With sustainability hardwired into the responsibilities of the Board, the Chief Executive and the wider Group Executive Committee, responsibility for the most material sustainable impacts lie at the highest levels of the organisation.

For more information on governance and our committees read about our Board of Directors, our Group Executive Committee and our Strategy.​

Our number one priority is safety​

At SSE, if it's not safe, we don't do it.​

The safety of everyone that works for us is our first priority, and we aim to create a culture where everyone is engaged on safety and knows our mantra: if it’s not safe, we don’t do it. This sentiment empowers our people to do the right thing when it comes to keeping themselves and others safe. Ultimately, we want everyone who works for us or on our behalf to get home safe each day. Please see our latest Annual Report for more information about our safety culture.​

Our ethical culture​

An organisation’s culture is a key determinant of its long-term success. Doing the Right Thing, our guide published in 2023, is SSE’s code of conduct which supports the adoption of the right values, attitudes and behaviours to contribute to an ethical business culture at SSE. The guide applies to all employees as well those that work on our behalf. It covers topics including fair competition, business separation, engagement with politicians and regulators, modern slavery, safeguarding the environment, managing data and cyber security. We also have a suite of mandatory ethics and compliance training modules which all employees are required to complete.​

We undertake cultural health-checks too to understand how employee sentiment, provided from the employee engagement survey, aligned with a range of additional metrics, such as employee turnover rates, sickness rates, safety metrics and wellbeing figures. This is reported to the Board biannually as a cultural dashboard.

Preventing bribery and corruption​

Corruption and criminality, including bribery, fraud and other financial crime, are unacceptable in all circumstances. We take proactive steps to mitigate this risk occurring in our direct or supply chain operations. This includes a robust approach to governance, mandatory training and an established policy framework. Our ‘Doing the right thing’ guide and our Group Corruption and Financial Crime Prevention Policy are available on the Policies and assurances page.

Whistleblowing: speaking up against wrongdoing​

Empowering people to speak up against wrongdoing is a central element of our approach to good business ethics and doing the right thing. This can be done through an independent whistleblowing channel, called SafeCall, as well as through various internal channels. A breakdown of whistleblowing reports, including how they are made, what they related to and the outcomes of investigation can be found in the latest Sustainability Report. Our Group Whistleblowing Policy can be found on the Policies and assurances page.​

SSE’s stakeholder relationships ​

We want to have two-way constructive relationship with our six key stakeholder groups. Considering their perspectives, insights and opinions helps to ensure outcomes of operational, investment or business decisions are more robust and sustainable.