TITAN Annual Report 2008
Det Norske Veritas (hereafter ‘DNV’) has been commissioned by the management of TITAN Cement Company S.A (hereafter ‘TITAN’) to provide assurance services in connection with the English version of Titan’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability Report 2008 (hereafter ‘the Report’).
The management of TITAN is responsible for all assertions and information provided in the Report, as well as the processes for collecting, analysing and reporting that information. DNV’s responsibility regarding this assurance engagement is to the management of TITAN only, in accordance with the scope of work commissioned. DNV disclaims any liability or responsibility to a third party for decisions, whether investment or otherwise, based on this Assurance Statement summary or the full version provided at http://www.titan-cement.com
Scope
The scope of DNV’s assurance engagement included the verification of:
Statement of Independence
DNV states its independence and impartiality with regards to this assurance engagement. In 2008, DNV did not work with Titan or any of its stakeholders on any engagements which could compromise the independence or impartiality of our findings, conclusions or recommendations. Moreover, DNV was not involved in the preparation of any text or data provided in the Report, in addition to this Assurance Statement.
Approach
This assurance engagement was carried out between February and June 2009, by a multi-disciplinary team of suitably qualified and experienced professionals, in accordance with the DNV Protocol for Verification of Sustainability Reports, which is based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines for Sustainability Reporting (2006) and AA1000AS (2008).
As part of this assurance engagement, the following tasks were carried out by DNV:
This engagement was carried out in line with the AA1000AS(2008) requirements for Type 2, moderate level of assurance.
Conclusions
Through this engagement, DNV was able to verify the progress made by Titan in relation to H&S management, which involved the implementation of a more harmonised and structured approach across the Group and initiatives to develop safety awareness and culture.
Regarding environmental management, DNV commends the efforts made by Titan with a view to improving the monitoring and reporting of environmental performance. At the SEE sites visited, DNV found commitment to adopting appropriate environmental management practices, often aiming to exceed legal requirements in those countries. However, due to changes in the composition/equity of the Group in 2008, challenges arose in terms of ensuring that the new Titan sites performed to the level and standards of the Group, which was reflected in the overall Group performance on some environmental aspects.
Regarding Human Resources, Titan faced important challenges in several countries, where reductions in employee numbers were made. DNV was able to verify Titan’s commitment to adopting responsible employment practices and preventing or minimising the impact of restructuring initiatives by the company.
DNV commends Titan for the efforts to include stakeholders in the development of its CSR and Sustainability management approach and the definition of the content of its Report. The multi-stakeholder forum held in Greece, the internal workshops held by Titan in FYROM, and the extension of the scope of assurance to include stakeholders in SEE, demonstrate Titan’s commitment to effective, constructive and transparent stakeholder engagement.
Specifically on the content of the Report, DNV believes that it generally meets the content and quality requirements of CSI, Global Compact, GRI (2006) and AA1000AS (2008). DNV also endorses the GRI application level of A+ declared by Titan. Detailed information on DNV’s scope of work, approach, conclusions and recommendations regarding the Report’s adherence to the reporting and assurance requirements established in those standards and guidelines is provided in the full version of the Assurance Statement, available at www.titan-cement.com
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this assurance engagement, the following recommendations are made to encourage continual improvement, not affecting the conclusions above:
Antonio Ribeiro Lead Verifier |
Karen Dodds |
Det Norske Veritas, London, 18 June 2009