Human Capital

L.B. Foster’s core values and SPIRIT culture model is led by Safety. We promote a culture of Health & Safety excellence that strives to protect our employees, business, customers, and communities where we operate. We are committed to exceed all applicable regulations and customer criteria, and strive towards a “Zero Injury Safety Culture” where no injury is acceptable regardless of severity.

Our Leadership Team is committed and allocates time and resources to focus on continuous and sustainable improvement efforts to improve and advance workplace safety. By spending time in our facilities and on the shop floor, our leaders join with employees to actively problem-solve together with the goal of zero injuries in the workplace.

The Company continually strives to develop best practices in health & safety management based on international standards. The Company has 11 locations (~33%) certified throughout North America and Europe where safety management systems have been independently assessed and are compliant with the requirements of ISO 45001 certification.

Note: we currently do not have a schedule to pursue additional accreditations; however, our internal safety management system always applies.

We communicate the safety pyramid to establish the need for observing events and near misses to aid in minimizing more significant safety incidents. Most important is that all employees are empowered, and expected, to report all health and safety concerns immediately. We enable all employees with the authority to prevent incidents and to stop work at any time.

To normalize safety performance, we track various metrics and compare to industry averages to ascertain the value of our safety program, i.e., total recordable incidence rate (TRIR), days away/restricted/transfers (DART), and lost time incident rate (LTIR). Year over year performance is:

Note: Industry average referenced the most conservative SIC/NAICS to our businesses (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry and case types, 2020).

Our workforce consists of approximately 1,000 contributors (end of year 2021 = 991 employees). The following information contained in this section provides a profile and an inventory of our Human Capital assets, as well as programs and initiatives that foster an effective and high performing workforce and culture.

Freedom of Association:
L.B. Foster Company respects the right of employees to join, form, or not to join a labor union; seek representation, bargain, or not bargain collectively in accordance with all applicable laws. In cases where employees are represented by unions, we aim to bargain in good faith and have open and respectful communication with selected representatives. We publicly report covered employees in our Annual Report. Of the hourly production workers, approximately 86 are represented by unions and three collective bargaining agreements at plants in Spokane, WA, Bedford, PA and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC (divested in 2022). We have not suffered any major work stoppages during the past five years and the Company considers its relations with its employees to be satisfactory.

We are dedicated to equal employment opportunity and a workplace free from discrimination and harassment; and, committed to employing and advancing in employment qualified women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, covered veterans, and other classes at all levels of employment.

Note: The most recent comparison for our regional operations demonstrates a pay difference of 33%, 15% and 13% in the United State, Europe, and Canada, respectively. This is reported based only on gender. We will consider more context, such as comparable education, experience, wage type, or roles in future reporting.

We have implemented initiatives to advance diversity and inclusion, including changes to recruitment, onboarding, and employee training. When conducting recruitment efforts, we utilize eQuest and their Global Diversity Network services to gain access to diverse candidates and influence Company demographics. Also, we developed the Spark initiative, which is an employee resource group targeting all employees interested in furthering the mission of empowerment and professional growth of women in the workplace.

“The mission of this initiative is encouraging and empowering the development and growth of women while navigating through the unique challenges they may experience in their career, enhancing our position as an employer of choice.”

We believe the best way to grow as an organization is to develop our workforce by providing career advancement opportunities and employee training initiatives that encourage the personal growth of our workforce. L.B. Foster provides learning opportunities throughout the year for employees across the organization.

• Corporate-wide development initiatives
• Succession planning
• Tuition reimbursement program
• Lunch and learning seminars

“L.B. Foster University is our internal education resource that hosts 205 courses in various categories of product training, new employee orientation, workplace diversity, management skills development, continuous improvement, business conduct, ethics, workplace harassment, etc.”

Talent Management remains at the forefront as we continue to focus our Human Capital as an enabler for achieving our strategic plan. In 2021, our workforce’s commitment to training and education (T&E) was:

We also had 9 employees enroll in LB Foster’s tuition reimbursement program. This is a wonderful benefit where we cover 100% of tuition. This program yields mutual benefits to both employee and employer. What is special about these employees is that they are all pursuing a bachelor’s degree, indicating a desire to build on their work experiences while advancing their academic credentials.

L.B. Foster recognizes the importance of offering programs that provide security and well-being for both our employees and their families. As we operate on a global scale, benefits and program designs may vary based on the country, or employment status (i.e., full-time vs. part-time). Despite these differences, we strive to provide consistent employee experience across our various locations, ensuring that regardless of location or position, employees feel like valued members of the L.B. Foster family.

Examples of the benefits and programs that provide a positive employee experience include, but are not limited to: