SA8000 (Social Accountability 8000) is the global Standard for Managing Human Rights in the workplace and improving working conditions. A copy of the Standard can be downloaded free of charge here.
McFarlane Telfer have an Integrated Management System of ISO9001: 2008, ISO14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:2007 and also became our first client to be assessed to the Social Accountability Standard SA 8000:2001.
"..... to give independent third-party correlation of our efforts on people, dealing with the multi-nationals; we get varying weights of PQQ's to fill in – on which the predictable questions have always been "do you have a Quality System", "an Environmental Policy" etc. Now, large corporate clients also include questions about Social Accountability compliance – to avoid the wrong sort of PR (in some ways, potentially worse than most ISO non-compliance issues). So how much nicer to say that we are fully compliant!'"
Chris Craggs, Managing Director, McFarlane Telfer, Maidenhead.
It was developed by Social Accountability International in 1997 (revised 2001 and 2008) and is derived from various conventions, including the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention of Rights of the Child.
The Standard covers the following areas in detail:
- Child labour
- Forced labour
- Workplace health and safety
- Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining
- Discrimination
- Disciplinary practices
- Working hours
- Remuneration
- Management Systems
SA8000 is an auditable certification Standard which can be assessed by a Certification Body approved by the Social Accountability Accreditation Services. It is suitable for use in any organisation, of any size, worldwide.
Certification to SA8000 brings well evidenced benefits to:
- Business
- Workers, Trade Unions and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO)
- Consumers and Investors
Penarth Management can assist you in identifying how well you meet the requirements already or to implement any additional processes that may be required in order to achieve compliance to SA8000.
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