Ethics
Our business is built around fairness, openness and honesty. We have a zero tolerance stance towards bribery and corruption, our focus is on integrity. We provide clear guidance on what we expect of every staff member though a core set of communications. These help our employees understand our approach to ethics and how we comply with laws, regulations and company procedures that apply to our activities. We are committed to integrity and ethical business practices as we continue to earn our clients’ trust by delivering outstanding customer service and acting ethically in all that we do. To this end our objectives are to:
Comply with all laws applicable to our business activities.
Ensure that business activities are conducted in an ethical manner.
Maintain and protect the Company reputation with our Clients, suppliers, contractors, employees and all other parties with whom the Company has dealings or who may be affected by our activities.
Act within the codes of conduct and ethics of the pertinent professional institutions that we are members of.
We are committed to having a positive impact on the people around us, treating all team members with dignity and respect, prioritizing their well-being and ensuring that their voices are heard in key business discussions.
In the marketplace, we focus on fair and ethical operating practices, sustainable supply chains and forging strong, enduring business relationships.
We adopt and promote sustainable practices, and influence those of our clients, suppliers and contractors, while always working to eliminate any practices that may negatively affect the public interest.
We are committed to the communities in which we work, and to sharing our expertise for the benefit of the local, national and international communities.
Early education is a cause that we are particularly dedicated to, as we fervently believe in the importance of ‘broadening horizons’ for all children, and our teams are currently working with and supporting a number of charities around the world.
Anti Slavery Policy
We operate a zero-tolerance approach to slavery and human trafficking. We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business.
Sterling Associates anti-slavery policy reflects our promise to act ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships.
When we appoint new contractors or suppliers, we pre-qualify them through a due diligence process. We look at company performance and get references from other customers to establish that they are suitable.
To date, we haven’t been made aware of any human trafficking or slavery activities within the supply chain. However, if any were highlighted to us, we would act immediately in accordance with our legal and moral obligations.
Due diligence process:
• Identify and assess potential risk areas when considering new suppliers.
• Regularly review their existing supply chains.
• Mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in their supply chains.
• Monitor potential risk areas in their supply chains.
Sustainability
Running a business responsibly is key to its long-term sustainability: all decisions we make have consequences for society.
Sustainability helps us ensure that those consequences are positive, adding value for our clients and the communities we work in. Our vision is to be a leading global partner in advancing sustained economic, social and environmental wellbeing.
Our commitment to sustainability goes beyond meeting clients’ requirements and complying with regulations at the local, state, provincial or national levels.
Whether we’re reducing greenhouse gas emissions, developing new ways to conserve water or promoting renewable energy, our commitment to sustainability drives innovation, resiliency, reduces risk and provides attractive project life cycle returns on investment.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY STATEMENT
We recognise that our operations have an effect on the local, regional and global environment and that effective environmental management is critical to future business success.
As a consequence of this, senior management have established key targets for continual improvement in environmental practice and performance.
Furthermore we believe that, with commitment and co-operation, it is possible to conduct our operations in such a way as to minimise our impact on the environment.
To realise these policy objectives Directors and Senior Management are committed to:
Promoting a culture of environmental responsibility and awareness, through effective leadership, communication and training
The provision of adequate resources, including management representatives, to fulfil the Company’s commitment
Complying with all relevant Environmental Legislation and where possible improving on these requirements
Investigating all incidents to identify root causes and prevent recurrence
Conducting regular reviews to monitor performance, producing plans for improvement, and reporting against these plans
Considering, planning and implementing reasonably practicable control measures to minimise identifiable environmental impacts associated with the Company’s operations, including pollution prevention, waste minimisation and fuel, energy and water efficiency.
Child Protection Policy
We believe that:
• Children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
• We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practice in a way that protects them.
We recognise that:
• the welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse
• some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.
We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:
• valuing, listening to and respecting them
• appointing a nominated child protection lead for children and young people, a deputy and a lead trustee/board member for safeguarding
• adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers
• developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures
• providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behavior codes confidently and competently
• recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made
• recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance
• sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children and their families via leaflets, posters, group work and one-to-one discussions
• making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern
• using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately
• using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately
• creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise
• ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place
• ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance
• building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.