Health, safety, and well-being

The responsibility for the occupational health and safety of all our staff, and all others who may be affected by the work we undertake is something we take very seriously. This has always been one of our central values and is inherent in everything we do. We ensure all staff have appropriate safety skills, with the understanding that safety is a mindset not a department, and that everyone at Avison Young is responsible for ensuring it.

We recognize that while we have made progress against our safety goals and objectives, standards and expectations rise continuously and we must keep setting stretch goals to make sure we are maintaining all we set out to provide, within our own teams and across our supply chain and sub-contractor partner networks.

Improving safety through policy and training in the U.K.

Across Avison Young U.K., we have dedicated policies in place to support everyone who works within our offices and client locations, including temporary workers.

Taking things a step further, our broader focus on safety extends to our clients and neighbouring communities around our managed assets. We have a foundation of holistic good practice with effective policy and procedures, regular risk assessments, management monitoring and reporting, promotional campaigns, and effective training.

In 2023, we started a fully comprehensive review of our health and safety practices in the U.K. to identify where improvements could be made.

Here’s what we’ve achieved since then:

• Started a program of DSE assessments for all staff and reduced the number of desk-related issues being reported.
• Increased communications with all our regional offices so that issues can be identified sooner, and practical solutions identified.
• Improved reporting, with health and safety now a key topic of discussion with our U.K. Risk Management Committee, which has allowed us to raise risk issues and get critical management buy-in.
• Worked with event organisers to both improve engagement and reduce the risk of injuries during every stage of the event process. This has allowed us to perform more in-depth investigations to reduce incidents and ensure that these are correctly reported.
• In the U.K. we continue to be accredited to ISO 45001, Construction line, Achilles, Safe Contractor, and CHAS, highlighting our commitment to maintaining high standards of excellence in this area.

Helping our staff to work and live well.

We strive to help all our colleagues across the globe live life well, for their physical, mental, and financial well-being. As such, we operate integrated mental health and well-being programs, providing all members of staff globally with extensive access to essential services. By equipping our staff with the right resources, guidance, and support networks, we help them to be at their best, enabling them to thrive at work and at home.

Here are just a few examples of what that support looks like in action:

Global initiatives

• Health and well-being education: A key element of our health and well- being commitment is the delivery of health and well-being education sessions and webinars. Many of these are tailored to pertinent topics, coinciding with international/national awareness days such as Mental Health Awareness Week and World Mental Health Awareness Day.
• We delivered a global webinar on Mental Health last year to all staff, which was attended by 500+ colleagues. Such a vital and important topic for us all, it’s a reminder to be open about our state of mind and do what we need to best support ourselves and each other every day.
• Employee Assistance Programme: All staff globally have access to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), which is a confidential employee benefit covering work, health and wider personal issues. Through EAP staff can access help when they need it, 24/7, and if more specialized help is needed, telephone and face-to-face counselling services are available.

Canadian initiatives

• Telemedicine: To improve access to medical advice, all employees in Canada are provided with Telemedicine, an online medical service accessed via live audio or video. This minimizes the stress and time waiting to be seen, and physicians can prescribe directly through this service.
• Personal Time Off (PTO) Changes: We have redesigned our Canadian maternity/parental top-up plans, providing improved support for full- time employees, while incorporating a Leave of Absence (LOA) policy for special & extenuating circumstances to better support employees during unexpected life events.
• Our Canadian colleagues have a heightened focus on mental health, working to raise awareness of the benefits available to our employees including their health insurance plans and broad benefits. Teams also signpost additional resources as they believe that communicating the benefits of work-life balance, stress, and mindfulness, and the programs/tools available to facilitate well-being, enables positive conversations surrounding mental health within the office.

U.K. initiatives

• Well-being consultations: In the U.K., we partner with AXA Healthcare on workplace well-being, offering colleagues a range of personal health benefits, including access to an online portal, webinars and 1-2- 1 well-being consultations, helping individuals improve their mental health and overall well-being. In 2023, the following was achieved: 24 well- being consultation days delivered, 164 health assessments completed, and 12 webinars offered to staff.
• In the U.K. we have a network of mental health and well-being champions, who undergo regular training and act as ambassadors for mental health at Avison Young. They promote various initiatives throughout the year and create space and opportunities for employees to openly discuss and raise issues. During 2023, we ran four mental health first aid courses which led to 36 employees becoming mental health first aiders.
• Financial wellbeing: U.K. staff have access to 1:1 financial coaching, ongoing support from a finance professional, and a wide range of tools and resources, to help employees with saving, investing, debt, retirement, tax, property, and protection, so they can learn more, plan better, and take action with their finances.

U.S. initiatives

• Virgin Pulse: A new initiative for 2023, the Virgin Pulse program equipped staff in the US with wellness resources and activities such as challenges, digital health coaching programs, healthy habit tracking, and more. Virgin Pulse empowers our colleagues to lead happier and healthier lives, by providing engaging ways to prioritize their health and well-being, with a bit of fun gamification mixed in. During its first year, more than 750 employees used the platform, with almost half our users achieving more than 40,000 points for completing wellness activities, surpassing the 30,000 points needed to be compliant for healthcare discounts.
• Aetna Health & Wellness: U.S. staff also have access to health and wellness resources to help them manage their health, including an Aetna Informed Health Line, health section of Aetna website, Aetna Health Assessment and discount for vision, fitness and weight management programs.