Polices on Human Rights and Social Accountability

• No labor under 15 years old shall be hired.
• No labor shall be hired by force or through coercion.
• Safe and hygienic workplace and dormitory as will as accident prevention system shall be guaranteed for ht staff.
• Rights of the staff to unit into lawful bodies shall be respected
• No discrimination against skin colors, races, religions, ages, nationalities, disabilities or political affiliations shall be adopted.
• No physical punishment, mental cruelty, or humiliation shall be practiced.
• Applicable laws concerning working hours, overtime hours, and weekly day off shall be strictly observed.
• At least minimum wages imposed by labor laws shall be paid to the staff.

What are the social issues tackled by the SA8000 standard?

There are eight broad issues which are dealt with by SA8000 and different criteria within them which must be met in order to achieve certification, these are; child labour, forced labour, health and safety, freedom of association, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours and remuneration (pay).
I am going to break these areas down for you one by one, but it is important to note that these will be brief summaries of the criteria and give a simple overview of the standard. It is also important to note that in some cases the local country law may be more stringent than the SA8000 standard in which case the local law applies.

Highlights from the company’s third corporate responsibility report:

• Saved more than $8 million annually from lower agrichemical use and pallet recycling
• Days on strike fell by 25 percent in 2002 and 70 percent in 2003 compared to 2001
• 100 percent of Chiquita’s company-owned farms certified to the strict environmental standards of the Rainforest Alliance
• Volume of purchased bananas from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms increased to more than 65 percent in 2003 from 33 percent in 2001
• Set goal to phase out by 2007 all refrigerated containers using chlorofluorocarbons, which are known to contribute to the depletion of the earth’s ozone layer
• Reduced sulfur content of ship fuel to less than half the maximum-allowable 5 percent

The following conditions must be fulfilled in order for a company to receive SA8000 certification:

• Comprehensive social management system incl. documentation and communications
• Payment of wages that cover basic needs
• Complete responsibility taken for the entire value chain, i.e. for sub-contractors, suppliers, sub-suppliers and home workers

Process of Certification

Assessment of compliance to the SA8000 Standard and the issuance of SA8000 certifications is available only through independent organizations accredited by Social Accountability Accreditation Services (SAAS). A facility wishing to seek certification to SA8000 must apply to a SAAS-accredited auditing firm, known as a Certification Body.
To learn more about the process of certification, please visit the isoconsultantsdelhi.com website. In order to learn more about SA8000 and the certification process, interested parties should review the SA8000 Standard, available for downloading, and the SA8000 Guidance Document, available for purchase. Aims management consultants also offers several different training courses designed for auditors, workers, managers and others interested in learning about the SA8000 certification process.
Certification under SA8000 is available to any organization. Certified workplaces are required to make public their certification and can display their certificate in a store or a factory, in company advertising, and on company stationary. A public list of certified organizations is also maintained on the isoconsultantsdelhi.com website.

Obtain IQNet SA8000 Certification through Aims management consultants International

Aims management consultants International has signed the Representative Agreement with IQNet in relation to the provision of IQNet SA8000 assessment services. IQNet Ltd has been accredited by Social Accountability International to deliver SA8000 certification globally, through this collaboration with aims management consultants International and other IQNet Partners which have also signed the Representative Agreement.

Business Challenge

The current global business environment is motivation organizations to consider the full social and ethical impacts of their corporate activities and policies. Those companies who are able to prove a responsible approach to broader social and ethical issues will gain a vital competitive edge and inspire the confidence of stakeholders such as clients, investors, local communities and consumers. Social concerns like child labour, forced labour and discrimination require companies to not only consider their own direct sphere of influence but also their entire supply chain. The concept and value of employing an independent, third party to monitor social responsibility is becoming increasingly important.

Proving your commitment to just & equitable working conditions

Is an international standard on social accountability management system that encourages organizations to develop, maintain and apply socially acceptable workplace practices. The Standard is developed by Social Accountability International (SAI), an affiliate of the Council on Economic Priorities, is viewed as the most globally applicable workplace standard.
SA 8000 is based on the principles of international human rights norm as described in International Labour Organization conventions, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It measures the performance of companies in eight key areas: child labour, forced labour, health and safety, free association and collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours and compensation.

SA 8000 Implementation Steps

Consultants Activity

• Initial Assessment through interview with the people Responsible of the main roles in the company, and sightseeing all the organization sites
• Projecting the System to comply with relevant national and local regulations, assessing the company against the SA8000 standard and giving the customer the time table to do it
• Implementing the System on the SA8000 standard and all the documents that vary depending of the company's activity
• Internal assessment of compliance to SA8000 conducted by Aims Management consultant Pvt. Ltd.'s consultants / experts to check if the changes to conditions, policies and management systems required by the standard are done in all the organization sites the audit relieves also that all what is declared in the relative documentation is true
• Assistance to choose the Certification Auditor that suites better the customer activity and management of all the arrangement needed
• Assistance up to the final Auditing and the issue of the certificate

Overview

is an international standard for improving working conditions. This standard is based on the principles of the international human rights norms as described in International Labor Organisation conventions, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. SA 8000 is the first auditable social standard and is independent of government bodies and single interest groups.

Factory working conditions

Aims management consultants has adopted the SA8000 Standard for factory operations. All of aims management consultant’s products are made in factories owned by others. At aims management consultants’ request, all factory owners have agreed to implement the SA8000 Standard. The standard includes bans on child labor, mistreatment of workers, a ban on illegal overtime, and on all overtime for which workers are not paid premium wages. The standard requires measures to promote worker safety (e.g., fire safety, factory hygiene, safe living quarters), and regular audits by outside agencies which have been specially certified on the SA8000 Standard. We recognize that full implementation of the SA8000 Standard will require continual efforts, and we are serious about it.

Detailed information on SA8000

With ever increasing frequency, companies are coming under scrutiny from governments, customers, trade unions, human-rights groups, and others to prove that their activities are conducted in a way which is socially acceptable to those who may be touched by it.
The notion of ‘social accountability’ is not a new one. International organizations, trade unions, human-rights lobbyists and regulators have long strove to eliminate the inequities of the workplace. Child labor and prison/forced labor continue to be pivotal issues in many areas of the world. Most of us will buy goods manufactured under conditions that we would never admit. Illegal labor and discriminatory practices are still usual, even in the ‘developed world’.

Tools for monitoring social compliance

The tools Aims management consultants currently employs to monitor its supply chain are the SA8000 standard and the BSCI audits. In addition to these, there are several national and sector–specific initiatives with similar Codes of Conduct on the market. Although all existing models do not necessarily fully comply with Kesko's requirements, it is clear that these other initiatives linked to Kesko's supply chain have resulted in improvements especially in global labour standards.
Aims Management consultants buyers of imported products have received basic training in the ILO conventions, the SA8000 standard and the BSCI system. The buyers' duties include collecting from suppliers the basic information needed for social quality control, personally presenting Aims management consultant’s principles and the monitoring tools, and keeping the idea of carrying out a BSCI audit or implementing the SA8000 standard continuously alive. Auditing of companies is entrusted to local, independent experts who speak the language of the employees and are familiar with both the national legislation and international conventions.

The course cover the following

• Overview of Social Accountability issues
• ETI Base Code & SA 8000 Standards
• Labour standards, Product Issues
• Health, safety & welfare issues
• Employee relations and conditions of employment
• Understanding differing employment markets and working conditions
• Auditing skills
• Planning an audit
• Identifying and reporting non-conformances
• Reporting writing

Our Methodology

Key steps in our approach are:

• Contract signature;
• Pre-audit (optional):gap analysis and diagnosis of your current position against the standard;
• Initial audit to verify the implementation of the basic structure of the Management System (legislations and regulations applying);
• Certification audit (certificate issued);
• Surveillance visits to follow the continual improvement;
• Re-certification after 3 years through full audit or continual assessment.

Aims Management consultants is awarded SA8000 in India.

Aims management consultants has been awarded social accountability international, SA 8000 certification in its factory in India.
The Indian factory, which manufactures household wire ware and small kitchen utensils, is one of the first 100 in the world to be awarded this certificate.
SA 8000 is a standard based on the ILO (International Labour Organization)convention, as well as on other conventions for human rights, which determines criteria and rules related to; child labour, forced labour, health and safety, freedom of union association and right to collective bargaining, discrimination, work timetable, salary levels and organization systems inside a company.

The Arguments for SA8000 Certification

Both organizations and the public are confronted with a challenge when wanting to procure from socially responsible suppliers. Before SA8000 there was no global norm against which companies could be assessed.
SA8000 certification theoretically provides assurance that the goods or services have been produced and delivered in accordance with a commonly accepted and socially acceptable set of values.
Naturally, for the socially responsible organizations, SA8000 will allow them to create a demarcation from their peers, who do not meet the standards. It is expected that entrenched practices such as using sweatshop and child labor should be reduced following of SA8000 implementation.
SA8000 is an instrument for closing the gap between business and the evolving values of society. Through the auditing of human matters, instead of financial or quality issues, SA8000 certification strives to materialize the concept of social accountability.

ISO 9001, ISO13485, ISO14000, TS 16949& GMP

We offer factory audits using the ISO9001, ISO13485, TS 16949, GMP standard and/or the ISO 14000 environmental standard. Our auditors conduct preliminary and/or final audits to ensure continuous improvement goals are being identified and achieved.

SA 8000 Background

SA8000 is a consensus standard that encourages companies and other organisations to develop, maintain and apply social, ethical and acceptable workplace practices within their sphere of influence. SA8000 is an initiative of the Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency (CEPPA), an affiliate of the Council on Economic Priorities. In short, the SA8000 standard seeks to ensure certain benchmarks are applied to workplace practices through accredited and independent third party auditing. The overall mission of SA8000 is to improve working conditions globally.

Description of sustainability activity

The Apparel Avenue Company is considered a medium-sized factory in the apparel industry in Thailand, with two manufacturing sites and over 600 employees. The company exports 100% of its products, nearly 75% to the US, 10% to Japan, 10% to the EU and the remaining 5% to ASEAN countries. After achieving ISO 9002 and ISO 14001, the company undertook a further effort to comply with the social accountability standard (SA8000) in order to maintain its export market in the long run. Achieving SA8000 certification meant Apparel Avenue had to reduce the overtime of its workers, and the company's SA8000 team agreed that an appropriate methodology was through increasing productivity. This would improve the working environment, with the company saving overtime costs and the employees making more money with fewer working hours. The improvements involved changing the working steps or sequences, designing new tools to improve the employees' working practices, redesigning the workstations and paying the workers by item instead of by hour to prevent them losing salary. The procedures were implemented relatively quickly, as the employees also realised how they could benefit.

Who should apply?

• Companies seeking to independently verify their social record.
• Companies seeking to independently verify their own social record and that of their contractor. Contractors that produce goods for U.S. and European companies and wish to demonstrated to companies and consumers that they are treating workers development.
• Multilateral organizations seeking to ensure that they procure from companies that are not exploitative.

SA8000 is not an ISO-series standard.

Many aspects of SA8000 are similar to the ISO 9000 series of standards, such as preventive and corrective action, management review, planning, implementation and measurement of effectiveness, control of suppliers, records and the need for verifiable objective evidence.
There are some differences from the ISO 9000 series requirements. These include SA8000 provisions to disclose information to selected third-parties, an increased reliance on employee interviews, which are confidential and may be off-site, and the collecting of evidence from outside of the company, such as from the local health department, economic development agency, church or school. Additionally, the scope of registration cannot be limited to only certain buildings, assembly lines, processes or areas; all areas including recreational and dormitory areas must be assessed if present.

Where Does SA8000 Originate?

SA8000 results from a four-year work launched by the Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency (CEPPA), an agency of the Council on Economic Priorities (CEP). The CEP is a non-governmental organisation in the field of corporate social responsibility, it was established in 1969 and is based in New York.
The advisory board of the CEPPA has representatives from a broad spectrum of organisations, including manufacturing and service companies, financial institutions, management services companies, customer and supplier corporations, other non-governmental organisations, trade unions and academia. Among those contributing to the development of the standard were representatives from Toys "R" Us, Avon Products, OTTO-Versand, KPMG, Body Shop, Amnesty International, National Child Labour Committee, Sainsbury's, University of Texas, Belgian Workers Federation, Abrinq, International Textile Garment and Leather Workers Federation, Eileen Fisher, Grupo M.S.A., Amalgamated Bank, Reebok and SGS-ICS.
The development of SA8000 was not a governmental or sectorial scheme, and allegedly efforts were made for it not to be dominated by any individual interest group, however it is evident that the advisory board is largely dominated by representatives from the business and financial milieu.

Definitions

• Definition of company: the entirety of any organization or business entity responsible for implementing the requirements of this standard, including all personnel (i.e., directors, executives, management, supervisors, and non‑management staff, whether directly employed, contracted or otherwise representing the company).
• Definition of supplier: a business entity which provides the company with goods and/or services integral to, and utilized in/for, the production of the company’s goods and/or services.
• Definition of subcontractor: a business entity in the supply chain which, directly or indirectly, provides the supplier with goods and/or services integral to, and utilized in/for, the production of the supplier’s and/or company’s goods and/or services.
• Definition of remedial action: action taken to remedy a nonconformance.
• Definition of corrective action: action taken to prevent the recurrence of a non-conformance.
• Definition of interested party: individual or group concerned with or affected by the social performance of the company.
• Definition of child: any person less than 15 years of age, unless local minimum age law stipulates a higher age for work or mandatory schooling, in which case the higher age would apply. If, however, local minimum age law is set at 14 years of age in accordance with developing‑ country exceptions under ILO Convention 138, the lower age will apply.
• Definition of young worker: any worker over the age of a child as defined above and under the age of 18.
• Definition of child labour: any work by a child younger than the age(s) specified in the above definition of a child, except as provided for by ILO Recommendation 146.
  

Fundamental structure

SA8000 is based upon a variety of sources, including UN declarations and International Labour Organisation conventions. It is currently under review with an update due to be published later in 2008.
Requirements are split across eight recognised human rights components, including child labour, collective bargaining, working hours and remuneration. A further section details the management processes a company is expected to have in place.
Unlike many other standards, there is no option to self-certify under SA8000. Rather, each and every company facility has to be visited by a qualified assessor.

Enhancing your company reputation through social responsibility

The current global business environment is motivating organizations to consider the full social and ethical impacts of their corporate activities and policies. Those companies who are able to prove a responsible approach to broader social and ethical issues will gain a vital competitive edge and inspire the confidence of stakeholders such as clients, investors, local community and consumers.
Social concerns like child labour, forced labour and discrimination require companies to not any consider their own direct sphere of influence but also their entire supply chain. The concept and value of employing an independent, third party to monitor social responsibility is becoming increasingly important.

Social Accountability Policy

• To provide Safe & Healthy working conditions.
• To ensure compliance of National & other applicable laws and to respect the International Instruments and their interpretation.
• To maintain disciplined and discrimination free working organization.
• To develop awareness towards SA 8000 standard requirements among all its stake holders.
• To ensure freedom of Association and right to collective bargaining.
• To ensure not to engage or support the child labour and forced labour in any form in the organization.
• To ensure effective implementation of Social Accountability Standard policies and requirements and to make continual improvement.

Benefits for Business Through Compliance to SA 8000:

• Putting company values into action.
• Enhancing company and brand reputation.
• Improving employee recruitment, retention and performance.
• Better supply chain management and performance.

What is Social Accountability?

Social accountability is a broad term created as a business response to a host of operational factors affecting a company’s diverse stakeholders. These stakeholders include employees, the community, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, management, owners and stockholders.
These operational factors include working environment, employment compliance, safety, diversity, discrimination and equal rights, human rights, community responsibility, environmental concerns, product life cycle, legal issues and regulatory requirements. These factors may not be directly tied to the company’s manufacturing process but do create need for the company to assess compliance, conformance and risk affecting the company, it’s environment and it’s profitability.

Benefits of SA 8000 to manufacturers and suppliers

• Marketing advantage – more demand and value for goods from socially.
• Responsible manufacturers/suppliers
• Enhancement of company’s productivity
• Compliance to the laws of the land.
• Improvement of relationship with the Govt., NGOs, trade unions.
• Better image and position in labour market.

How can use SA 8000

Companies and their supply chains that want to demonstrate that their workers are being treated fairly and humanely.
Note: The SA 8000 standard excludes Myanmar and the maritime sector from SA 8000 certification. However Lloyd's Register will provide global maritime labour inspection and certification services to the shipping industry in accordance with international standards set by the forthcoming ILO Maritime Labout Convention 2006.

SA 8000 social responsibility as standard

The number of companies accredited to the sa8000 standard recently passed 100 - so now is a good time to consider the standard and its impact on the development of the CSR agenda, says Mallen Baker
The Social Accountability 8000 standard brings the kind of approachassociated with the iso quality systems - such as iso 9001 - andapplies it to social responsibility in the workplace. Human rights,child labour, health and safety, freedom of association, workinghours and compensation. The standard is based on established humanrights instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of HumanRights and the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child.The standard is certified, and a growing body of professionalauditors has risen as a result.What are the business benefits of such a system? Chiefly, theyrevolve around reputational protection. The companies which havebeen hit hardest by problems are those with long and exposed supplychains operating in developing countries. The standard gives suchcompanies a useful tool to begin to bring those suppliers into line.

What are the Customer’s benefits

• Demonstrated commitment to socially responsible business ethics
• Protection for your brand
• Enhanced reputation as a socially responsible corporate citizen
• Customer and consumer confidence and positive investor perception

Who Can apply for certification?

1. Companies seeking to independently verify their social record.
2. Companies seeking to independently verify their own social record and that of their contractors.
3. Contractors that produce goods for U.S. and European companies and wish to demonstrate to companies and consumers that they are treating workers fairly.
4. Development or multilateral organisations seeking to ensure that they procure from companies that are not exploitative

Special cases

1) Subsidiaries are not automatically certified as part of the headquarters' decision to apply for certification. For example, the decision on the part of a German company to certify to SA8000 does not include its subsidiaries, although subsidiaries can be cerified separately.

2) The Agricultural sector is not currently addressed under SA8000, although there may be a future SA8001 that addressed agricolture issues and/or a guidance document may be development to interpret these issues for the agricultural sector.

3) Extractive industries, such as oil and mining, are not covered under SA8000, although there may be an SA8002 that addresses these issues and/or guidance document may be develpment to interpret these issues for specific extractive industries.

4) Homework is not currently addressed, but future revisions of SA8000 will address this issue. This is a complex issue, because auditing a home can be considered a violation of privacy. To certify corporate conformance with SA8000, every facility seeking certification must be audited. Thus auditors will visit factories and assess corporate practice on a wide range of issues: child labour, health and safety, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours and compensation. Auditors will also evaluate the state of a company's management systems, necessary to ensure ongoing conformance in each of these areas. The goal is continuous improvement, not exclusion. However, as more and more firms become certified to comply with SA8000, retailers and brand name manufacturers will be able to state their preference for (or decision to deal exclusively with) suppliers in compliance with SA8000. Factories will need to make improvements and abide by a timetable for verifying that problems have been addressed; they must document progress in problem areas. For example, a factory which employed exploitative child labor would need to document, maintain, and effectively communicate policies and procedures that addressed the needs of displaced children (i.e. those put out of work by effective monitoring itself) -- plus take preventive action to avoid a recurrence.

About SA8000

Developed by Social Accountability International (SAI), SA8000 was published in late 1997, revised in 2001 and reached its third edition in 2008. The standard, as well as the supporting independent certification process, provides the basis for a comprehensive and widely accepted approach for assuring fair and humane workplaces. SAI’s SA8000 system includes:
1. factory-level management system requirements for ongoing social compliance and continual improvement
2. independent, expert verification of compliance by certification bodies accredited by SAAS
3. involvement by stakeholders including participation by all key sectors in the SA8000 system: workers, trade unions, companies, socially responsible investors, non-governmental organisations and government
4. public reporting on SA8000 certified facilities through postings on the SAAS and SAI websites
5. training for workers, managers, auditors and other interested parties in effective use of SA8000
6. Research and publication of guidance in the effective use of SA8000.
7. Complaints, appeals and surveillance processes.

What can SA 8000 do for you?

• It helps you with the effective use of systems for managing social accountability
• You can demonstrate to your stakeholders that you are accountable and responsible.

How does SA 9000 operate?

• As in the cases of ISO 9000 quality management system and ISO 14000 environmental management system, SA 8000 provides a framework for independent assessment by a third party certification body
• SA 8000 includes a set of social accountability standards and a guidance document
• Through continuous assessment, it provides the companies with a system for continuous improvement
• Through an appeal process to the certification body, non-governmental organizations (i.e. NGOs), if they have supporting evidence, can challenge the SA 8000 certification of a company .

Why was SA 8000 developed?

• Consumers and other stakeholders have become increasingly concerned about whether products have been manufactured under conditions of violation of human rights, child labor and discrimination – as often reported by the media.
• The existing management of many companies cannot adequately cope with the myriad demands imposed by labour laws, codes of conduct of individual companies, as well as their stakeholders.
• A greater challenge is to effectively monitor whether the manufacturers and suppliers have implemented .

What are the benefits of SA 8000

Managing your reputational risks in the world business environment also gives you an opportunity to demonstrate good business practice and ethical trading.
A strong social accountability management system will benefit your business by:

• Enhancing your brand image and reputation
• Differentiating you from your competition
• Attracting new customers
• Improving worker morale and effectiveness
• Opening up new markets
• Attracting ethical investment
• Demonstrating transparency to stakeholders

Does SA8000 apply to all industries?

No, due to the nature of some industries, they are excluded from the scope of SA8000, for example agriculture and extractive industries.However, Bureau Veritas Certification can help organizations in these sectors adopt alternative approaches in order to achieve their corporate social responsibility objectives.

SA 8000 Social Accountability overview

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and investment analysts scrutinize organizations to assess that minimum standards are upheld in the workplace and ensure that workers are getting a fair deal.These and other stakeholders, including your employees, are increasingly evaluating your organization’s commitment to ensuring a fair and equitable working environment and transparent business practices.This climate means that your organization will be called upon more and more to demonstrate its social responsibility.The most widely recognized global standard for managing human rights in the workplace is Social Accountability International’s SA 8000:2001. It is the first auditable standard, suitable for organizations of all sizes anywhere in the world, and provides a framework for assuring all of your stakeholders that social accountability is being stewarded by your management.

SA 8000 Standard Elements

• Child Labor
• Forced Labor
• Health and Safety
• Freedom of Association and Right to collective Bargaining
• Discrimination
• Discipline
• Working Hours
• Compensations
• Management Systems.
  The audit team will visit the client organization´s facilities and assess the implementation and effectiveness of the Social Accountability Program to confirm the facility´s compliance with SA 8000.

What is SA 8000 Certification?

SA 8000 certification enables you to demonstrate your commitment to social accountability standards as well as employee and customer satisfaction.

SA 8000 is an international certification standard that encourages organisations to develop, maintain and apply socially acceptable practices in the workplace. It was created in 1989 by Social Accountability International (SAI), an affiliate of the Council on Economic Priorities, and is viewed as the most globally accepted independent workplace standard. It can be applied to any company, of any size, anywhere in the world. The areas it addresses include forced and child labour, health and safety, freedom of association and collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours, compensation and management systems.

What kind of standard is it?

SA8000 is an internationally accepted and independently verified certification process. Facilities submit to an independent audit against the SA8000 Standard, and if a facility meets the Standard, it will earn a certificate attesting to its social accountability policies, management, and operations. Companies that operate production facilities can seek to have individual facilities certified to SA8000 through audits by one of the accredited certification bodies.

What is SA 8000?

SA8000 is the first auditable standard in this field. In particular, it is compatible with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS18001 structure and based on conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.