
SA 8000 is international standards for
management system primarily dealing with working conditions related to the
quality of the life of a workman.
SA
8000 (Social
Accountability 8000) certification is the first international certification on
social responsibility. Its main objective is to guarantee workers’ right, in
such a way that everyone involved wins: companies, workers, trade unions &
government.
This
standard is based on:
- Universal declaration of Human rights
- UN convention on the rights of the Child
- The Eleven conventions of the International Labour Organization
SA
8000 standards:
- Integration of labour standard and Management Standard (ILO / ISO)
- The first global standard for ethical sourcing
- Designed for independent verification
- A global standard, designed for use by any
- company, anywhere in the world
- Has been developed with stakeholders
- Is designed to take local laws and
- requirements into account
- A common standard seeking to guarantee the basic rights of workers
- A set of universal requirements in line with the ILO Conventions
- The first auditable global social standard
- Provides the framework for the independent verification of the ethical production of goods and services
- Has been developed by CEPAA,
- now SAI (Social Accountability International)
The SA 8000 standards covers the following 9 elements:
Child labour
- Forced and Compulsory labour
- Health & Safety
- Freedom of association
- Discrimination
- Disciplinary practices
- Working hours
- Remuneration
- Management Systems
Benefits:
The implementation of SA8000 offers more benefits to workers, Customers & organization :
- More training , advancement
- Fewer accidents / injuries
- Better communication with management
- Reasonable and safe working hours
- Clear, credible information for those who want to make ethical purchasng decisions
- Useful data for socially responsible investors
- Identification of products made under humane conditions
- Identification of companies making progress toward humane conditions
- Broad coverage of product categories and production geography
- Improvement in Quality / Productivity
- Reduction in employee turn over
- Better relationship with workers, customers and NGOs
- Better supply chain management , performance
- New sales opportunities (Attract finance / customers)
- Enhanced Image
- Improvement of relationship with the Govt., NGOs, trade unions