Operational
A central quality management system that complies with the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards is a central element of our policy for mitigating operational risks. This quality management system is subjected to an internal and external audit every year, with the aim of identifying and implementing improvements. The certifications for various organisation components of Unica were extended, in 2023.
It is important to limit the legal and financial risks involved in the implementation of orders and contracts. The price risks of materials have been more precisely mapped out and secured in the bid / no-bid process by including price volatility as one of the elements of the bid price and contract indexing.
To support our businesses in managing risks, we have prepared a standard risks and opportunities file. This is implemented for both project orders and contract orders. During the tender phase, poorly accounted for commercial choices can represent an operational risk. To avoid this, the bid form method is employed. If the assessment reveals that the risks exceed the risk appetite, the Legal Affairs department supervises contact amendments or ensures that specific operational measures are included in the project management. For each individual contract, key operational risks are recorded in a standardised risks and opportunities register, so that any threats and the mitigation measures taken remain in the picture, throughout the implementation stage. Evaluations are carried out by the TPI Board and generic lessons learned are shared each quarter, with the Executive Committee.
To ensure that Unica has in-house access to appropriately qualified employees, an online learning platform was launched in 2023 to offer employees permanent training and further career development. This also reconfirms our attractiveness as an employer and enables us to obtain the certification we are required to have in order to satisfy legislation, regulations and the requirements of our clients.
The Building (Quality Assurance) Act (WKB) came into effect on 1 January 2024. Among others this new Act specifies that contractors must pay greater attention in their work to the recording of information in building files. This ties in well with the trend of increasing digitalisation and quality accountability, in respect of which Unica has taken a series of measures across the board. Workshops were held during the course of 2023, to prepare the workforce for the introduction of this Act.
As one of the founding parties to the Governance Code for Safety in Construction (GCVB), Unica is a leading player in efforts to improve the safety culture in the construction and engineering sectors. This is reflected among others in the Safety Culture Ladder (SCL), for which we achieved certification at step 3, in 2023. This ladder demonstrates that we take responsibility for safe working practice. We are also a regular participant in the Safety Awareness Day (Bewust Veilig Dag), a national day of action which focuses attention on safe working practice, throughout the sector. The Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board play an active role during that day, as a means of reinforcing awareness of this theme, within the organisation.
