CSR Report 2018

IMPACT ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES CSR 2018 – BOSKALIS 28

MANAGING SOCIAL IMPACT When located in close proximity to local communities, our project activities can have a social impact. In many cases the potential social impact is limited, but in some cases the impact can be potentially significant – either positively or negatively. In most cases, our sustainability approach is guided by an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and, in all cases, is in line with our General Code of Business Conduct (see page 50). To help us apply these guidelines in projects we developed our Social Impact Program. The program increases internal awareness of social issues and provides a structured approach to manage project level social impact: for example, through social risk evaluation early in the project lifecycle. Although our influence on infrastructure investment decisions is limited, we believe responsible social management can be a catalyst for a mutually

beneficial collaboration with our clients, local communities and other stakeholders. Our program will continue to develop and be further integrated into our Way of Working quality management system over the coming years. But, we are already seeing positive results and feedback from clients. Social risks potentially associated with our activities are mainly temporary and include disturbances for marine traffic, including fishermen and access to fishing grounds, onshore disturbance as a result of logistics and transportation and supply chain workforce welfare. The Social Impact Program integrates an assessment of social risks with a project-specific risk management or risk mitigation strategy. In this way, potential risks are managed right from the outset.