The Handshake mainly concern productivity, the team’s sustainability and if employees are willing to recommend Peab as an employer to friends and acquaintances (eNPS). The latter is also one of our nine external targets that we report twice a year.
Participation in the autumn survey of 2021 was 84 percent in the Group, accompanied by many suggestions for improvement. This shows the great interest our employees have in contributing to developing their teams and our business.
Within the strategic target Best workplace the eNPS (recommend Peab) value should be above the benchmark for the industry (industry and manufacturing). The eNPS value for the Group rose in the autumn survey by five points compared to the previous evaluation and was 24 compared to 19 in the spring survey. This is clearly above the Nordic benchmark which is 15 compared to 10 in the previous evaluation. The increase is primarily in Swedish operations while the value in Norway dipped slightly from a high level. The eNPS value rose particularly for female employees but was also slightly higher for skilled workers. The next target update will be provided after the second quarter in connection with the presentation of the half-year report 2022.
Leader in social responsibility
Climate target for carbon dioxide intensity
In recent years Peab’s climate and environmental work has increased in scope and we have honed our targets and metrics. As the Nordic Community Builder we have a big responsibility for reducing the considerable climate impact of the construction and civil engineering industry at the rate required by the Paris Agreement.
Peab’s operations primarily cause emissions through production of the material we use, the use of the products we deliver – such as buildings – and the use of fossil fuel in our machines and vehicles. We are working on a number of initiatives to improve the climate that reduce emissions and get us closer to our climate targets. We have an advantage in that we can supply our construction contract businesses and the projects we develop ourselves with input goods and raw material through business area Industry, which augments our ability to aim for lower carbon emissions.
In 2045 Peab will be climate neutral. Our targets by 2030 are to reduce carbon dioxide intensity by at least 60 percent in our own operations (Scope 1 and 2) and for input goods and purchased services (Scope 3) by at least 50 percent compared to base year 2015. The outcome after 2021 reveals that carbon dioxide intensity is developing in the right direction although to different degrees. Carbon dioxide intensity in our own production has gone down by 40 percent compared to base year 2015 and by three percent for input goods and purchased services. This means that we are well on the road to converting the production we ourselves have control over but the greater challenge is when we are dependent on other parties for a reduction in our carbon footprint. It is therefore vital that we continue to make explicit and stringent demands as well as point out choices that are better for the climate in order to reduce emissions. The next target update will be provided after the fourth quarter in connection with the presentation of the year-end report 2022.
Equal opportunity
Only about five percent of those that apply to Peab for relevant, practical training are women. This means that the construction and civil engineering industry has a major role to play in taking advantage of all the competence society has to offer. As one of the largest Nordic community builders we want to challenge ourselves and thereby nudge the entire industry forward. Our target initially is therefore to strive for the percentage of women recruited to Peab for our core skills to always be higher than the percentage of women who have graduated with, for us, relevant degrees on the education markets. We are focused on core skills in production (skilled workers) as well as in production management and production support (white-collar workers). After the end of 2021 the percentage of women in new recruitments was 6.8 percent in production and processing compared to our target of 5.0 percent and 34.9 percent in production management and production support whereas our target was 28.5 percent. Our target for 2022 regarding equal opportunity in production and processing is continuing to surpass 5.0 percent while our target for production management and production support has been raised to surpass 30.0 percent. The next target update will be provided after the fourth quarter in connection with the presentation of the year-end report 2022.
Activities during the first quarter
- As the first construction and civil engineering company in Sweden Peab signed a contract for the purchase of circular and locally produced salt, which contributes to more climate-adapted summer and winter road maintenance on the country’s network of roads. As of autumn 2022 Peab will buy recycled natrium chloride for anti-skid road surfacing in the winter and calcium chloride to bind dust on roads in the summer. The circular salts are extracted through a new method where by-products from waste sent to incineration are converted into salt. By transitioning to circular salt for road maintenance Peab will reduce its carbon emissions by 10,000 tons annually.
- Peab’s subsidiary Swerock launched ECO-Betong, concrete that has a lower climate impact, on the Finnish market. Replacing part of the cement with slag, a by-product from the steel industry, reduces carbon emissions in manufacturing and the extraction of virgin limestone.
- Peab became a member of the network Diversity Charter Sweden which is a non-profit organization that promotes diversity in the workplace. The organization offers opportunities for networking and exchanging experiences for all working actively with diversity and an inclusive approach in their own organization.
- In order to reduce energy consumption and climate impact a new industry standard for energy classification of construction barracks and barrack establishment has been launched.
- The project Platinan Sprout School, in which around 200 high school students in Gothenburg drew up a proposal for how the design of the area Lilla Bommen, was completed. The project was a partnership between Vasakronan, Peab and the City of Gothenburg and comprised a school project and summer jobs that ran parallel with construction of Vasakronan’s office building project Platinan.
- Peab’s Equal Treatment Policy with an action plan for combatting discrimination and victimization was updated for 2022. It now includes a course in equal treatment in the educational package for new employees, and all employees must take the course at specified intervals.
- Peab appointed a head of equality, diversity and inclusion, which is a new position in the Group.
- Peab’s construction project Tallgläntan Block in Västerås was nominated to receive Maintain Zero’s work environment award which spotlights and spreads good examples within the construction and civil engineering industry. The project was nominated for its work on clearly explaining expectations at start meetings and registration, and thereby increasing comprehension of, and engagement in, the work environment and the environment among co-workers in the project.