CSR Policy
FairWind has displayed social responsibility since 2008
In FairWind we are conscious of us having a community responsibility and we wish to run a business that displays consideration for the people and environment we are a part of. With our CSR policy, we will define our goals, how to achieve our goals, and the results hereof. Every year we will strive to expand our focus areas to constantly force ourselves to develop and improve our CSR results.
FairWind seeks dialogue with our stakeholders
Dialogue is a basic tool for management to run operations smoothly and to achieve the best result in cooperation with partners. FairWind has years of experience in taking responsibility and working towards all parties engaging in constructive dialogue throughout our on-site projects. Dialogue enables us to achieve our goals to the satisfaction of both customers and other business partners.
We encourage cooperation between all parties in our operations – customers, FairWind, and other business partners. FairWind wants to find solutions – not just for FairWind but for the whole supply chain. This requires close collaboration with the customer and detailed insight into our projects. With our strong culture and working environment, we can strengthen such cooperation every day. We are a natural center for cooperation as we have our staff close to sites, and we are committed to developing the wind industry.
In addition, with the new ownership – being acquired by Triton Equity Partners – FairWind will have a seat in the Triton ESG forum (Environmental, Social, Corporate Governance) to further strengthen our efforts and be even more engaged in this agenda.
How FairWind operations deliver to the UN sustainability goals
As per the FairWind Vision & Mission statement, we exist mainly to contribute towards maturing the market of installation and service of renewable energy devices Driving down costs in the market.
By improving these conditions, we are directly, but always in collaboration with the manufacturers (OEMs) of renewable energy devices, improving the business case for solving the global challenge of “Affordable and Clean Energy.”
Since energy production is by far the largest source of emissions of carbon dioxide globally, and these emissions are one of the main reasons behind global warming, FairWind is indirectly also contributing to solving the required “Climate Action;” ensuring a habitable planet for our children and future generations.
Finally, FairWind is utilizing cross-border work, meaning that we employ people from many countries, which both keeps project costs down thus ensuring a good business case for renewable energy and also improve economic growth in developing countries. The technicians’ salaries flows into local economies, the technicians are being educated by FairWind and hence we are contributing to local economic growth. Conclusively, FairWind is focused on delivering to 3 of the 17 global sustainable development goals (SDG)
Affordable and Clean Energy (7) Climate Action (13)
Local economic growth through decent work (8)
Through our main operation in the technical installation of turbines, we can proudly share that over the course of the last three years (2018-20) we have been involved in the installation of more than 10GW and have technicians from close to 25 different nations working for us. With our recently launched 2026 strategy, FairWind has the ambition of more than doubling Giga Watt installed base as well as steadily growing our global employment footprint through the articulated ambitions of “Expanding Geographical presence” to become a truly international supplier.
Connected with SDG 7 and 8, FairWind is also indirectly involved in ‘Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure (9)’. As FairWind is a preferred sparring partner for the OEMs when it comes to the development and optimization of their technical turbine platforms.
During our operational process, it is key for FairWind to be compliant with the UN 10 principles of social responsibility:
Human Rights
Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights and make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.
Labor
Uphold the freedom of and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor;
the effective abolition of child labor; and
the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Environment
Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
Anti-Corruption
Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
FairWind’s CSR approach is long-term and future-oriented, but also an important point of orientation in
the daily operations for FairWind’s managers and employees, our subcontractors, and suppliers.
While FairWind is confident that our CSR policy and derived activities will ensure progress and results in short term, FairWind has also acknowledged that this is an area that must be improved over the coming months and years. It is our ambition to continuously work on expanding our CSR policy as more relevant areas and ambitions are included each year.
In our current Code of Conduct, which is available on www.fairwind.com as well as the FairWind Intranet, FairWind has to some degree already embedded the UN 10 principles of social responsibility, but to strengthen this work further FairWind management is committed to revisiting our Code of Conduct annually and re-publish it.
Code of Conduct
FairWind’s Code of Conduct is a set of principles for ethical behavior. It defines what we believe is a responsible ethical, social, and environmental practice. It sets out clearly what is expected from our personnel.
Although the Code of Conduct is applicable and enforceable in any country where FairWind performs its activities, personnel are also subject to the national laws and regulations in their respective countries of activity and to any laws in their own countries. FairWind will comply with the laws of every jurisdiction in which it operates. Where a local law sets higher standards than those set out in our Code of Conduct, the local law takes precedence. The Code of Conduct proposes a set of minimum standards.
FairWind has over the course of the last year strengthened our efforts on specific elements such as the Anti-Bribery, Anti-Corruption, Anti-nepotism, and Anti-Harassment Policies. As part of the global onboarding process, since 2018 all new office employees, technicians, subcontractors, and suppliers received the Code of Conduct and were informed of our targets.
Also, FairWind has expanded our whistle-blower program by adding a separate process for reporting bullying and sexual harassment, and further in 2020/21 an anonymous reporting line was established.
Other breaches of the code of conduct can as always be reported via ethics@fairwind.dk
FairWind CSR-related focus areas & ambitions
In having a structured approach to CSR, FairWind is in a maturement phase, and thus Management has decided to focus on selected areas short-term. These areas are; safety culture, reduce environmental footprint, quality, multi-national culture & workforce as well as charity and social events.
Safety culture
Risks related to social and employment conditions in FairWind primarily relate to work accidents during the installation of wind turbines.
In FairWind safety is non-negotiable as every employee of FairWind has the right to feel safe at work. While our Safety culture is driven by the FairWind HSE department, we are also in close dialogue with customers in order to understand and be compliant with their requirements. However, FairWind always strives to exceed these as safety must be embedded in daily activities. As an example, for our Onboarding book (launched in 2020), FairWind’s CEO has written the below opening statement as a testament to the importance:
“…That means safety is always our number one priority, and we do not take any chances risking our health. We want all FairWinders to come back home to their families every day. We always seek to do things right from the beginning and we should always aim at providing quality to our customers: it is important to our business and value for both our customers and our- selves…”
For years, the FairWind HSE department has measured the number of work-related incidents on a monthly basis. Since 2018 the measured outcome has been reported at all Management meetings on the company KPI dashboard. This is to ensure that management focuses on these targets, actuals, and ambitions.
Also, supported by a strong Quality & HSE organization, FairWind carries out mandatory workplace evaluations and is continuously working to improve any matters that do not live up to requirements.
Worth highlighting is that through 2018-2020, our Quality & HSE department has intensified the measuring leading indicators to be more proactive when it comes to improvement initiatives. The key measures FairWind tracks are:
Lagging: Reported Fatal accidents
Lagging: Reported Lost Time Injuries measured as frequency against working hours Lagging: Total recordable Injury measured as frequency against working hours Preventive: # of health & safety campaigns per quarter
Preventive: # of safety walks per year for C-level managers Preventive: Internal HSE awareness training for Site Management
In addition, FairWind are running initiates and training related to First AID training, BLS/AED for Office employees. The current management system in place for safety is considered satisfactory and hence our ambition is to maintain current focus and adjust through continuous improvements.
Environmental footprint
The environment and climate are high priorities for FairWind. The target for FairWind is that the company is perceived by customers, employees, suppliers, and authorities as a climate and environmentally-conscious company. The climate priority is an embedded part of the FairWind vision:
“Grow to be the global leader within installation and service of wind turbines based on our commitment to green transformation on earth”.
FairWind is certified according to ISO 14001. The risk regarding environment and climate for FairWind primarily relates to spills of chemicals, CO2-emission, and excess energy consumption and hence the measures FairWind tracks when it comes to environmental footprint are:
Environmental Penalties from authorities Environmental Frequency Rate
# of environmental campaign per year Energy consumption (ECR) for the offices CO2 emission from flight per working hour GW installed per year
In addition, FairWind in early-2021 received the “CERTIFICATE OF SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT” through one of the main OEMs in the market. This is a piece of evidence that FairWind is committed to supporting their strategy of “sustainability in everything we do”. More concretely, this includes:
100% renewable electricity consumption by 2030 Calculating CO2 emission from main operations
Set targets for scope 1 and 2 emissions (without offset) Set targets for scope 3 emissions (by 2023)
Quality culture
Through the IMS & Management System, FairWind’s quality strategy is focused on two main aspects; Customer Satisfaction as well as the skills and competencies of our staff. FairWind’s (lagging) quality measures are primarily related to snagging on delivered towers.
During the latest strategy period, FairWind has formalized our Customer Satisfaction & Loyalty survey process, which now includes an increased number of respondents (covering all OEMs), a comprehensive questionnaire, follow-up dialogue check-in with selected responders and internal workshops as well as a link to our strategy review process.
Since late-2018, Snagging levels have been reported and communicated on leadership as well as Board meetings, to ensure constant monitoring of performance. Continuing the improvement process, FairWind is measuring:
Average number of snagging per tower
Customer Satisfaction Score compared to last survey # of supplier audits (CTQ) carried out per year
# of published Risk assessment per year
% of Site Management who joins ‘Quality tools training’
# of Improvements reports related to detected nonconformities or design issues
Charity & Social events
Every year, FairWind allocates a budget to charity, which can be granted for organizations (not individuals) either in North Europe or in Regions where we perform projects.
Donations vary year by year, but recent examples are: Baltic Sea (cleaning) initiatives near Stettin,
‘Kræftens Bekæmpelse’ Denmark (Cancer Research & Studies), and local support in Russia to children with SMA disease.
Also, an annual recurring charity and social event for FairWind is a ‘day of fun’ with gifts to a local
Orphan home (Poland, near Stettin), something FairWind has supported for more than a decade.
Management focus & system
To ensure management focus FairWind runs CRS efforts through a “systemized” approach towards reporting and attention on key meetings. These are:
Annual risk report being published on the Intranet (and distributed to all managers)
Annual Quality & HSE report being published on the Intranet (and distributed to all managers)
Both are sources for the annual strategic review and are being used ad hoc.
Furthermore, elements of the CSR policy are an integrated part of our Management meetings by requiring discussion topics as well as dashboard measures.
ISO 26000 implementation in FairWind
FairWind Management acknowledges that the current CSR focus doesn’t cover ‘best practices’ across all areas within the ISO 26000. Short-term it is considered not feasible to cover all areas, as the strongest implementation is often through fewer and more targeted projects. However, our long-term ambition is to be compliant with the ISO 26000 standards, with a target of being compliant no later than 2024.