UK Construction faces Harsh Headlines: Supply Chain News

“Slavery in UK Construction” is the last headline UK construction giants were hoping to see in the past weeks.

Non-compliant actors in UK’s construction sector have ignored compliance laws, laid out, in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act. It is estimated that there is 11,000-13,000 victims of modern slavery working within UK’s construction industry today, still.

Diving into the problem head on, the risk posed by exhibiting unfairly treated work conditions, including compensation for work, isn’t just troubling to conscientious stakeholders and consumers, but society at large.

Exploitation has been determined to be present at two levels of these global supply chains.

1. Workforce conditions and worker rights.

2. Sourcing and purchasing of materials, disregarding sustainably, social responsibility and traceability.

Both of these issues are concerning to the functionality of the global market place, and corporate social responsibility expectations. UK’s government has attempted to step in to some of these supply chains to enforce practicing of supplier compliance with industry standards at all levels of their supply chains.

Organizations exhibiting aggregate annual turnover of £36million, or more, are expected to submit a SHT (Slavery and Human Trafficking) Statement yearly. Of the estimated 12,000 companies matching this profile, only about 10 % have published the statement properly for the public.

These kinds of discrepancies in compliance from major business, to meet governmental standards, are unacceptable in the current global marketplace.

Strong compliance and governance should be a value instilled at the bottom-line of all supply chains globally. Creating transparency and traceability of supplier’s day-to-day activities in the production of goods and services is no longer a luxury; it’s the norm.

Strong supplier relationships aided by compliance and governance, in line with international standards, is what customers deserve. Managing and nurturing supplier relationships from the start begins a trend of sustainable and socially responsible business practices, which can avoid these sorts of future headlines.

Supplier Relationship Management can help the construction industry build a new standard of sustainability!

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