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CRH’s success over 40 years of operation has been based on a solid foundation and commitment to the fundamentals of doing business in a sustainable and responsible manner. These fundamentals of business – strong customer and supplier relationships, value-added products, efficient production processes and targeted markets – are managed within an established sustainability framework with a strong focus on four key areas: Health and Safety, Environment and Climate Change, Governance, and People and Community. In each of these areas, CRH sets and implements policies, develops management systems, monitors performance and incorporates stakeholder feedback, aiming for continuous improvement across all of its activities. CRH has formal structures in place to identify, evaluate and manage potential risks and opportunities in sustainability areas and the Group’s performance in this regard is reviewed regularly by the Board of Directors. 

As the global impacts of resource scarcity, climate change and changing demographics become more apparent, CRH is committed to playing its part in addressing these challenges while also generating business opportunities through investment, development and innovation across its range of products and throughout its processes. This approach is fully aligned with CRH’s strategic vision – to be a responsible international leader in building materials, delivering superior and sustained shareholder returns. 

## Health and Safety 

The health and safety of everyone working for CRH continues to receive a high priority and in 2012 further progress was made in reducing the number of accidents. New initiatives were introduced during the year to augment existing safety systems and further heighten awareness of safety, with the aim of fully embedding a culture of safety at every level of the organisation. Safety in emerging regions, contractor safety and transport safety remain key focus areas. 

Despite these safety improvements, CRH deeply regrets that three fatalities (two employees and one contractor) occurred in Group subsidiary companies during 2012. The circumstances around each of these individual tragedies have been examined and the lessons learned have been communicated across all businesses and operations. The elimination of fatalities is a fundamental objective of CRH. 

## Environment and Climate Change 

With ever increasing demands on world resources and mounting pressures on the global environment, CRH continues to focus on achieving the highest standards of environmental management and control and on reducing its environmental impact. Throughout the Group extensive programmes are in place to improve energy efficiency, increase the use of alternative fuels, achieve targeted air emission reductions, optimise water use, reduce waste and increase recycling. CRH remains on target to meet its commitment to reduce specific cement plant carbon emissions by 15% on 1990 levels by 2015 and is also fully committed to the restoration of worked-out pits and quarries and maintaining biodiversity in the locations in which it operates. Developments in all of these areas, which are of increasing importance to customers and other stakeholders, are ongoing and core to CRH’s activities. 

## Governance 

CRH is widely recognised as operating to the highest levels of corporate governance. The CRH Board complies fully with the requirements of the 2010 UK Corporate Governance Code and also with the applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. CRH places ethics at the forefront of all business 

interactions and is firmly committed to the Group’s core values of integrity, honesty and respect for the law. The Code of Business Conduct and related policies set out clear guidance on conducting business in an ethical and responsible way and confirm the long-standing Group commitment to human and labour rights. Through a Group-wide compliance and ethics programme, CRH ensures employees are appropriately trained, have access to secure channels to report genuine issues and have additional support available if needed. A detailed review of corporate governance, including further details on the compliance and ethics programme, is provided on pages 38 to 53 of this Report. 

## People and Community 

At the heart of CRH are the people and communities which both support and are supported by Group companies operating at over 3,500 locations worldwide. CRH believes that continued sustainable business success depends on the excellent relationships maintained with stakeholders – employees, customers, suppliers, neighbours and others. 

CRH provides significant employment, encourages personal development and aims to create opportunities for employees at all levels as it meets the leadership challenge of sustainable performance and growth. 

CRH is rooted in local communities and through both its core business activities and a variety of local social initiatives the Group supports community enterprises and projects across all of its global operations. 

## Communications 

CRH attaches great importance to communications with all stakeholders and in 2012 maintained its open door policy on stakeholder engagement, holding open days at many of its facilities, communicating regularly with key stakeholder groups and encouraging feedback on a broad range of issues. 

In November 2012, the Group organised capital markets days for investors and sector analysts in London and New York. These events included presentations on various aspects of CRH’s operations and strategy and, in keeping with the Group’s practice of open dialogue, provided an opportunity for attendees to meet with the senior executive and Divisional management team. 

CRH remains committed to reporting on its sustainability performance in a complete and transparent manner, and to publishing performance indicators on key identified sustainability areas. An annual Sustainability Report, in line with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, is published separately and is available on www.crh.com. The independently-verified 2012 CRH Sustainability Report will be available by mid-2013. 

## External Endorsements 

In 2012, CRH maintained its distinguished record of being ranked among sector leaders by a number of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) rating agencies. CRH continues as a constituent member of several sustainability indices including the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes and the FTSE4Good Index. In addition, many Group companies have won high-ranking accolades for excellence in sustainability achievements. 

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