e all have a part to play when it comes to morality; we all know what’s right and what’s wrong and, to lead a more conscientious lifestyle, many of us make subtle purchasing substitutes in our day-to-day life. The majority of our duty takes place outside the office; paying that little bit extra for a bunch of bananas at the local supermarket or considering the cotton pickers behind that out-of-hours lounging t-shirt by opting for Fairtrade choices. So, if we pay so much attention to the items we put on our back and the food we consume, why shouldn’t these ethical judgments follow us back into the office and play a role in the specification process?

Next time you’re out and about – whether it be meandering through crowds on your daily commute or ambling along on your day off – take a moment to stop and look at the very ground you’re walking on. The likelihood of natural stone laying beneath your feet is high; you may take a second further to admire its beauty or even contemplate a similar component for the project you’re currently working on. But amongst your thoughts, have ethical considerations crossed your mind? For many specifiers, ethics may be lost in an overwhelming haze of aesthetics, cost and durability.

However, for Chris Harrop, Group Marketing and Sustainability Director at Marshalls, the moral concerns of modern slavery in the construction supply chain are front of mind. Marshalls’ ethical journey began 13 years ago in 2005 when Chris travelled to India. On his visit, Chris witnessed two young girls of a similar age to his own children sitting amongst a pile of sandstone picking out small chips. Chris’ encounter radically transformed Marshalls’ ethical agenda, and today the company is established in the hard landscaping industry for its dedicated support for human rights within the supply chain.

Construction: playing catch-up

The Marshalls-sponsored event, ‘Changing the Narrative for Ethical Specification in Construction’, brought about some unpleasant home truths for the industry, revealing that, in fact, the sector is “light years behind” others when it comes to the recognition of slavery in its supply chains. For the seven professionals faced by an audience of discerning architects, specifiers and procurers on Thursday 24th May on the first floor of Clerkenwell’s Compton Courtyard, this was a predicament that gravely needed addressing.

Facilitating the event, John Morrison, Chief Executive of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, kicked off the evening’s discussion suggesting panellist Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey offer the audience a brief insight into modern-day slavery. “In many respects...slavery has existed for thousands of years in different civilisations, and I suspect many are familiar with the Transatlantic Slave Trade – which springs to mind,” responded Young. “When I first began exploring the subject, many were under the impression that we abolished slavery years ago,” however, “you can’t abolish something by willing it away through law.”

Proceeding her response, Young went on to explain how slavery is, in fact, still rife within today’s supply chain; and detailed how it’s disguised itself in different modes. “Various forms of enslavement have mutated and transformed into other kinds of ‘creatures’,” she resumed. “There are severe, shocking cases of people sold in chains on the streets of Libya and Thai fishermen who have been thrown overboard when they are unwell due to a lack of ‘productivity’. We have that extremity at one end of the spectrum, and at the other, we have workers who are paid below the minimum wage and working long hours. Overall, the global estimate is that over 40.5 million people are in one form of enslavement or another.

“Slavery is a tremendous problem that’s perpetuated by criminals and terrorism...by and large, it’s a total scourge which we feel needs eliminating. It happens in every country and industry across the world. Some industries are at a higher risk than others, and I would say construction is one such industry.

“Construction is playing catch-up with other sectors concerning awareness,” added Young. She highlighted Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which was characterised as “essential with regards to what we’re discussing this evening.” She continued: “Section 54 requires all companies with a turnover of £36m or more to make a statement outlining what they’re doing to try and eliminate modern forms of slavery from their supply chains. The act comprises six headings which act as guidelines.”

According to Young, the six headings included within Section 54, in fact, aren’t mandatory. She revealed that, astonishingly, many companies ‘believe’ that modern forms of slavery do not take place within their supply chain; therefore, investigatory actions do not take place. “This is something I want to change,” enthused Young. “...We come across many statements that claim ‘we have zero tolerance towards modern slavery’ – ...this is meaningless. What we need is something that outlines exactly what a company is doing. When we receive statements from companies that declare there’s no modern slavery within their supply chain, we’re incredibly sceptical.”

“We come across many statements that declare ‘we have zero tolerance of modern slavery’ – this is meaningless” – Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey, OBE

Material sourcing and value engineering

Moving to his next point, John Morrison addressed Emma Crates, Business Journalist and Author of CIOB’s Modern Slavery Report. “Lola previously mentioned that construction is a sector that has a significant amount of risk,” begins John. “If we take into account the issue of material sourcing, where is the risk?”, he questioned. “The risk is everywhere,” returned Crates. “You’re dealing with hundreds of thousands of components on every project. The risks are at every level.”

With Brexit on the horizon, Crates predicted that material sourcing is only going to get worse: “If you consider that importations account to approximately 30% of all materials in construction; 62% of those will come from EU supply chains. Currently, even if you believe that your procurement is reasonably ethical, wait another couple of years because people will be scrambling as they are suffering from a shortage of materials.”

Recalling a recent conversation she had with Ian Hunter of the Materials Council, Crates revealed that many are more concerned with the durability, cost and aesthetics of a product rather than the sustainability and ethical properties. Placing ethical sourcing within the sustainability agenda, she then unveiled that products’ sustainable credits are often regarded as a “bolt-on” in the industry.

Crates later shone the spotlight on risk within the sector: “There’s no real incentive for companies to talk about risk because if you do talk about it; you’re attracting trouble, but no one’s going to solve slavery that way.”

John Morrison added to Crates’ case, referencing the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh where, in 2013 – due to the building’s structural failure – the eight-storey building collapsed killing 1134 people. He recollected: “...None of the high-street retailers wanted to talk about the working conditions, and...brands were denying that they were sourcing from that factory until people found branded logos in the building’s rubble – that’s literally what it took. There was no incentive for them to know who their suppliers were sub-contracting, and it seems similar in the construction industry – there’s no incentive to know.”

“I think on some level, it’s also overwhelming,” remarked Emma. “Where do you start? There are many materials and products out there. For example, if you look at an MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) product; you’d have to trace the process all the way back to where the metal is mined. Some companies are trying to do this; however, they’re at the very early stages.”

“There’s no real incentive for companies to talk about risk because if you do talk about it; you’re attracting trouble, but no one’s going to solve slavery that way” – Emma Crates, Business Journalist and Author of CIOB Modern Slavery Report

Taking responsibility

Mary Bowman, Partner at Gustafson Porter + Bowman, discussed her knowledge of ethical sourcing. “My experience of ethical sourcing is through Marshalls, and we’re currently working on a project in Stratford’s International Quarter for which we specified Indian sandstone. We went out to the quarry and met the independent assessors who were looking at ethical practices and how the stone was being quarried. What I found interesting through talking to them was that the workers don’t mind working long hours and weekends, which you may think isn’t good practice; however, the workers wanted to get home to their families for the festival days. You have to assess how to work within the culture.

“We do specify stone and, unfortunately, it’s one of those industries where child labour is prevalent, and quarriers often work in inhospitable conditions. If you’re sourcing from Europe and a product has a CE Mark, there’s a guarantee, but if you’re sourcing from China, Brazil or India, for example, you’re not entirely sure what the practice is.”

Reflecting on the comments made, Bowman suggested a solution to decreasing the prospect of modern slavery in the supply chain. She noted: “I think a policy is one way we can change things. The people that have the power are the planners. If you’re specifying a product, you have to provide samples to show the planners and get your project signed off. If there were a requirement to expose the stone’s origin and whether it was ethically sourced, that would certainly change things.”

“If you’re specifying a product, you have to provide samples to show the planners and get your project signed off. If there were a requirement to expose the stone’s origin and whether it was ethically sourced, that would certainly change things.” – Mary Bowman, Partner at Gustafson Porter + Bowman

Working hand-in-hand

Elaine Mitchel-Hill, Business & Human Rights Lead at Marshalls plc, explained how the company is leading the way in ethical sourcing. “We stepped into this process initially through child labour,” she revealed. “We then began to look at the wider ethical picture, and that led us to UN Global Compact. Of course, what we do has to be for the right reasons; however, there also needs to be a commercial advantage. Perhaps we’ll reach a point when there won’t necessarily be a commercial advantage because everyone is doing it, and I do think we might be entering a phase where, hopefully, there will be a commercial advantage for companies to do the right thing.”

Elaine moved on to discuss Marshalls’ ethical framework, Ethical Risk Index (ERI). Marshalls’ ERI offers its customers greater transparency of the brand’s collections. Allowing for informed decision-making in an easy-to-understand format, the ERI states the ethical credentials of each stone and is ranked based on 10 dimensions. Talking of the framework, Elaine said: “The ERI has demonstrated a commercial advantage. It’s a product that’s been built out of this journey and hinged around the implementation of the ETI Base Code inside the supply chain, and latterly our human rights approach acts as a wrap around that also.”

“We stepped into this process initially through child labour. We then began to look at the wider ethical picture, and that led us to UN Global Compact.” – Elaine Mitchel-Hill, Business & Human Rights Lead at Marshalls plc

Follow the trend

Shaun McCarthy OBE, Director, Action Sustainability and Chair, Supply Chain School, talked of his work at London’s 2012 Olympics: “I chaired the commission for a sustainable London 2012; which acted as an assurance body for the Olympics. It was my job to report to Government and the public about whether London had delivered the most sustainable games on record, and I concluded that, indeed, it had. Nevertheless, there was unfinished business surrounding ethical principles in the supply chain; which in this case, came down to merchandise. A best practice process was initiated; all the suppliers signed up to Sedex, they were all audited; the audits reviewed, and my team audited the auditors – it was a fantastic process. Then, an organisation named the Play Fair Alliance placed undercover workers in two factories in China and discovered 100% breaches of all 10 principles of the ETI Base Code. So, the full registration, audit and database process, ultimately, did not work.”

One arena that appeared to make a recurring appearance within discussion was the fashion industry. Many labelled the realm as one that has made significant improvements in reducing the risk of modern slavery in its supply chain. McCarthy gave an example of just how far behind the construction industry is when it comes to due diligence. He referred to another element of his work at London’s 2012 Olympics, where he was in conversation with Adidas, the clothing sponsor for the games. The sports brand was informed of Shaun’s work for the games, and he travelled over to Germany to investigate the brand’s processes. According to McCarthy, Adidas is aware of every factory that produces one of its garments; but its knowledge doesn’t stop there; the sports giant knows the origin of every metre of fabric used to create its garments.

Relating his experience back to the construction sector, McCarthy told: “In the construction sector, it’s the job of the procurer to procure something and to deliver business outcomes through a supply chain in a way that offers value for money and, indeed, as a result of the modern slavery act, to make sure that’s done in an ethical way. Looking at a typical top-tier construction contractor, around 80% of their revenue goes to their supply chain, so you would argue that supply chains are essential, and they certainly are. I don’t think most know what their supply chain is behind tier one.”

“Looking at a typical top-tier construction contractor, around 80% of their revenue goes to their supply chain, so you would argue that supply chains are essential, and they certainly are. I don’t think most know what their supply chain is behind tier one.” – Shaun McCarthy OBE, Director, Action Sustainability and Chair, Supply Chain School

The public sector

Near the end of the evening’s discussion, John Morrison moved the discussion onto the public sector. Sue Hurrell, Special Projects Manager for the Welsh Government, opened: “If you’re all stating that construction is behind in this game, then the public sector is even further behind. It’s tough in the public sector. If you take a local authority, for example, they buy into masses of markets; they may have four people in their procurement team and, in fact, much of that procurement is going out to various areas. So, there’s a huge challenge there in understanding, knowledge, awareness and cost pressures for public bodies.”

When asked about the Welsh Code of Practice for Ethical Employment in Supply Chains, Hurrell explained: “Our code of practice touches on ethical employment within supply chains and the recognition that slavery doesn’t only occur in isolation. It also moves onto unlawful and unethical practices, unfair use of zero-hour contracts right through to positive practices, such as paying the living wage, so it’s all-encompassing. If you are unaware of what’s happening in your supply chain, there’s a possibility that you could be tolerating slavery.”

“If you are unaware of what’s happening in your supply chain, there’s a possibility that you could be tolerating slavery” – Sue Hurrell, Special Projects Manager for the Welsh Government

Takeaways

Concluding the evening’s discussion, a delegate from a UK infrastructure group within the audience expressed how alarming it is that few questions are asked on the topic within the industry. He quizzed the panel on what the industry needs to change. “Much can come from professional education, on the road to becoming a qualified architect,” replied Bowman. “And, also having discussions such as this is a great way of raising awareness.”

“At Marshalls, we’re trying to share our information,” answered Elaine. “As a result, we’ve undertaken risk mapping for the countries where we source our materials, and we’ve transparently shared that. We’ve taken that approach and gone further and created an Ethical Risk Index around each of our products. What we’re trying to do is make it easier for you to engage with us and increase your knowledge in what you’re buying so it’s a more comfortable choice.”

Sue added: “...You have to take it one step at a time and have the confidence to do so. Just saying everything’s fine and we’ve got zero tolerance to modern slavery is not what we want to hear. There’s no way we can solve this issue immediately; it’s an issue that we’ll continually struggle with. We can’t be perfect, but we can be better.”

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