Cura Terrae conducts Legal Compliance Audit for British Airways (BA)

Client

BA is a global airline which has been operational for over 100 years. They approached Cure Terrae for an Environmental Legal Compliance Audit. This allows them greater visibility and control over their environmental legal compliance, across multiple sites of varying site-specific risk.

Overview of the work

Our Environmental Management team conducted an Environmental Legal Compliance Audit of BA’s operations and activities across their estate, to determine their intrinsic level of risk and compliance with applicable legislation. This program of audits initially took place across one year but evolved into a larger program as due to its success, BA continued to request the audits into a second year.

The team has conducted audits across all in-scope sites (in person and remotely), and included site walkovers, interviews with key personnel, and reviews of documentation.

Challenge

BA’s operations occur across many sites, involving teams working across various functions and activities managing compliance. It is therefore beneficial to have assurance and oversight of environmental legal compliance across business areas, including successes, opportunities, risks, and areas for improvement. Cura Terrae was able to step in as a trusted partner in compliance. Our team carried out an Environmental Legal Compliance Audit to increase the visibility of areas for improvement and enhance understanding of legal compliance across the business. To ensure that different areas of the business manage their compliance, excellent communication across the sites and various teams is required.

Solution

To successfully conduct the audits and assess legal compliance, the consultant first had to ensure a thorough understanding of the sites and their functions and activities, and of the legislation that will be applicable to these activities.

The Environmental Management team drew from their own in-depth sector-specific knowledge, with information and observations provided by BA, to develop an overall picture of the estate, and help identify any gaps in compliance.

BA worked directly with the same dedicated expert every time, ensuring consistency and a personal touch. The agility of the team means that changes in the personnel are avoided which allows a rapport to be built with key stakeholders. Audits were conducted across the various BA sites which evaluated (and continue to evaluate) the following areas:

• Emissions to air (i.e. air conditioning units, medium combustion plants).
• Discharges to water (i.e. de-icer).
• Waste management (generation, storage and disposal).
• Storage of oils and chemicals.
• Energy and carbon management (i.e. Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR), Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme).
• Use of subcontractors (i.e. catering operations, laundry, cabin cleaning).
• Supply chain (i.e. single use plastics, packaging waste responsibilities).
• Statutory nuisances.

The audits involved in-person assessments, site walkovers, discussions with key personnel (including outsourced functions), and a review of any relevant documentation, for a thorough and complete audit.

Remote audits were appropriate for certain sites and included meetings with key personnel (including outsourced functions) via video link, and a review of documentation.

The outputs from the audit give BA a deeper understanding of any potential non-compliance with environmental legislation, and areas that could require improvements to crucially reduce any environmental risks and liabilities across their operations.

Any findings and actions from the legal compliance audit are recorded on their internal system. The business is then able to track any recurrent themes and list actions for improvement with guidance from our consultant. These are presented in a summary matrix and action plan for easy visualisation by necessary parties, increasing the cross-site understanding of the company’s compliance.

The team provided structure by holding monthly meetings with key stakeholders to provide project updates and audit results, touching on common themes from audits and performance. They also diligently handle communications with sites and with the auditees, to arrange site visits and meetings.

Client benefits

• Sector-specific expertise from our consultants
• Solutions-focused approach, not just checkbox audits
• Long-term, relationship-based approach
• Clear, constructive communication
• Reliable delivery across complex estates, across varying site-specific risk
• Custom compliance action plans
• Visual summary matrices for leadership visibility
• Ongoing support for continuous improvement
• A strong foundation for environmental governance
• Clarity and confidence in compliance status

Client Testimonial

Due to the success of our initial engagement and the quality of the insights delivered, our work with BA was renewed for a second year.

The client cited satisfaction with our methodology, tone, and the clarity of our reporting and recommendations.