Text version scenario

How do we address the needs of people with disabilities in our residential projects? We generally follow all the basic requirements, but we can always do more. For example, the type and quality of flooring materials can make a big difference to some. We recently had a discussion about using more slip resistant material in the bathrooms and kitchens, making it safer for people using walkers, canes and wheelchairs. There was resistance from some on our team members because we would need to get them from different suppliers and it might increase cost.

How can we do everything we can in caring for the quality of life for all of our customers?

Discussion question

• Have you experienced issues with balancing the requirement for change when trying to accommodate special needs of our end-customers?
• How did you approach it?
• What did you learn from it?

Things to consider

We can learn from these situations to help us truly live our values. We can consider the following actions:

• Seek innovative ways to address customer, supplier AND Skanska’s overall commitment.
• Be courageous in expressing the right thing even when it may not be popular and ask customers to partner with us in the process of finding better solutions.
• Ensure we have explored ALL options for materials, suppliers and costs before committing to the customer.

For guidelines on this topic read our Code of Conduct chapter on Health, safety and well-being.