Corporate Responsibility - Focus Areas

At Beacon, we strive to improve our work practices. We actively support a culture of health and safety for the benefit of our employees and customers. Providing a safe and healthy work environment for our colleagues, contractors and visitors is a business priority and is core to Beacon's values. Health and safety are essential parts of a broader environment and workforce sustainability strategy that reduces the risk of harm to colleagues and helps them remain healthy, engaged and productive. We also strive to protect the environment as much as possible consistent with our business mission. This page sets forth the ways in which we achieve these goals.

I. Occupational Health and Safety

Workplace Safety

At Beacon, our employees are our greatest asset and we regularly implement initiatives to protect their well-being. Our overall goal is to be an Injury-Free Workplace and we use training, monitoring, and goal setting to move toward this objective. Beacon strives to establish processes that meet and/or exceed regulatory compliance by using multi-level employee collaboration to incorporate safety into our annual planning cycle and daily employee activities. We have appointed a Vice President of Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) to lead this effort.

Our guiding principles on the road to achieving our goal are:

  • We will conduct our operations in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and will develop our occupational health and safety management system with the goal of becoming a market leader while surpassing the best results of companies across all industries.
  • We view safety as a core value of the organization. We are committed to protecting and continually improving employee wellness and safety while providing our people with active and ongoing feedback to address risky behaviors and workplace hazards.
  • We recognize that a person's attitude toward safety is a choice. Management will strive to lead by example, thereby demonstrating Beacon's commitment to safety across all areas of the business. We will communicate with, and continually look for ways to engage employees to improve our safety culture in a way that not only benefits the individuals, but also their families, coworkers, and our customers.
  • We will provide current and relevant safety training to employees throughout our organization and will recognize superior occupational health and safety performance and results.

Health and Wellness

Beacon believes that happy workers are the best workers! In order for our employees to be happy they need to be healthy and that is why we believe that offering proper training and wellness programs are essential to providing the resources necessary to promote a healthy workforce. We constantly are striving to develop innovative ideas to get our employees healthy. Here are some of the things we are doing:

  • Provide proper training on workplace safety for all employee
  • Reinforce hydration for wellness, especially as our employees work outdoors throughout the seasons.  We all have the fundamental right to clean and plentiful water
  • Employee MotivateMe Wellness Program (includes):
    • Free yearly health assessments are given to each employee wishing to participate.
    • Health coaching by phone
    • Online health management programs
    • Participation qualifies employees for the lowest available annual rates

II. Culture of Charitable Giving

At Beacon, we believe that a being a good corporate citizen is the right thing to do for our customers, employees and community. Our goal is to achieve exceptional performance by embedding citizenship into all our daily decisions and actions.

Beacon contributes volunteer time, gift in kind of products/services and cash donations to 501(c)(3) organizations at the corporate and local level.

For example, Beacon has partnered with Good360 to provide gift in kind items to its network of charitable partners.  The company and its employees also fund Beacon CaReS, a crisis relief support program operated by America’s Charities to help employees who experience unexpected financial hardships.

We do not fund:

  • Private pursuits
  • Political parties, associations and representatives of advocacy groups
  • Organizations that discriminate by race, creed, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion or national origin
  • Religious causes

Veteran’s support

Many Veterans who have served our country often face adversity in the years following their service. The hardships they endure include financial issues, unemployment, health related issues (mental & physical), homelessness and so many more.

Beacon of Hope was created to give back to our Veterans who are in need of a basic necessity: a safe place to live. We hope to inspire our employees, customers, and communities to come together to help us in our efforts to provide our Vets with a "Beacon of Hope."

Launched in 2019 via a public nomination process, five deserving veterans received full roof replacements and an additional five received funding to support their roof project. This annual program allows Beacon the privilege to provide a safe roof that these veterans can be proud of and that will protect their family and their belongings.

Beacon is proud to employ over 175 veterans and is committed to hiring and retaining military veterans, Reservists and National Guard members.

Beacon of Hope banner

Beacon also partners with the Marine Corps Reserve to support Toys for Tots and has been named a National Corporate Donor

Education

The company is a founding sponsor of National Women in Roofing a volunteer-based organization that supports and advances the careers of women roofing professionals. Beacon is proud to support networking, mentoring, education and recruitment opportunities from the rooftop to the boardroom, for the young professional at the start of her career to the seasoned manager in the executive suite.

Also in support of industry women and their education, Beacon sponsors the North American Female Roofing Professional of the Year contest.  This program spotlights deserving women in the roofing industry and awards them with funds to continue their professional development.

Beacon serves as Trustee of The Roofing Alliance, NRCA’s Foundation. The Foundation has three objectives: technology & research, philanthropy and education, including the  Melvin Kruger Endowed Scholarship Program, which assists individuals seeking to further their educations to pursue careers in roofing or building construction industries.

Beacon also sponsors the Robert R. Buck Scholarship which grants $25,000 annually in awards to employee dependents who are pursuing post-secondary education.

Political Involvement and Contributions

Although Beacon does not offer donations for any political party or candidate, we do encourage all of our employees to actively take part in the political process and support candidates of their choice.

Beacon participates in trade organizations that represent our industry as a whole.

III. Human Rights

Beacon respects the individual regardless of nationality, race, sex, or legally protected human characteristics. We value and foster the diversity and inclusion of the people with whom we work. We base employment decisions on merit, considering qualifications, skills, and achievements. We are committed to minority groups and women’s rights. We dedicate ourselves to equal opportunity and are intolerant to discrimination and harassment based on race, color, national origin or ancestry, citizenship status, religion, age, sex, pregnancy (including lactation, childbirth, or related medical conditions), physical or mental disability, veteran status, uniformed service-member status, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Beacon’s goal is to create a working environment that fosters personal and professional development in a respectful and accepting working environment. We require that all employees receive annual training on preventing discrimination and harassment.

Beacon will comply with all employment laws and regulations, in every country and jurisdiction in which we operate, including labor laws that govern an employees' freedom of association and the right to collectively bargain, and we expect our suppliers to do the same. Beacon will not tolerate the use of child or forced labor, slavery, or human trafficking in any of its operations and facilities. We will not tolerate the exploitation of children or the trafficking, physical punishment, abuse, or involuntary servitude of any worker. We prohibit the hiring of individuals who are under 18 years of age for positions in which hazardous work is required. We expect our suppliers and contractors with which we do business to uphold the same standards.

Beacon believes that our employees are our most important asset, and we endeavor to provide all employees with a safe and respectful workplace. Employees receive new hire and ongoing training and communication to ensure that they understand Beacon’s policies against harassment and discrimination and to ensure that they get home safely every night. We compensate our employees in accordance with market practice in a manner that supports their ability to meet their basic needs. Beacon will pay wages that meet or exceed the legally required wages. We also offer our employees the opportunity to improve their skill and capabilities through online, in person and on the job training. Beacon will comply with applicable industry practices, local, state, and national laws on working hours.

Diversity & Inclusion

Beacon’s CEO has signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion Pledge along with 1,000 other corporate leaders.  This group of leaders recognizes that diversity and inclusion are multifaceted issues.  To better engage and support all underrepresented groups we must address honestly and head-on the concerns and needs of our diverse employees and increase equity for all, including Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, LGBTQ, disabled, veterans and women. The pledge also commits Beacon to implementing and expanding unconscious bias education. 

Conflict Minerals Policy

Beacon is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and is continually working toward a conflict-free supply chain. Beacon opposes human rights abuses and seeks to source products and materials from companies that share our values.

Under section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) requires publicly traded companies to report annually to the SEC whether the products they manufacture or contract to manufacture contain “conflict minerals” originating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the “DRC”) or adjoining countries. This “conflict minerals” rule specifically refers to coltan, cassiterite, gold, wolframite, tantalum, tin, and tungsten; it is believed that revenue from the mining and transportation of these minerals benefits groups responsible for human rights violations.

Beacon supports industry-wide efforts to identify, reduce, and hopefully eliminate the use of conflict minerals originating from the DRC and adjoining countries, and our supply chain program strives to prevent purchasing products that contain conflict minerals.

Beacon suppliers are expected to supply conflict-free materials and products, establish their own conflict minerals policies, provide information on sources of supply upon request, have or develop due diligence frameworks and management systems to prevent conflict minerals from being included in products sold to Beacon. In the event Beacon determines that a supplier has failed to develop and implement reasonable steps to comply with Beacon’s Conflict Minerals Policy, Beacon reserve the right to take appropriate actions, which may include discontinuing the business relationship with the supplier.

Human Rights, Anti-Human Trafficking, and Anti-Forced and Slave Labor Policy

Beacon believes in the protection of human rights, and that all individuals should be treated fairly, and with dignity and respect. We are committed to integrating respect for human rights into our practice wherever we do business, either directly within our own operations or throughout our supply chain. This commitment is reflected in our core values, as well as our Code of Ethics, Code of Conduct, our Supplier Code of Conduct, and other related policies. Further, Beacon is committed to respecting any relevant laws and regulations of the countries in which we operate.

Beacon has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery; it is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labor and human trafficking, all of which have in common, the deprivation of a person’s liberty in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain. Beacon will not tolerate the use of child or forced labor, slavery, or human trafficking in any of our operations and facilities. Beacon will not tolerate the exploitation of children or the trafficking, physical punishment, abuse, or involuntary servitude of any worker.

Internally, we have open door policies to promote reporting of any issues by our employees and a strong anti-retaliation policy. Employees can raise or report any human rights, human trafficking, retaliation or other ethical conduct questions, issues or concerns with their supervisor, the Human Resources Department, the Legal Department, or through our 24-hour Business Integrity Helpline, where applicable. For further information on the Business Integrity Line, or to report incidents anonymously, visit https://www.whistleblowerservices.com/becn/.

Incidents of human trafficking can also be reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Global Human Trafficking Hotline at https://humantraffickinghotline.org/report-trafficking.

IV. Anti-Corruption Policy

We have a responsibility to protect the Company’s assets entrusted to us from loss, damage, misuse or theft. These assets include funds, products, or computers and may only be used for business purposes and other purposes approved by management. Company assets may never be used for illegal purposes.

All Beacon employees will comply with the anticorruption laws of the countries in which Beacon does business, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), which applies to Beacon’s global business.

Employees will not directly or indirectly offer or make a corrupt payment to government officials, including employees of state-owned enterprises. These requirements apply both to Beacon’s employees and to agents, such as third party sales representatives, no matter where they are doing business. If you are authorized to engage agents, make sure that they are reputable and require them to agree in writing to Company’s standards in this area.

Directors, officers, and employees who have access to confidential information with respect to the Company are not permitted to use or share that information for stock trading purposes or for any other purpose except the conduct of the Company's business. All non-public information about the Company should be considered confidential information.

To use non-public information for personal financial benefit or to "tip" others who might make an investment decision on the basis of this information is not only unethical but also illegal. In order to assist with compliance with laws against insider trading, the Company has adopted a specific policy governing trading by directors, officers, and employees in securities of the Company. This policy is distributed to every director and officer, and any employee who has access to material non-public information. If any director, officer, or employee has any questions, please consult the Chief Financial Officer.

V. Environmental Management Policy

Beacon believes that protection of the environment is important to the long-term success of our business. Beacon has developed a multi-pronged environmental policy that is founded upon:

  • Our fleet, always in which we can reduce the emissions impact and increase fuel economy;
  • waste management/recycling- ways in which we can manage our waste and work with suppliers or recyclable/reusable products to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of waste.

Employees at all levels are required to comply with Beacon’s procedures and all relevant local, state, and federal environmental laws and regulations.

As a distributor rather than a products manufacturer, Beacon is fortunate to make a smaller impact on the environment that many other companies in the marketplace.  Still, we are continually looking for ways to run our business successfully while safeguarding resources for future generations. We also encourage our suppliers to practice leading waste and energy management techniques and strive to partner with environmentally conscious suppliers.

Below we describe ways that we are achieving these goals.

Fleet Management: Emissions Fuel Economy

Beacon utilizes a fleet of trucks to deliver its products. We understand that our diesel-powered trucks release greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and we are working to reduce these emissions via our OTC® Network strategy. Beacon’s OTC Network focuses on shifting multi-branch markets to a collaborative market model that optimizes customer deliveries by shipping from the closest branch to the customer’s delivery address.  This strategy is reducing the fuel our trucks use per delivery.

Relative targets: 

  • All markets with two or more branches are targeted to transition to the OTC model
  • Within the model, annual improvements in fuel usage per order

In 2019 our average fuel usage per exterior products customer order delivery 6.35 gallons. Via the application of our OTC Network strategy we seek to reduce the average gallons by 3% annually.  In 2020, we reduced the average gallons per delivery by 2.5%.

In addition, we continually invest to modernize our fleet to reduce emissions and improve safety for our drivers. All replacement Commercial Motor Vehicles are Certified Clean Idle diesel engines resulting in lower NOx levels of less than 30g/ hr.

With the implementation of In-cab technology, we are focused more now than ever on reducing emissions and our carbon footprint by managing the following:

  • Idle time
  • Speeding
  • Hard braking
  • Efficient routing
  • Eliminating empty miles
  • Improving our Preventative Maintenance Program for safer, efficient vehicle operation.
  • Increased intervals between particulate filter changes (less carbon output)
  • Less engine regenerations due to reduced idle time
  • Increased fuel mileage

To benchmark with other companies who have similar mixed fleets and continue to improve, Beacon has become an EPA SmartWay Partner.

  • In 2020, our fleet emission factors were:  CO2- 1,710 grams/mile, NOx- 4.65 grams/mile, PM- 0.0445 grams/mile.

Waste Management / Recyclables

Beacon strives to minimize the amount of waste we generate by adhering to local guidelines regarding recycling and disposal of hazardous waste materials. We also have contracts with Waste Management, a national leader in proper waste disposal.

Eco-Friendly Products and Services

We help our clients and customers protect the environment and meet their goals by offering eco-friendly products and services.

  • Beacon is a leading supplier of solar energy products for residential, commercial and utilities applications which help to reduce waste and conserve energy.  Our website and digital platform product catalogs include a growing inventory of over 700 products for solar contractors.
  • Beacon’s website and digital platform product catalogs include over 230 eco-friendly products as deemed by their manufacturers. 
  • In some locations, we offer waste disposal/recycling assistance to our customers to ensure proper and environmentally friendly waste management.

Resource Conservation

A. High Efficiency Lighting

In many locations, we have begun working with local energy providers to replace existing warehouse lighting with high efficiency LED (“T”) lighting to reduce energy usage. LED lights are more durable and up to 80 percent more efficient than traditional lighting, such as fluorescent and incandescent lamps. For more information about the benefits of LED lighting, please see https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/save-electricity-and-fuel/lighting-choices-save-you-money/led-lighting

B. Water Conservation

According to the U.S. EPA, 80 percent of states will experience water shortages by 2024; it is imperative that we all do our part to reduce unnecessary water use and help preserve this precious resource. For more information visit: https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts.

Because Beacon does not manufacture products, our water consumption is relatively small.  However, we do look for opportunities to reduce our water usage where we can. 

VI. Suppliers and Contractors

We have established and will maintain appropriate procedures to evaluate and select suppliers and contractors based on our core values, human rights policy, environmental policies, supplier qualification process, and our supplier code of conduct.

For more information, please see our Supplier Code of Conduct.

VII.  Information Security

Beacon believes our management information systems are a competitive advantage in maintaining our leadership position in the building products distribution industry and relies on those systems to achieve our mission of helping our customers and partners Build More.  Our information security team deploys an array of cybersecurity capabilities to protect our various business systems and data. 

We continually invest in protecting, monitoring, alerting and mitigating risks across the enterprise including an information security risk insurance policy.  

Our information security and privacy policies are in place and regularly updated based on business, compliance, and any other needs.  Our Chief Information Officer briefs the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors quarterly regarding information security matters.

We provide new hire and annual security awareness and privacy training to all online employees. In addition, targeted training is conducted for key departments dealing with sensitive data types. Beacon conducts monthly phishing assessment exercises to ensure employees are aware and educated about phishing threats and are trained to identify and report them. 

External and internal resources perform assessments and penetration testing throughout the year on Beacon applications, networks, and environments. We perform an annual review to verify our compliance with the Payment Card Industries Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).

In the event of a security issue, we have an incident response plan and established partners to quickly triage, contain and understand the issue, as well as how to protect against it going forward. Beacon has had no material publicly reportable information security incidents in the 2021 fiscal year.