BAM improve workplace environments for women AND make our waste socially conscious!

21 June, 2022

BAM has teamed up with new supplier Grace & Green to provide plastic free sanitary products to help provide better workplace environments for women in construction.

After carrying out research into female site welfare facilities, one suggestion was to provide ‘comfort boxes’ in the female toilets. This was done alongside enhancing our minimum standards around toilet facilities for all employees.

Head of Social Impact, and Inclusion, Faye Jenkins said:

“Socially conscious procurement provides us with an opportunity to boost social value, minimise harmful effects on the environment, and in this case, do something to address the lack of gender diversity in construction.

“Providing organic, plastic and chemical free, and responsibly packaged sanitary products to our sites may seem like a small gesture – but given that periods affect up to 51% of the population and up to 19% of our workforce at BAM, working with Grace and Green is something we want to do across more of our projects.

“Making our workplaces more inclusive through thoughtful actions like this is important, especially when you think that approximately 15% of women have said they take time away from the workplace during their period. Knowing that these products are available to use at work, provides a welcome comfort.”

The products were first trialled across the northern division and, following the success of that, BAM has made Grace and Green an approved vendor across the whole of the UK & Ireland with many more sites getting involved in the initiative.

Divisional director of the North, Gareth Farrier said:

“Making our sites more comfortable for women at a very small cost is a complete no brainer. 85% of women have started their period unexpectedly at work and this gives our female employees one less thing to worry about.

“It’s great that projects in the Northern Division have successfully trialled these products on site and that it’s becoming a wider practice across BAM Nuttall.”

With the average sanitary pad containing the equivalent of four plastic bags' worth of plastic, choosing a sustainable supplier was incredibly important. Grace & Green’s initiative gives organisations the opportunity to supply plastic-free period products to their staff members. Beyond this, the products are:

• Organic - 100% certified organic cotton. • Sustainable - using only responsibly sourced ingredients, and environmentally sound manufacturing, running on renewable hydro-electric energy • All products and packaging are recyclable, biodegradable and home compostable • Free from plastics, pesticides, chemicals, bleaches and fragrances • Cruelty-free - don’t test anything on animals. • Ethically and socially impactful - 10% of pre-tax profits are donated to organisations tackling period poverty in the UK. • Partnered with Ecologi.com and last year planted over 6000 trees.

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