Corporate social responsibility policies form part of Grupo Sando’s business strategy. Strategic management of the companies which make up the company seeks a balance between the economic and social dimensions, investing efforts in the development of the communities in which the company is present, generating employment and wealth.
One of the main pillars of the group’s social responsibility is the Sando Foundation.
Sando’s commitment to R&D&I policies enables the company to successfully face the challenges of the marketplace and contribute to sustainable development. These policies are based on promoting a culture of innovation in the business group and searching for technological solutions which offer a response to the challenges of the sector.
Collaboration and the transfer of knowledge, risks and costs with other companies, universities, technology centres, industrial organisations and public institutions are of prime importance in the open innovation model followed by Sando.
In this policy, the company executes, manages, and promotes research, technological development, and innovation projects, as well as other actions in the field of dissemination throughout the country.
R&D&I Management Systems
The Sando Group is certified under the UNE 166002 standard for its R&D&I Management System, awarded by Aenor to the Work System, which aims to promote generating new ideas, evaluating them, and designing mechanisms, as well as incorporating innovation into the daily management of the company.
Lines of research
The R&D&I department works on six different lines of research:
Innovative Public Procurement
With the Innovative Public Procurement figure Sando shares with public entities the development of solutions to market challenges. This policy results in various advantages for the company:
Key projects
“Research on earthquake-resistant, energy-efficient and life-cycle intelligent building”.
Design and build smart buildings. In the INNTERCONECTA programme, Sando leads the development of a comprehensive construction system that is earthquake-resistant, highly industrialised thanks to the use of prefabricated concrete panels and, on the other hand, a package of ICT tools.
“On-board simulation for track monitoring by observing the state of railway vehicles”.
The general objective of this project is to develop a new monitoring system that can be installed on any railway vehicle after a number of modifications. The system reduces maintenance costs and provides more information by using virtual sensor technology to monitor variables that cannot be directly measured, such as wheel-rail contact forces.
“Design and development of a system to improve safety conditions in MEWP work”.
SAFE-MEWP focuses on developing a product that improves the safety conditions of Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs) used in construction and industry. The innovation resulting from the project has been patented as a “utility model”.
“Use of materials from construction waste on road surfaces in the province of Malaga”.
This research has verified that the recycled material from the construction industry meets technical requirements for use in lower layers of road surfaces.
“Management of green areas using sensors onboard Unmanned Aerial Vehicles”.
The main objective of this project is the development and implementation of a methodology for identification and solution of specific problems in green areas using thermal image cameras, multispectral sensors and software onboard UAV or drone systems.
“Development of a system of rules and biocomputational algorithms for the control and monitoring of construction projects”.
REBECCA seeks to create an intelligent system for automatic application of BIM methodology in construction, that meets sector requirements and that can count on tools that improve its operation and provide an added and differential value.
“Recovery of soil degraded by construction activities from sludge from wastewater treatment plants and the use of cyanobacteria”.
The project aims to provide a new strategy for restoring areas degraded by carrying out construction-related activities in drylands. To this end, the research combines inoculation of cyanobacteria into the soil and introduction of native plants with amendments with sludge from WWTP.
Constructive Solutions
New work methodologies
Sando uses new work methodologies which will be the future of the construction sector, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Lean Construction. Both are defined in the context of collaborative projects which are transforming project and works design, construction, and management processes.
Both BIM and Lean Construction integrate all the agents involved in the project and establish a transversal communication flow between them. Specifically, in BIM a virtual model of the project is generated which contains all the information of the project and which is updated with characteristics and information on materials, installations, equipment, etc. and which helps to detect early problems in the project.
With Lean Construction, we manage to guarantee meeting deadlines on site, carrying out continuous improvement and eliminating restrictions using Last Planner System (LPS) methodology that consists of carrying out in a collaborative way a detailed planning with all the intervening parties in the work.
Diseñar y construir smart buildings. Dentro del programa INNTERCONECTA, Sando lidera el desarrollo de un sistema de construcción integral con capacidad sismorresistente, altamente industrializado gracias a la utilización de paneles prefabricados de hormigón y, por otro, un paquete de herramientas TIC.
El objetivo general de este proyecto consiste en el desarrollo de un nuevo sistema de auscultación que pueda instalarse en cualquier vehículo ferroviario tras una serie de modificaciones. El sistema reduce el coste de mantenimiento y aporta más información al utilizar la tecnología de sensores virtuales para monitorizar variables que no pueden medirse directamente, como las fuerzas de contacto rueda-carril.
“Diseño y desarrollo de un sistema de mejora de las condiciones de seguridad en trabajos en PEMP”.
SAFE-PEMP se centra en el desarrollo de un producto que mejore las condiciones de seguridad de las Plataformas Elevadoras Móviles de Personas (PEMP) que se utilizan en la construcción e industria. La innovación resultante del proyecto ha sido patentada como “modelo de utilidad”.
“Utilización de materiales procedentes de residuos de construcción en firmes de carreteras en la provincia de Málaga”.
Mediante esta investigación se ha logrado verificar que el material reciclado procedente de la construcción cumple los requerimientos técnicos necesarios para ser empleado en las capas inferiores de firmes en carreteras.
“Gestión de zonas verdes mediante sensores embarcados en Vehículos Aéreos No Tripulados”.
El objetivo principal de este proyecto es el desarrollo e implementación de una metodología para la identificación y solución de problemas específicos en zonas verdes mediante el empleo de cámaras de imagen térmica, sensores multiespectrales y programas informáticos embarcados en sistemas UAV o drones.
“Desarrollo de un sistema de reglas y algoritmos biocomputacionales para el control y monitorización de proyectos de construcción”.
REBECCA procura la creación de un sistema inteligente para la aplicación automática de la metodología BIM en construcción, que se cumplan los requerimientos del sector y que se pueda contar con herramientas que mejoren su operativa y aporten un valor añadido y diferencial.
“Recuperación de suelos degradados por actividades constructivas a partir de lodos procedentes de estaciones de depuración de aguas residuales y el empleo de cianobacterias”.
El proyecto pretende proporcionar una nueva estrategia para restaurar espacios degradados por el desarrollo de actividades relacionadas con la construcción en zonas áridas. Para ello, la investigación combina la inoculación de cianobacterias al suelo y la introducción de plantas autóctonas con enmiendas con lodos procedentes de EDAR.
Management Systems are a key factor in Sando’s philosophy and are considered to be strategic advantages for winning and consolidating new customers and geographical areas of operation.
Both the Quality Management System and the Environmental and Energy Management System are based on management principles and requirements included in reference standards (9001, 14001 and 50001).
Human resources management is one of the basic pillars for developing Management Systems. For this purpose, a planning of the needs is established according to the objectives indicated together with a professional development of the people who make up the organisation.
Implementing human resources policies linked to the Management Systems, excellent results are achieved in terms of satisfaction and commitment among employees, with direct repercussions on external customers.
The Management Systems make Sando’s business structure more competitive on the market; international openness for strategic alliances; improved service and customer confidence; reduced administrative and operating costs; more rational use of human resources, and a flexible organisation that allows for orderly growth or contraction.
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From its very beginnings Sando has considered health and safety at work to be an essential factor in its activity and has assumed it to be a primary objective in the organisation. This allows for permanent improving preventive actions, to improve the safe and healthy working conditions of all its employees and collaborators.
In order to develop the aforementioned Prevention Policy, Sando’s Senior Management defines objectives for the performance of each of the different levels of the organisation.
Occupational risk prevention is one of the lines of R&D&I of the Sando research department. Among the studies carried out in this area is the Safe-MEWP project, designed to improve the safety conditions of Mobile Elevating Platforms for People (MEWPs) or CONPREVAM. They are based on designing a tool to capture information on environmental parameters using drones to study concentration of particles in suspension and potentially dangerous gases in work environments.
This context of innovation, quality and effort has led Sando Construcciones to be one of the first companies in the sector in the country to obtain ISO 45001:2018 certification from Aenor.
The companies’ economic activity must be based on environmental and energy sustainable criteria, so that future generations can find an environment that is not degraded. Making business efficiency compatible with preservation of the environment, sustainable exploitation, quality, prevention, or efficiency is part of Sando’s objectives.
Sando applies circular economy principles to its business structure, adding value to its proposals in Sando’s construction and service tenders.
This policy is reinforced by the company’s strategy in R&D&I. In recent decades, Sando has developed research projects in line with sustainability and the circular economy, such as Génesi, Victoria, IESEI, recycling of road construction waste and more recently Reconlod, for recovery of degraded soils using sludge from treatment plants.
SDG
According to the UN, the 17 SDG or Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call for action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
As a company specialised in sustainable execution of infrastructure and service management, Sando identifies with these principles, its objectives and works to make its work more efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.
Sando, with its Sando Foundation, has been a signatory of the Global Compact since 2008.
In the 17 SDG there are some objectives common to all entities and others that are specific to the work of each company. Sando has identified six of them as critical because they are directly related to its activity:
Carbon Footprint
In relation to Sustainable Development Objectives, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and its commitment to the environment and the surroundings, Sando has registered its carbon footprint in the Carbon Footprint Register, offsetting, and CO2 absorption projects of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
This certification covers construction activities of projects such as roads and motorways, urban railway lines, urban development, building or wastewater treatment plants developed at its headquarters in Malaga, Madrid, and Seville, as well as all its works.
The Sando Foundation dedicates its activity, as recorded annually in its Action Plan, to organisation and development of social initiatives in collaboration with various public and private entities.
The Sando Foundation focuses on projects in the cultural, social, sporting and employment fields, as well as in health and safety, research, the environment, historical and artistic heritage areas, and integration of vulnerable people into the labour market and society.
Sando has a Code of Conduct that establishes the basic principles that must be followed by the firm’s companies and all of its employees. The precepts of the Code of Conduct are in line with the Vision, Mission and Values approved by the Board of Directors.
This code is also binding on contractors and any natural or legal person who has a contract with the company or is involved in any contract opened by Sando.
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Sando Special Employment Centre is a project in constant growth and development. If you would like to be part of it and have a certificate of disability equal to or greater than 33%, send us your details.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
In 2006, Sando established the Sando Foundation, a non-profit organisation aimed at channelling corporate social responsibility policies and articulating the company’s social actions. With this organisation, Sando has increased its commitment to society and the environment in recent decades.