Committed to caring for the environment, employees and community.

Rapid Electronics is fully aware of its responsibilities to its staff, the environment and the community in which it operates. The company is committed to achieving best practice and a policy of continuous improvement in the areas of sustainability, health and safety, procurement and in its contribution to charity, educational and non-profit organisations.

Rapid`s Corporate Social Responsibility Policy provides the framework for these activities and provides specific commitment to the following:

Ensuring all of its customer-facing services and business operations continue to develop and facilitate ethical environmental practices
Continue to set best practice standards to meet or surpass the requirements of environmental legislation
Continue to develop procurement procedures to encompass social, ethical and environmental criteria to achieve best overall value
Continue to observe the highest standards of health and safety practice for company employees and clients
Continue to donate to local and national charities, educational initiatives and provide support to emergency causes
Continue to take reasonable steps to ensure that we do not employ someone who is being exploited.

Environment

As a responsible business Rapid is committed to reducing the impact it has on the environment, trading in a more sustainable way and limiting the amount of waste it produces. We comply fully with the RoHS, WEEE and REACH regulations, engage actively in recycling initiatives and embed sustainability into our continuous improvement programme. We are proud to hold the ISO 14001:2015 standard for environmental management. We continue to improve our environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and reduction in waste.

Health & Safety

Rapid is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff, clients and visitors to our premises. Our objectives, procedures and responsibilities are outlined in our Occupational Health and Safety Policy.

As holder of ISO 45001, Rapid is recognised as an organisation that has reached an international standard of Occupational Health and Safety, reducing risk for employees and improving safety performance in preventing accidents, injury and ill-health within the working environment. To achieve this accreditation Rapid implemented an extensive review of its processes and activities, identifying hazards, evaluating risks, establishing clear objectives and maintaining continuous improvement.

The processes and procedures that Rapid have in place that comply with ISO 45001 include the following:

Risk assessments for specific activities across the business
Ensuring all employees pass relevant safety courses, such as manual handling
Publication of a fire evacuation procedure
Introduction of new safety clothing for all warehouse employees
Ensuring temporary safety clothing and footwear is worn by all staff entering warehouse

Read our Occupational Health & Safety Policy

Charity, Education & Community

Rapid takes its ethical and community responsibilities very seriously.

We support a number of local and national charities with a wide-ranging programme of fundraising. These include the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal, Breast Cancer Now, Save the Children and MacMillan Cancer Support. Our local chosen charity is St Helena Hospice in Colchester, with whom we have worked in partnership for over a decade. We have been able to donate considerable sums to the hospice due to continuous initiatives, such as the funds received from a car parking service for football supporters using the nearby Colchester United Community Stadium. As a Spring Sponsor in 2021 we were able to help the hospice with its Virtual Ward, a vital service which allows patients to remain at home during the last weeks of life, while receiving personal care and support from hospice staff.
In recent years staff have donated Easter eggs to the children’s ward of the local hospital trust, as well as large quantities of clothing, gifts, food, toiletries and essentials to the Colchester Food Bank, Next Chapter and Colchester Emergency Night Shelter. Funds have been raised for men’s health charities through the Movember initiative and mental health charity Mind via a virtual ‘March to Everest’, which saw staff travel the equivalent of 6,330 miles in one month. In times of national emergency we also try to help where we can. During the coronavirus pandemic when there was an acute shortage of PPE for health workers, we donated materials like polypropylene and acetate to schools that were using their 3D printers to produce face shields. Rapid also donated boxes of medical-grade face masks to several local organisations so that they could continue their work safely.

Counterfeit Goods Statement

Rapid Electronics Ltd Counterfeit Goods StatementObjective:

To prevent the introduction of counterfeit or substandard product into our ranges through strict adherence to correct procurement and purchasing procedures.
Purchase of product:
The presence of counterfeit product in the international supply chain is a growing concern for distributors and customers alike as low-cost alternatives to traditional sources become available.

Rapid Electronics Ltd is fully committed to obtaining only products of the highest quality for our customers. We maintain an ISO9001:2015 management system which ensures all our suppliers agree to provide products solely from reputable sources.

All our suppliers understand that if any counterfeit products are introduced due to their negligence then action will be taken by Rapid Electronics Ltd to suspend any further purchases until that supplier or suppliers can guarantee to conform to the required ISO standard.
Reporting:
Rapid Electronics Ltd reports all incidents of counterfeit parts to internal organisations, other manufacturers and to customers.