BSCI, SMETA & SA 8000

Nowadays, the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility is attracting increasing attention in the media and society as a whole: within the framework of risk management and corporate ethics, and in particular against the background of worldwide outsourcing, companies must ensure that their suppliers behave towards both people and the environment in a responsible way. TÜV NORD CERT offers certification according to Social Accountability (SA) 8000 and auditing to BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) and to SEDEX (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) to companies who support such responsible behaviour and wish to communicate this effectively to customers, partners and consumers.

The goal of above standards is to improve working conditions all over the world. They are therefore concerned with matters such as child and forced labour, occupational health and safety, freedom to establish employee representation organizations, discrimination, living wages and work conditions.

BSCI. SEDEX and SA 8000 support the efforts of companies to improve their Corporate Social Responsibility in relation to basic human and employee rights and also to testify to this.

BSCI is a code of conduct which was developed by leading companies and the Foreign Trade Association (FTA) in order to create unified social standards. BSCI members must have two thirds of their suppliers audited according to the code.

The SEDEX (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) is a web-based system designed to help organizations manage data on labor practices in their supply chain. Companies as members of SEDEX have the benefit to publish their SMETA audit reports directly on the web-based system for viewing by all customers.

SA 8000 is an internationally-recognised standard which offers voluntary certification regarding observance of employees rights. It includes the same requirements as BSCI, but augments these with a management system identical to standard DIN EN ISO 9001.

Companies who successfully complete the audit and certification process and therefore demonstrate responsible company ethics benefit from a wide-ranging increase in the confidence of consumers and investors. Yet another benefit is the increase in customer and employee loyalty; the image enhancement helps to reduce reputation costs.