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SA 8000 Social Accountability

Demonstrating responsible business 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.

SA8000 Overview

SA8000 is an international standard for improving working conditions. Based on the principles of thirteen international human rights conventions, it is a tool to help apply these norms to practical work-life situations. Sufficiently specific to be used to audit companies and contractors alike in multiple industries and countries, SA8000 represents a major breakthrough: it was the first auditable social standard and creates a process that is truly independent (it is neither a government project, nor dominated by any single interest group).

To certify 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 and evaluate the state of a company’s management systems, necessary to ensure ongoing acceptable practices. Once an organization has implemented any necessary improvements, it can earn a certificate attesting to its compliance with SA8000. This certification provides a public report of good practice to consumers, buyers, and other companies and is intended to be a significant milestone in improving workplace conditions.