COMMITMENT
Message from the CEO
Engineers and scientists are generally wired to be dedicated problem-solvers. Those of us who pursue this field of study and profession do so specifically because we believe there is always a better way to do things, and in the process, constantly challenge ourselves and conventional wisdom. Because of this, our industry is well-placed to contribute to society’s most pressing sustainability challenges.
In fact, our industry can lay claim to a devotion to sustainability before there was a name for it. If we look back on our historical achievements, we repeatedly find that we delivered projects that satisfied social, economic and environmental agendas. We partner with our clients to develop and deliver on increasingly challenging sustainable development goals. Often the best answers come from inclusivity—engaging communities in which our clients operate and working together to find solutions that work for all. This is no longer an altruistic idea, but a business strategy—a marriage between self-interest and the greater good.
Every day, we witness the hard progression of our carbon-constrained economy. The most traditional providers of fuels and power are actively seeking and embracing alternatives. Changing demographics including aging populations and migrations into urban settings are all challenging public and private organizations to shift to better serve communities and stakeholders. We are working each day to attack these challenges to resources, infrastructure, and environments.
At Golder, caring is one of our core corporate values. Our employee-owners are committed to sustainability—from both the perspective of delivering more sustainable projects that meet the needs of our clients and communities, to “walking the talk” in our business operations. We have embedded sustainability principles into our long-term strategy and included specific goals for both internal processes and solutions for our clients and communities. We further demonstrate our commitment in our corporate social responsibility program that is focused on creating more sustainable communities where we live and work. Our investments range from projects sponsored by the Golder Trust for Orphans, which supports sustainable programs dedicated to a better life quality for AIDs-ravaged African communities, to activities closer to home for many of our colleagues where we support extensive community and volunteer efforts.
In 2016, I signed, on behalf of Golder, a corporate commitment to the UN Global Compact and have dedicated our firm to transparency in our efforts to promote sustainable development in accordance with the 17 components of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and in regular reporting under GRI guidelines.
It is my pleasure to introduce Golder’s 2016-2017 Sustainable Development Report. I hope this report gives you insight into our company and our commitment to sustainability.
Hisham Mahmoud, PhD, PE
Principal
Global President & CEO
Message from the Board of Directors
Message from the Board of Directors
Sustainability has been core to Golder’s mission since the company was formed although we may not have described it in this way. Our ownership model was designed at the outset with a vision of inter-generational transfer and some of our earliest technical work was for clients seeking to provide renewable…
Message from the Global Sustainability Leader
Message from Global Sustainability Leader
Each year our organisation advances in its goal to provide innovative sustainable solutions for our clients’ projects, while at the same time reducing carbon consumption and contributing to the preservation of natural capital. Before delving into our projects, let’s consider the current state of the planet……
ABOUT US
Golder is a highly specialized global consulting, design, and construction firm, owned by its employees. Our technical expertise as engineers and scientists is sought by clients from a broad range of sectors including infrastructure, power, manufacturing mining, and oil and gas. Golder’s annual revenues are in excess of US$1b, gained by delivering services to clients whose projects span the globe. This is achieved through the work of over 6,000 Golder employees located in 36 countries.
As a 100% employee-owned company, our people are truly invested in, committed to, and are the primary beneficiaries of Golder’s success. This commitment sets us apart in every aspect of what we do. More than half of all full-time employees in Golder own shares and participate as owners. We believe that ownership strengthens employee engagement and is reflected in the quality and dedication of service provided to our clients.
For more information, visit golder.com
TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES BY EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT & BY GENDER
FEMALE
- 38% FULL TIME
- 4.2% CONTRACT
- 3% PART TIME
- 1% CASUAL
MALE
- 62% Full Time
- 8% CONTRACT
- 2% CASUAL
- 1.8% PART TIME
GOVERNANCE
The Board of Directors of Enterra Holdings Ltd, the holding company for Golder, is the highest governance body within the organization. As of December 31, 2017, the Board was comprised of the President/Chief Executive Officer, seven Directors, one of who is nominated Lead Director, selected by the employee shareholders of the company from among the senior staff, and three external directors. Except for the external directors, board members are all Principals or Associates of the company.
Executive Committee and Global Operating Group
The Golder Executive Committee, with appropriate delegation to the Global Operating Group, is responsible for implementing the company strategy. The Executive Committee comprises the CEO and COO, regional Presidents, covering Canada, the US, the Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Mining, and executives with responsibilities for core business functions, including legal, finance, communications, safety, health, environment, risk and human resources. Key responsibilities are to lead and manage Golder to ensure its long-term sustainability and value, and thereby look after the best interests of shareholders.
Principals and Associates – Leadership by Owners
Golder’s Principals and Associates are responsible for achieving the desired outcomes set out in our strategy, through leadership within their own individual areas of practice and responsibility. Our Principals and Associates provide technical leadership, direct and manage projects, interface with clients, conduct business development, and mentor other employees. The Principals and Associates community forms the core of our employee ownership model and its inter-generational sustainability.
Materiality: shared perspectives
Our people, our clients and our communities are seeking true partnership in addressing the challenges of working, operating and living sustainably. At Golder, we pay attention to the varying perspectives of each stakeholder group when considering the issues that substantively influence their assessments and decisions. In addition, Golder has its own set of sustainability objectives that we aim to improve on each year. In combination, this typically results in the development of a set of shared perspectives that form the basis for our approach to delivering sustainable solutions.
Anti-Bribery-Anti-Corruption
Golder’s values guide the behaviors of all employees. Golder’s global Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABC) Policy sets out the requirements for our business to comply with the anti-bribery and corruption laws in the countries in which we do business, or intend to do business, and prohibits corrupt payments or other improper conduct.
Communication to all employees about the requirements in this area is comprehensive and continuous. All employees are required to participate in annual training concerning anti-bribery and anti-corruption and confirm their understanding of the provisions of the policy and the results of non-compliance. Non-compliance is monitored through Golder’s Ethics and Compliance Hotline, Region Legal Counsel and self-awareness. Golder maintains a list of restricted countries where bribery and corruption are deemed a risk, and undertakes the necessary assessments and third-party screening in line with our policy.
In response to work started in 2015 on psychologically-healthy workplaces, the first Global RU OK? Day was held on September 8, 2016. Timed to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day, Golder offices around the globe paused to focus on health and wellbeing and extend caring to our colleagues by asking this simple question. On September 14, 2017, Golder employees around the globe came together again to ask “RU OK?” Employees are reminded and encouraged to check in with one another each day.
Bianca Vanzati from the Brisbane (Australia) office is the 2017 Care for our Future award winner recognizing the intentional investment she has made in mentoring, coaching and instruction in health, safety and security, on a day-to-day basis.
Yasin Akçay, from our Ankara office in Turkey is the 2017 winner in the Responsive Measures category recognizing exemplary actions taken in response to unforeseen events that endangered the health, safety and security of our people and others.
The winner in the Proactive Measure category was the Samarco Renova Project Team (Brazil), recognizing their work in identify and mitigate risk, resulting in preservation of the health, safety and security of our people and others.
This award recognized a comprehensive program of proactive measures by a project team. The Sydney Metro City and Southwest Geotechnical Investigation team delivered a large, technically complex investigation, with an extremely high public profile, including significant political and media attention, through exemplary planning and rigorous execution. A number of best practices for projects of this nature were implemented, including hazard identification workshops, sub-contractor on-boarding and Permit to Work processes. The result in this case was project delivery with zero injuries and a very satisfied client. Golder has since publicized these best practices and broadened their application throughout the company.
This award recognized exemplary actions taken in response to unforeseen events that endangered the health, safety and security of our staff and others. The specific circumstances around this award involved a medical emergency on site experienced by a subcontractor, leading to a loss of consciousness, falling from height and significant injuries. Golder’s field personnel responded immediately as a team. Their actions were recognized by the attending physician as limiting the health consequences for the injured worker, and by the subcontractor’s management who noted “the professional response by the Golder team was exactly what we would hope for from an associated party in such circumstances”. The subcontractor recognized this response by making a contribution to the Golder Trust for Orphans. The Golder team followed up both by checking on the status of the subcontractor employee, and by introducing new work practices, adopted by Golder and the subcontractor, to limit the consequences of any future emergency of this nature.
This award recognized an individual who demonstrated intentional investment in mentoring, coaching and instruction in health, safety and security, on a day-to-day basis, and was won by Heather Di Lauro from the Leeds, United Kingdom, office. Heather, a compelling role model for both junior and senior staff, demonstrated exemplary health and safety performance, and developed a group of staff who routinely implemented best practices in the area of health, safety, security and the environment.
This award recognized an outstanding contribution in the area of proactive measures to identify and mitigate risk, resulting in preservation of the health, safety and security of our people and others. The global emphasis placed on fatality prevention and six Fatal Risk Controls is a result of the passion and personal initiative of Andy Haynes. Andy’s effort powerfully illustrates the contribution a single individual can make, and because of his inspirational leadership we have adopted a simple yet powerful approach to address our highest consequence risks.
A Golder project team working on BHP Billiton’s Jansen project finished first in the Summer Safety Campaign conducted on site. Jansen is a $14B potash mining operation, located approximately two hours east of Saskatoon. Golder has been an active partner in this project since 2014 and has been providing quality assurance / quality control material testing and surveying services for the construction of the mining shafts (shaft sinking) as well as various above-ground construction projects.
The Client Choice awards are organized and governed by Beaton Research and Consulting, an independent benchmarking and customized research consulting group serving organizations that provide professional, financial and member services to clients worldwide. These awards are conducted in partnership with the Australian Financial Review.
Golder’s Canadian Legal Team was honored with the Risk Management, Small Department award in the 4th Annual Innovatio Awards. The team continued their internal “Making Legal Services Better” campaign with a focus on risk management as a key vehicle for the legal department to help improve Golder’s risk management.
Catharine Shaw, Mining Client Program Manager from the Toronto (Canada) Office, was the first-ever recipient of the Diversity and Inclusion Award, given by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM).
Kevin Anderson (left) VP, Utah Mining Association and Kent Houghton (right), Director of the Office of Coal Mine Safety at the Utah Labor Commission present safety award to Golder’s Dave Fadling at a ceremony in Salt Lake City on April 12, 2017.
The Australian Geomechanics Society 2016 Don Douglas Youth Fellowship Award for the most outstanding Australian paper at the 11th Australia and New Zealand Young Geotechnical Professionals Conference was made to Nigel Ruxton, Design Group Leader in the Brisbane (Australia). Nigel’s paper, Geotechnical Challenges of Brownfield Sites for Use as Landfill, detailed the Queensland Waste Management Team’s work to develop a 3D model of underground mine workings and the detailed design for a challenging brownfield landfill in south-east Queensland.
Golder was recognized for engineering excellence at the 2017 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards, held in Ottawa, Canada. Golder received an Award of Excellence for the 
Significant material saving on fit for purpose design: Peter Thomson and Dennis Becker, Principals and Senior Geotechnical Engineers form the Calgary, (Canada) office, are the Victor Milligan Award Winners for 2017 for the work they have done on a fit-for purpose design of driven steel pipe piles for a large oil and gas processing facility in the Fort McMurray area. Their collaborative and innovative method presented in their paper resulted in savings of millions of dollars while maintaining the integrity and safety of structures on the large industrial project.
2016 Winner: Jason Cox
Golder Associates received a safety award from Teck as part of the team working in a geotechnical field campaign, including borehole drilling, test pit excavations and surface geophysics carried out on the Quebrada Blanca project (Northern Chile).
Each year our organisation advances in its goal to provide innovative sustainable solutions for our clients’ projects, while at the same time reducing carbon consumption and contributing to the preservation of natural capital. Before delving into our projects, let’s consider the current state of the planet.
Sustainability, has been core to Golder’s mission since the company was formed nearly 60 years ago, although we may not described it in this way. Before the term sustainability came into the modern lexicon, Golder was focused on the social, environmental and economic interdependencies to our business. For example, our ownership model was designed at the outset with a vision of inter-generational transfer, attending to the social and financial benefits of our people and their communities. In addition, some of our earliest technical work involved assisting clients seeking to provide renewable power or mitigate environmental impacts. That mission continues today.
For seven continuous years, a team from Brisbane, Australia has participated on a project to help re-establish and maintain ecologically-healthy catchments in the inner-western suburbs of Brisbane. It is an initiative of the Cubberla Witton Catchments Network, a volunteer organization formed in 2001, and is focused on creating environmental and community benefits in the catchment. Since that time, Golder has been working on this project to restore and maintain native plant species on riverbanks within the catchment.
Golder’s Maquette office in Michigan (US) sponsored the FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics (FTC) Team of 6 – 8th grade students from the North Star Academy. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international youth organization to develop ways to inspire students in engineering and technology fields. Known as the Robogators, the team had to complete a series of challenges using and programming their robot. The Robogators qualified at the FTC Qualifier competition in Petoskey, MI for the State competition in Battle Creek in December 2016. They were very successful and were honored at the FTC Qualifier competition with the 1st runner up for the Inspire Award. The Inspire Award is FIRST’s top award at every tournament. They also received the Connect Award and 1st runner up for the Think Award.
Over the past six years, the Golder London (Canada) office has worked with Community Living London (CLL) to sponsor needy families in their community. These families have at least one child in the home with an intellectual disability, and all of these families have required some help over the holiday period. CLL identifies families that need support and provide Golder with a story about each one, as well as a “wish list” for each person. Souper Thursday fundraising lunches were held during the year where Golder colleagues donate homemade soup and others pay to enjoy a “Souper Lunch”. Golder volunteers then use the funds to shop for and deliver goods to CLL just prior to the holiday break and CLL’s ‘Christmas Elves’ deliver gifts to families.
Golder’s Redmond (Washington) Office has been recognized for the fifth straight year as a Best Workplace for Waste Prevention and Recycling – reaching “Honor Roll” status. This King County initiative shines a light on businesses with “exceptional commitment to recycling and reducing the amount of waste their company sends to the landfill.” Harnessing their colleagues’ passion for taking care of the environment and their community, the Redmond Environmental and Sustainability Committee is the driving force behind the program of activities that has resulted in the ‘Honor Roll’ achievement. Activities include the King County Adopt-A-Road program and the “Office Trading Post,” which facilitates the reduction, reuse, and recycling of office supplies and equipment, instead of purchasing new items.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge in France in 1917 has become a defining moment in Canada’s history. Over four grueling days, Canadians from across the country fought side by side, as all four divisions of the Canadian Corps waged a bloody battle. The Canadians were victorious but with huge loss of life, and over 10,000 men killed or wounded. Thousands of those men killed in battle are still missing and for the families of those missing men, their stories remain unresolved. Volunteering their vacation time to work on the project, six Golder colleagues helped locate 44 of these missing men by leveraging expertise in geophysical, GIS, and archaeology and providing closure to the families of these men in time for observance of the one hundred year anniversary of the battle in 2016. 
In May 2016, a wildfire swept through the northern Alberta city of Fort McMurray, destroying approximately 2,400 homes and buildings, and forcing the evacuation of more than 100,000 residents, including Golder employees from our Fort McMurray office. In the wake of this disaster, Golder people stepped up – donating more than $40,000 CDN – including corporate matching funds, to the Red Cross.
The ‘Golder Boulders’ volleyball team participated in the 22nd Heatwave for SickKids Volleyball Tournament at Toronto’s Ashbridges Bay. This is the 7th year in a row for Golder Boulders and despite valiant efforts and having lots of fun, the team only had one win, but are winners for raising awareness and funds for SickKids Hospital.
Golder staff from the Tampa (Florida, US) office collected food and toys for Thanksgiving and Christmas for distribution through Metropolitan Ministries and the local crisis center. This collection program has been running for a number of years and is now a well-establish activity on the calendar of Golder’s Tampa office.
The Mt Laurel office in New Jersey (US) got into the back-to-school spirit by supporting Volunteers of America’s Operation Backpack. One of the most devastating consequences of homelessness is the impact it has on a child’s education. Operation Backpack is a program which aims to lessen the financial burden of families at-risk of homelessness or living in shelters by helping with school supplies.
Jeremy Yeglin, Senior Engineer from the Houston (US) office, volunteered his time for many weeks to help with the demolition of houses on the west side of Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey that devastated large parts of the US and Caribbean in 2017.
