Social engagement

As part of its drive to promote Responsible Development, Colas is focusing on its externalities, endeavoring to reduce negative externalities and bolster positive externalities. In addition to the Group’s numerous patronage programs, three long-term, large-scale positive externalities exist throughout its business network both in France and elsewhere around the world.

• Colas has instigated an extremely determined traffic accident prevention program for its employees worldwide. The initiative was first launched in France in 1997, with the signature of a road safety charter as part of a partnership with the French Government and the French National Health Insurance Fund for Employees (CNAMTS). The drive was then expanded out to include the Group’s European operations with a European Charter. Today, these charters are renewed every three years. More than 500 employees have been trained to serve as Road Safety Relays – their job is to implement the prevention program and good driving practices in the field. This policy not only improves accident frequency rates for company drivers, which were down 44% between 2004 and 2017 despite a slight rise this year (7%), but it can also help their loved ones by sharing best practice, and by extension, all road users.
• In 2006, Colas launched a wide-sweeping program to provide first-aid training to its employees in France and around the world. Today, nearly 35% of the entire workforce – roughly 20,800 people – is familiar with first aid. Training like this helps bolster safety awareness, benefitting not only the employees, but their loved ones as well, along with society as a whole.
• In 2011, Colas launched a program designed to bolster biodiversity throughout its entire quarry and gravel pit network. As such, every Group site is required to host a threatened or protected species and help foster its development. Whenever this is not feasible, beehives are installed on the grounds. Today, in certain regions, a number of the Group’s active quarries and gravel pits have become the main habitat for species that would most likely have disappeared locally without Colas’ help.

Patronage and sponsoring actions are decided and performed by the Group companies and profits centers.  The main focus is sports sponsorships and cultural and humanitarian patronage.  

At the Colas parent company level,  patronage is hinged on 4 areas:

• Cultural patronage:  Colas Foundation (commissions  for paintings on the theme of roads), Colas on Stage (support to choreography and music festivals), 
• Solidarity: Colas Life (supporting access to education)
• Skills-sharing: National Estate of Chambord
• Science: expedition Lengguru, ChemSud Foundation

The overall budget in 2017 amounted to 2.8 million euros.

Colas is also an active participant in the Francis Bouygues Foundation, which aims to provide strongly motivated French or foreign students who have an ambitious personal project but are faced with financial and/or social obstacles with financial and moral support, including individual mentoring, for the entire duration of their studies. In 2017, 34 Colas employees mentored scholarship students.