Human rights

Within all the countries and regions in which we operate, Alexander Forbes ensures that it complies with the legislation in terms of human rights. The board of Alexander Forbes does not tolerate any violation of human rights. This non tolerance policy extends to employees, management and suppliers of the group.

Fraud, bribery and corruption

The Alexander Forbes Anti-Fraud Theft and Corruption Policy states, inter-alia:

“Alexander Forbes is committed to providing a professional working environment that is free of any form of dishonesty, fraud, theft, corruption, unethical behaviour or criminal activity.

Alexander Forbes therefore requires that its directors and employees conduct their duties and functions in accordance with the highest standard of governance, ethics and honesty, and in compliance with all laws.

This Policy applies consistently to all levels of staff employed by Alexander Forbes and must be read with any other like policy that may be applicable to an employee in a specific division or to an employee arising from his or her relationship or affiliation with any professional or other body.

Alexander Forbes has zero tolerance for fraud, theft and corruption. Accordingly, if an investigation shows any fraud, theft and/or corruption, appropriate steps will be taken against the perpetrator, including, but not limited to, disciplinary action that could result in dismissal, criminal prosecution and civil liability.”

The group is proactive in reducing the number of such incidents by providing ongoing training and communication to employees. An internal audit department and quality control functions monitor compliance within the company and ensure that employees are working in a “best practice” environment, reducing the potential for dishonest incidents. Employees have access to a 24-hour “whistleblowers’” hotline outsourced to an external audit firm.

Health and safety

The wellbeing of our staff is of paramount importance and each of our main offices has a health and safety committee which identifies and manages risks. Fire marshalls and first-aiders meet on a regular basis to address concerns and incidents.

In every geographical area in which Alexander Forbes has offices, management must ensure that the workplace is safe and pleasant and is not in contravention of any legislation in terms of health and safety of employees.

Environment

Due to the nature of our business, in all of the regions where Alexander Forbes operates, we have a low impact on the environment. We ensure nevertheless that we comply with relevant legislation in the particular regions and we encourage “environmentally friendly” behaviour.

Through the Alexander Forbes Community Trust, the company supports the Peace Parks Foundation, where we fund the Alexander Forbes Chair in Wildlife Diseases at the University of Pretoria. The management of veterinary issues affecting the human-livestockwildlife interface is an issue of great socio-economic, economic and biological importance. The Peace Parks Foundation works across borders in the southern African region.

The Alexander Forbes Community Trust is a member of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Energy

Alexander Forbes has a peak-time policy in its two main buildings in Sandton, where air conditioning does not operate on weekends or at night. Lighting is available on timing switches and operates only at night or on weekends in the areas where employees are working. Energy saving globes are used, where applicable. An external organisation monitors billing and reports on utilisation trends.

In South Africa, we have backup power in the form of generators and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) devices in the main offices where our computer data centres reside. Maintenance contracts are in place for the regular servicing of the UPS and generators, as well as the supply of diesel for refuelling. Following a countrywide audit of our backup power requirements for those offices that do not have any, or only limited backup power, a project has been initiated to address these requirements. Due to the extended lead times in sourcing the required generator and UPS equipment in South Africa, this project will take a number of months to complete.

Alexander Forbes Group Information Technology (IT) embarked on a server virtualisation programme more than 12 months ago. This strategy aims to assist in improving the agility and responsiveness of IT while the investment in energy-efficient technology will also help address physical data centre space constraints and better manage power and cooling requirements.

This new approach to server procurement is one of the features of our sustainable and environmentally friendly IT strategy. This will grow in importance in the future due to the increasing cost of electricity and the growth in data-storage and server-processing requirements. The more effective management of power consumption within the data centres across Alexander Forbes has become a necessity.

Emissions

Emissions to water and air are limited, due to the nature of our business.

Water consumption

Water leaks are generally reported timeously and water wastage is discouraged.

Recycling

A programme has been put in place to recycle paper in South Africa. This process is supported by the use of electronic communication.