Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

Lasted updated: 13/10/2021

Our Approach

We’re committed to providing a positive working environment, working with the most suitable suppliers, contributing to local communities, and responsibly managing our impact on the environment, which is why we’ve developed a Corporate Social Responsibility Policy for Orca.

We recognise and understand that our business operations and process may contribute to social, economic, and environmental issues outside of the workplace. Our policy ensures that all our activities positively affect society as a whole, and whilst some are legislative, our service-driven approach ensures we strive to do the best we possibly can, and it’s no different when it comes to CSR.

In addition to having this policy, the management team will review this annually to ensure our commitments remain up-to-date and as progressive as possible.

Employees

Our employees are vital to the operation of our business, and we pride ourselves on looking after them to the best of our abilities to ensure a safe, diverse, inclusive and supportive work environment. Our open and honest approach is key to this process and is why we’re committed to:

  • adhering to Equal Opportunities as per the Human Rights Act 2010 and the Modern Workplace Slavery Act 2015
  • our Health and Safety policy that’s reviewed alongside refresher training annually
  • running our Wellbeing Program, which encourages all employees to complete various courses to aid their wellbeing and access to Mental Health Advocates
  • actively encourage employees to undertake further training and personal development, and where possible, funded by us
  • encourage and motivate everyone equally to achieve their potential
  • undertake personal development led annual appraisals and regular check-ins to review progress
  • treat all employees with respect, equality and fairness, and expect our team to treat each other in the same way at all times
  • sharing regular business updates with our team
  • celebrate key employee anniversaries

Suppliers

We understand that we also have a responsibility to select our partners and suppliers carefully and ensure their values in respect of Corporate and Social Responsibility are appropriate. Therefore, we review all of our suppliers to ensure they meet or exceed our expected standards wherever they can.

Communities

We appreciate that we form a part of our local community and wider-reaching communities across the UK. As a result, we’ve benefited from the support of our local communities, infrastructure and education. Therefore, we’ve got a continuing responsibility to give back to the community wherever we may be able to, which is why we’re committed to:

  • supporting local and national charities wherever we can
  • regularly looking for opportunities to give back to our community in any way we can

Environment

Never has there been more focus on the planet. We understand we’ve got a vital part to play in our global challenge to minimise our impact on the environment, as only together as one community can we make a change.
As with many businesses, our significant natural resource usage includes power, water, travel and consumables such as paper and IT/Technology equipment. We recognise our impact on the environment comes from:

  • travel by air, road and rail to visit clients and conduct meetings
  • electricity to heat, cool and power office equipment
  • gas for heating
  • water in offices used for a variety of purposes
  • resources such as paper, batteries and other high-impact items
  • waste including paper, plastic and consumable IT equipment

Wherever possible, we’re committed to minimising our business impact on the environment, which is why we’ll:

  • avoid unnecessary travel the business undertakes by using video conferencing and new technologies wherever possible to aid communication and reduce our travel footprint
  • continually evaluate our current and future energy usage to see where we can become more energy efficient by reducing usage and investing in low energy systems, and overall to decrease our carbon footprint
  • use the most environmentally friendly mode of transport, wherever travel is unavoidable.
  • reduce our usage of paper resources in favour of electronic communication as much as possible to aim for a paper-free culture
  • consider environmental criteria when choosing our suppliers.
  • reduce our impact on the environment wherever possible, and ask that our staff, suppliers and clients do likewise
  • recycle as much of our waste as possible, including forest products, plastics, tins, glass and electrical equipment

The Future

Our Directors will review our CSR policy annually and liaise with our employees to regularly assess and improve the strategy. In addition, we’ll continually challenge ourselves with further stretching commitments where possible.