SA8000: Corporate Social Accountability.

SA 8000:2014 (SA: Social Accountability) is the first international standard about a corporate social responsibility.

WHAT IS THIS CERTIFICATION FOR?

This standard identifies a management model that aims to value and safeguard all the staff of organizations which adopt it.

SA 8000 was written and defined by SAI (Social Accountability International, former CEPAA: Council of Economical Priorities Accreditation Agency) with the purpose of constituting a point of reference for companies and market.

Adopting SA 8000 allows to improve working conditions, promote ethical and fair treatments, especially to include the international human rights conventions.

This standard, in other words, aims to build “a more just world”.

WHY IS IT NECESSARY?

In a global market, companies have to be accountable in their conduct, both towards employees and entire civil society.

This means that companies must pay attention to certain aspects and actors of business process:

• internal subjects (employees and shareholders)
• external subjects (customers, consumers, suppliers, residents, local authorities, trade unions, control bodies)

SA 8000 is characterized by its flexibility. In fact, it is applicable in companies of any size like entities operating in public or private sector.

To ensure the adoptability of the standard, SAI periodically reviews it. In this regard, an accreditation department was constituted inside SAI in 1997: SAAS (Social Accountability Accreditation Services).
SA 8000 was updated the last time in 2014 just by SAAS.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

The main advantages entailed by SA 8000 are:

• Improvement and consolidation of corporate image.
  Consequently, a greater confidence from social organizations and consumer, and an improvement of the relationship with institutions;
• Monitoring of ethics and social correctness in supply chain;
• Improvement of business climate and internal communication.

WHAT ARE THE PREREQUISITES?

In order to apply SA 8000, minimum requirements in terms of social and human rights must be respected.

Specifically, the standard requires eight requirements to be met, related to human and workers’ rigths:

• Forced labour and child labour
• Health and safety in workplace
• Freedom of assembly and rigth to collective bargaining
• Discrimination
• Disciplinary procedures
• Working time
• Criteria relating to contributions
• Management system

That means the standard provides the introduction of a Social Responsibility Management System.

WHAT CAN ESQ CERT DO FOR YOU AND YOUR COMPANY?

Organisations certified ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 have needed elements for easily introducing a Social Responsibility Management System.

SA 8000 is easy to integrate with other ISO standards.

To grow your business in the right direction, certifications are fundamental.

Feel free to contact us for any information.