About DC

Our Occupational Workplace Health & Safety Policy

The David Charles Group continually aims to preserve the best possible work conditions for our employees. Every employee has a right to feel safe at work. Our company is committed to follow legal standards and create a hazard-free workplace and an environment that our employees and customers look forward to coming to.

Our Occupational / Workplace Health and Safety Policy help us preserve the best possible work conditions for our employees.

Scope

This Occupational / Workplace Health and Safety Policy applies to all prospective and current employees of the company as well as volunteers, contractors and consultants.

Policy elements

There are two aspects to consider when establishing an Occupational / Workplace Health and Safety Program: Preventative Action and Emergency Management.

Preventative action

Preventative action is any action we take to avoid injuries or illness related to workplace conditions.

We’ll conduct periodical risk assessments and job hazard analysis to discover what is likely to harm employees. We’ll establish preventative measures accordingly.

Potential threats and dangerous situations include but are not limited to:

Performing tasks on heights, scaffolds, ladders and other unsteady structures

Chemical substances (toxic, flammable etc.)

Operating dangerous equipment

Slippery or uneven surfaces

Electrical infrastructure

Noise/temperature

Quality of air

We’ll take the following preventative measures:

When employees work in dangerous contexts or locations, we’ll make sure there are safety precautions like safety nets and ropes.

We’ll provide personal protective equipment like gloves, protective uniforms, goggles etc. Using safety equipment is obligatory.

Assigned quality control employees will inspect equipment and infrastructure regularly

We’ll hold employee training sessions in health & safety standards and procedures.

All highly dangerous job tasks require at least two employees to be present

Employees who do repairs or cleaning need to put up caution signs

We have prohibited smoking indoors

Also, we’ll enforce a substance abuse policy to protect employees from colleagues’ misconduct.

Emergency Management

Emergency management refers to our plan to deal with sudden catastrophes like fire, flood, earthquake or explosion.  These depend on human error or natural forces.

Our emergency management involves the following provisions:

Functional smoke alarms and sprinklers that are regularly inspected by [maintenance supervisor]

Technicians (external or internal) available to repair leakages, damages and blackouts quickly

Fire extinguishers and other fire protection equipment that are easily accessible

An evacuation plan posted on the walls of each floor and online

Fire escapes and safety exits that are clearly indicated and safe

Fully stocked first-aid kits at convenient locations

We’ll also schedule fire drills and emergency evacuations periodically. We will monitor performance of health and safety procedures and will revise them to ensure higher level of protection.

Additional measures

Our company will also keep abreast of changes and try to promote health & safety actively. We will:

Update our policy according to changes in occupational health and safety legislation.

Use incentive actions for health & safety (e.g. presenting safe employee awards.)

Analise past incidents to discover what went wrong.

Establish clear procedures for accident reporting.

Revise work procedures to make them safer.

Disciplinary Consequences

Every team leader is responsible for implementing this health and safety policy. Employees should follow health and safety instructions and will be held accountable when they don’t. We’ll take disciplinary action that may extend to termination when employees consistently disregard health and safety rules.

It’s everyone’s responsibility to contribute to a healthy and safe workplace.

Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The David Charles Group prides itself on our commit to our people, our product and the planet we share.  This policy outlines our efforts to give back to the world as it gives to us.

Policy brief & purpose

Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) company policy refers to our responsibility toward our environment. Our company’s existence is not lonely. It’s part of a bigger system of people, values, other organisations and nature. The social responsibility of a business is to give back to the world just as it gives to us and we strive to our part not just within David Charles but work with our suppliers and clients to do the same,

Scope

This policy applies to David Charles and its subsidiaries. It may also refer to suppliers and partners.

Policy elements

We want to be a responsible business that meets the highest standards of ethics and professionalism.

Our company’s social responsibility falls under two categories: compliance and proactiveness. Compliance refers to our company’s commitment to legality and willingness to observe community values. Proactiveness is every initiative to promote human rights, help communities and protect our natural environment.

Compliance

Legality

David Charles will:

• Respect the law
• Honour its internal policies
• Ensure that all its business operations are legitimate
• Keep every partnership and collaboration open and transparent

Business ethics

We’ll always conduct business with integrity and respect to human rights. We’ll promote:

• Safety and fair dealing
• Respect toward the consumer & suppliers
• Anti-bribery and anti-corruption practices

Examples of Corporate Social Responsibility

Protecting the environment

David Charles recognises the need to protect the natural environment. Keeping our environment clean and unpolluted is a benefit to all. We’ll always follow best practices when disposing garbage and using chemical substances. Stewardship will also play an important role.

Protecting people

We’ll ensure that we:

• Don’t risk the health and safety of our employees and community.
• Avoid harming the lives of local and indigenous people.
• Support diversity and inclusion.

Human rights

David Charles is dedicated to protecting human rights. We are a committed equal opportunity employer and will abide by all fair labour practices. We’ll ensure that our activities do not directly or indirectly violate human rights in any country (e.g. forced labour).

Proactiveness

Donations and aid

David Charles preserves a budget to make monetary donations. These donations will aim to:

• Advance the art, education and community events
• Alleviate those in need.

Volunteering

David Charles will encourage its employees to volunteer. They can volunteer through programs organized internally or externally. David Charles may sponsor volunteering events from other organisations.

Preserving the environment

Apart from legal obligations, David Charles will proactively protect the environment.

Examples of relevant activities include:

• Recycling – our packaging is collected by a licensed recycling company weekly
• Conserving energy – were possible we use natural sunlight & solar heating
• Organizing reforestation excursions
• Using environmentally friendly technologies (client SKYPE calls and video conferencing) 

Supporting the community

David Charles may initiate and support community investment and educational programs. For example, it may begin partnerships with vendors for constructing or cleaning public sport areas.  We can provide support to non-profit organisations or movements to promote cultural and economic development of global and local communities.

Learning

We will actively invest in R&D. We will be open to suggestions and listen carefully to ideas. David Charles will try to continuously improve the way it operates.

David Charles is committed to the clean water, removal of single use plastics and carbon emissions. We’ll readily act to promote our identity as a socially aware and responsible business. Our team must communicate this policy on all levels. Our managers are also responsible for resolving any CSR issues and discussing at weekly meetings.

Environmental Policy

The David Charles group recognises that it has a responsibility to our planet and our local environment, and we go beyond legal and regulatory requirements. We are committed to reducing our environmental impact and continually improving our environmental performance as an integral part of our business strategy and operating methods, with regular review points. We will encourage customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to do the same.

Responsibility

At David Charles we are all responsible for ensuring that the environmental policy is implemented. However, our team takes personal responsibility in their area to ensure that the aims and objectives of the policy are met.

Policy aims

We endeavour to:

Comply with and exceed all relevant regulatory requirements.

Continually improve and monitor environmental performance.

Continually improve and reduce environmental impacts.

Incorporate environmental factors into business decisions.

Increase employee awareness and training.

With Paper & Cardboard

We will minimise the use of paper in the office.

We will reduce packaging as much as possible.

We will seek to buy recycled and recyclable paper products.

We will reuse and recycle all paper where possible.

Energy and water

We will seek to reduce the amount of energy used as much as possible.

Lights and electrical equipment will be switched off when not in use.

Heating will be adjusted with energy consumption in mind.

The energy consumption and efficiency of new products will be taken into account when purchasing.

Office supplies

We will evaluate if the need can be met in another way.

We will evaluate if renting/sharing is an option before purchasing equipment.

We will evaluate the environmental impact of any new products we intend to purchase.

We will favour more environmentally friendly and efficient products wherever possible.

We will reuse and recycle everything we are able to.

Transportation

We will reduce the need to travel, restricting to necessity trips only.

We will promote the use of travel alternatives such as e-mail or video/phone conferencing.

We will make additional efforts to accommodate the needs of those using public transport or bicycles.

We will favour ‘green’ vehicles and maintain them rigorously to ensure ongoing efficiency.

Maintenance and cleaning

Cleaning materials used will be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Materials used in office refurbishment will be as environmentally friendly as possible.

We will only use licensed and appropriate organisations to dispose of waste.

Monitoring and improvement

We will comply with and exceed all relevant regulatory requirements.

We will continually improve and monitor environmental performance.

We will continually improve and reduce environmental impacts.

We will incorporate environmental factors into business decisions.

We will increase employee awareness through training.

We will review this policy and any related business issues at our monthly management meetings.

Culture

We will involve staff in the implementation of this policy, for greater commitment and improved performance.

We will update this policy at least once annually in consultation with staff and other stakeholders where necessary.

We will provide staff with relevant environmental training.

We will work with suppliers, contractors and sub-contractors to improve their environmental performance.

We will use local labour and materials where available to reduce CO2 and help the community.