Objective and Scope
Enviros Consulting Ltd has conducted an independent verification of ICI’s 2006 Sustainability Review to provide assurance on the completeness and accuracy of the quantitative and qualitative data and information presented in the review.
Quality Assurance
Enviros has developed a four-point policy for its verification statements.
1. We provide clear information regarding what information has been verified.
2. We ensure we state how the verification has been conducted.
3. We present a clear statement on the materiality, accuracy and completeness of the information presented.
4. We make constructive criticism of the progress and emphasis revealed in the report (and any supporting documentation).
The team performing the verification have the appropriate experience and competency to do so and are not working for ICI in any other capacity.
Responsibilities
The information and presentation of data within the Sustainability Review 2006 and the supporting web-based documents are the responsibility of ICI. This statement is the responsibility of Enviros and represents our independent opinion. We do not accept or assume any responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person. Any reliance that may be placed on the statement by a third party is entirely at its own risk.
Verification Process
The verification was undertaken through a series of interviews with the Business SSHE Managers from the four ICI Businesses, SSHE representatives from sites within each of the businesses, a representative from NSC Bridgwater (community data only) and members of the ICI Group Sustainability team. The purpose of all interviews was to examine the data, information and processes used to assess and report performance against the Sustainability Challenge 2010 objectives.
Opinion
We are confident that the qualitative and quantitative data and information in the report are materially accurate and complete and that together these represent a balanced account of ICI's sustainability performance during 2006. We did find however, that the process for collecting and collating community involvement data is in the early stages of development and could be more robust.
This is the first year that we have been asked to verify qualitative data within the report and we feel this is an important step in providing greater assurance to ICI’s stakeholders.
In the last year, ICI has strengthened its commitment to sustainability through the introduction of ‘The ICI Way’ and has continued to progress against most of its Sustainability Challenge targets. The areas requiring more focus are water use reduction, injury and illness for contractors and development of a procurement code.
The Global SSHE Performance System continues to be developed and this has greatly assisted in delivery of improvements in the consistency and accuracy of data reporting across this diverse business. We were pleased to see that for the one business where environmental data has traditionally been input at business level there has been an increase in the amount of environmental data entered at a site level.
It was also noted that more sites are now populating the system with ‘live’ environmental data - the normal practice for health and safety data - rather than entering data once or twice a year. This suggests improved local ownership of data and nurtures a culture of continuous improvement throughout the business.
ICI have considered the value of providing disaggregated data for each of the ICI businesses but this has not been requested by their stakeholders to date.
The Sustainability Challenge 2010 includes extensions of many of ICI’s earlier targets for its key environmental, health and safety and product stewardship issues. Most noticeable, however, is the greater focus given to ICI’s wider sustainability issues, many of which lie outside its direct control. Issues such as supply chain management and customer projects are becoming mainstream in corporate reporting and will present important challenges to ICI’s businesses.
Recommendations
The Global SSHE Performance System is a powerful data collection tool and could be further enhanced and developed as a vehicle for capturing additional data streams as ICI’s reporting scope expands. The data collection system for community involvement data requires greater rigour, to ensure the robustness of future data.
ICI has already embarked on a programme of stakeholder engagement as evidenced by the forming of its Stakeholder Review Group and its dialogue with customers and suppliers. It will be important for ICI to continue to report on future stakeholder engagement and how ICI are responding to varying stakeholder’s concerns and interests.
Rachell Evans Rachel Pickering
Project Manager Project Director
