July/August 2016 - Roads & Bridges
Last month saw the annual Pride in London Parade, a celebration of society’s LGBT community. And this year there was strong representation from the construction industry, with big names including Arup, Balfour Beatty, Carillion and Laing O’Rourke taking part.
All big names. These firms have professional HR departments and their annual reports reassure shareholders of their commitment to corporate social responsibility and equal opportunities. But what’s life like further down the food-chain? Construction sites are not normally known for encouraging political correctness and the chances are that
#BuildingEquality has yet to filter down to the lower orders.
Building contractor Thomas Salomone has an interesting insight into equal opportunities (see p31). Not only is he profoundly deaf, but so are most of his employees, mainly because other employers just aren't prepared to give them a chance.
So good luck to those construction people marching for equal opportunities. They’ve got a long march ahead of them.
David Taylor
Editor
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