Health and Safety

At Coillte, the health and safety (H&S) of employees and contractors is an absolute priority and an area of continued focus. Occupational H&S management systems in both Coillte and MEDITE SMARTPLY were audited in 2023 and continue to be fully accredited and certified to ISO 45001. The H&S management system in Coillte CGA was also audited for and continues to achieve compliance with the FSC® and PEFC standards.

In 2023 the number of workplace and contractor incidents reduced when compared with 2022. The focus in 2024 will be on implementing training supports to further enhance H&S for both staff and contractors.

A number of initiatives to promote health and safety and staff wellness were carried out in 2023 and were well received. These included the promotion of the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), the offer of free occupational health assessments and flu vaccinations.

Gender Pay Gap

Coillte CGA published its second Gender Pay Gap Report in December 2023. A gender pay gap is the difference in the average hourly pay and bonuses of all men compared to the average hourly pay and bonuses of all women employees across an organisation. Coillte’s mean gender pay gap increased from -9.70% in 2022 to -14.34% in 2023 in favour of women.

This increase was driven by three key factors:

1) the number of retirements in 2023 increased threefold versus the number of retirements in 2022, all of which were male. At Coillte, retirees can opt for one-year post-retirement contracts, with reduced hours, therefore this reduced the average male pay;

2) there was an increase in the number of women in higher paid job grades in 2023 and

3) most new joiners in the period, who start at the lower end of the relevant pay scale, were male, reducing the average male pay.

Coillte’s ambition is to narrow the gender pay gap over time by increasing awareness of the organisation as an employer of choice and attracting a broader pool of applicants to the business and to the forestry industry more broadly as well as supporting the career development and advancement of employees as opportunities arise.

 

A number of initiatives were put in place in 2023 to ensure sustainability of employment for the current and future workforce. These initiatives included:

 

Workforce Capacity Project

It is projected that an additional 1,770 new forestry and processing jobs will be created (subject to workforce availability) over the next ten years. In order to address this, in 2023 Coillte commenced a Strategic Workforce Capacity review for the Irish Forestry sector (2024-2030). Working together with key stakeholders in the forestry industry, Coillte has identified four key challenges in relation to recruitment and skills:

 

• labour market shortages
• innovation, mechanisation and technology
• national awareness and education and
• training provision and digital learning.

 

A key recommendation of this review is the establishment of a national Forestry Centre of Excellence to co-ordinate an industry response to address the expected labour shortages as well as longer-term training, education and research challenges.

 

Promoting Gender Diversity

Coillte is focused on diversifying its workforce to achieve greater gender balance by increasing the representation of women working in the organisation and by increasing the number of women both studying and working in forestry more broadly. Significant efforts have resulted in a 75% increase in the number of women recruited by Coillte in 2023 (35) in comparison to 2022 (20).

In 2023, Coillte expanded its Graduate Programme to include finance, ecology, and engineering streams with a direct focus on increasing gender diversity and on highlighting the wide variety of roles available in the organisation. This has created a more diverse pool of highly talented individuals forging careers across different sections of the organisation.

 

Employer Brand

In 2023, steps were taken to promote Coillte and the forestry industry more broadly to a wider pool of applicants including:

• Leveraging existing strong relationships with local schools and colleges resulted in apprenticeship programmes in MEDITE and SMARTPLY attracting a more diverse pool of local school students into traineeships.
• Coillte proactively profiled employees and roles in forestry in media.
• Coillte continues to have a presence at recruitment fairs and Higher Options exhibitions

 

Coillte Forestry Scholarship Programme

The first Coillte Forestry Scholarship Programme was established in 2023 to give two students the opportunity to pursue a full-time, third level programme within the area of forestry at either University College Dublin (UCD) or South-East Technological University (SETU).

The Scholarships, worth up to €20,000 for the duration of the degree programme (€5,000 per year) to assist with fees and living expenses, will be awarded to two students in the 2024 academic year and each year thereafter.

 

Coillte has a DEI Committee made up of a voluntary group of circa 25 people who meet quarterly to review DEI policies and practices, plan DEI-focused initiatives and review impact on company culture. The Committee works closely with Human Resources and reports twice-yearly to the Operating Executive and once a year to the Remuneration Committee. In 2023, following a governance review, a DEI Advisory Panel of senior managers/directors was appointed to provide further support. The DEI sponsor is a member of the Operating Executive.

In 2023, the DEI Committee ran a series of initiatives across five workstreams (gender, ability, well-being, LGBTQ+ and refugees). Activities for staff in 2023 included inspirational sessions with Ursula Jacob on her camogie career, and with mental health advocate Trisha Lewis on mind and body wellbeing, supporting PRIDE month and partnering with the Refugee Council of Ireland, Open Doors and other supportive groups. In 2023, Coillte also rolled out a self-identification DEI survey for staff, which provided insights on the diversity of employees.

Coillte continued its Ability Campaign in 2023 to raise awareness and acceptance of people with all different levels of abilities in Coillte and to support those with challenges, both visible and invisible. The campaign included training on disability awareness and hidden disabilities as well as partnerships with the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities and Open Doors. During the campaign, staff shared personal stories of their lives or the lives of close family members who had varying levels of ability.

As part of its partnership with the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities (TCPID) in 2023, Coillte welcomed a graduate from the programme joined Coillte on an internship. The student interviewed members of staff for an internal newsletter shared with employees, helping to raise awareness of ability-related matters.

Coillte conducts an annual survey to measure the proportion of employees who define themselves as having a disability. In 2021, 1.9% of staff classified themselves as having a disability. This increased to 3.36% in 2022, and to 3.91% in 2023 and compares favourably to Coillte’s current statutory requirement to have 3% or more colleagues declaring a disability. In a separate 2023 employee survey, the percentage of employees that answered “Coillte welcomes people of different abilities” increased from 53% in 2022 to 60% in 2023.

In addition, Coillte is a signatory of the Business in the Community inclusive workplace Elevate Pledge.