Firms working on High Speed 2 (HS2) employ a greater number of women or Bame (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) personnel than the overall industry average, new data reveals.
The figures have been revealed in HS2's annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) report, which shows how the company is challenging its national supply chain and the wider rail engineering and construction sectors to champion inclusivity.
HS2's supply chain includes 28% female employees and 18% Bame workers. Comparatively, in March 2021 the proportion of women within the engineering sector across the UK was 16.5%, while Bame employees made up 8% of the workforce.
HS2 Ltd set itself high standards, leading the way in the performance it expects from the 2,500 UK-based businesses engaged in its supply chain. While just shy of the internal targets it set, HS2 Ltd’s own performance saw its female workforce reach 37% and the number of Bame employees peaked at 22%.
At the heart of HS2’s drive for change is the growing network of employees who challenge the organisation to achieve excellence. With a collective membership of over 1,650 across eight bespoke networking groups, staff are empowered to share their experiences and expertise on a range of initiatives from gender balance, the inclusion of ethnic minority staff, challenging homophobia, biphobia and transphobia and promoting disability awareness.
Engaging employees in the strategy, policy and decision-making processes had driven positive change and key achievements during 2021/2022. On International Disabled People’s Day in December, HS2 launched its accessibility policy and digital accessibility hub, which seek to address the changing needs of disabled employees in the workplace and ensure that staff recognise the adjustments they can make to support their colleagues and the wider workforce.
Learning from others remains a key focus for HS2 in the years ahead and the company is proud of the partnerships it is forming with schools, specialist employment support services and charitable groups along the line of route to help achieve best practice.
The report comes after the ICE, along with five other leading organisations from across the built environment sector, agreed an action plan to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion across the industry.
The 45-point action plan has been developed by a dedicated working group, with representatives from the Chartered Institute of Building, the Landscape Institute, the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Royal Town Planning Institute.
It sets out how the six organisations, collectively representing 350,000 members, will collaborate to deliver three objectives (data collection, improving understanding of transition from education into employment and EDI standards).
