Appendix 4

Non-governmental CSR-related codes and standards initiatives

AA1000

Launched in 1999, the AA1000 framework, including standards, guidelines and professional development, provides a systematic stakeholder-based approach to organizational accountability. The AA1000 standard is a standard for assessing, attesting to and strengthening the credibility and quality of organizations' sustainability reporting and their underlying processes, systems and competences. It is designed to improve accountability and performance by promoting learning through stakeholder engagement. It was developed to address the need for organizations to integrate their stakeholder engagement processes into daily activities. This standard works well with the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines, discussed below.

Australian standard on compliance programs

Compliance with laws and other requirements is essential to any firm's social responsibility program. Compliance programs help firms prevent, detect and correct breaches of legal obligations. Standards Australia developed AS 3806-1998 to help firms ensure they have effective compliance programs in place. The standard includes structural, operational and maintenance elements. Structural elements focus on commitments, compliance policies, management responsibility, resources and continuous improvement. Operational elements include identification of compliance issues, operating procedures for compliance, implementation, complaints handling, record keeping, identification and rectification of systematic and recurring problems, reporting and management supervision. Maintenance elements include education and training, visibility and communication, monitoring and assessment, review, liaison and accountability.

Global Reporting Initiative

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) develops and disseminates globally applicable sustainability reporting guidelines. These guidelines are for voluntary use by organizations for reporting on the economic, environmental and social dimensions of their activities, products and services. Sector-specific guidelines are developed as interest is expressed. GRI incorporates the active participation of representatives from business, accountancy, investment, environmental, human rights, research and labour organizations from around the world. Started in 1997, GRI is an official collaborating centre of the United Nations Environment Programme and works in co-operation with the Global Compact.

ISO 14001

ISO 14001 is a standard that provides a structure (an environmental management system or EMS) to help organizations manage and minimize their environmental impacts and achieve continual improvement. An organization may also use an EMS to add to an existing management system, for example, one based on quality. Within the EMS, an organization:

• formulates a policy
• identifies environmental impacts, areas of risk, relevant laws and other requirements
• sets objectives and targets
• establishes a structure and programs to implement the policy and achieve objectives and targets
• facilitates planning, control, monitoring, measurement, corrective action, auditing and review activities to ensure that the directives set in the policy and the EMS are met, and that the EMS maintains its relevance, currency and utility
• develops procedures for training and communications, and operational control and monitoring, taking into account information about significant environmental impacts that it controls or can have an influence on
• continuously improves its processes.

In developing and adopting an EMS, an organization is not expected to control every single impact it has on the environment. Nor does it mean that an organization that adopts ISO 14001 will never experience another environmental challenge, such as a spill or emission. It does mean that the organization has a procedure in place to manage things that have significant impacts on the environment.

ISO 9001

ISO 9001 is a standard that provides a structure (a quality management system) to help organizations to develop products and services that consistently ensure customer satisfaction and to continuously improve their products, services and process. The standard uses the “plan, do, check and improve” approach.

OHSAS 18001:
Occupational Health and Safety

OHSAS 18001 is a standard that provides a structure to help organizations manage their occupational health and safety programs to ensure employee safety and well-being and to achieve continuous improvement. It is based on the British Standards Institution standard BS 8800, and was developed by 13 national standards organizations and international certification bodies. It is said to be compatible with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

International labour framework agreements

Transnational corporations and international federations of trade unions have together developed framework agreements. These agreements establish a relationship between workers and companies that can help to resolve problems and avoid conflicts. The agreements set out principles for harmonious relations between business and workers and address issues such as worker rights and supplier relations. Corporations may find these principles attractive, since workers are likely to be intimately familiar with daily operations, and the reporting system is straightforward and familiar. Compliance with such agreements may also reduce criticisms from third parties. For more information, go to the Global Unions website.

Progressive Aboriginal Relations

The Progressive Aboriginal Relations program sets out a framework under which companies can establish performance benchmarks to help them develop mutually beneficial relations with Aboriginal people, businesses and communities, and to assess their own progress over time. Developed by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business and embracing ISO and Baldrige-type quality principles, the program is built on the premise of companies setting their own goals and then self-assessing the results against those goals.

The program is also a way for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal businesses to earn the right to use an identifying hallmark. This hallmark, used on corporate communications material, tells Aboriginal communities that an organization is committed to sustainable Aboriginal employment and business development by building individual capacity and enhancing community relations.

SA8000

Social Accountability International is a U.S.-based non-profit organization dedicated to developing, implementing and overseeing voluntary and verifiable social accountability standards. Social Accountability International developed a standard for workplace conditions and a system for independently verifying compliance. The standard, SA8000, and its verification system draw from established business strategies for ensuring quality (such as those used for ISO 9000) and include several elements that international human rights experts have identified as essential to social auditing. SA8000 is based on the principles of international human rights norms as delineated in International Labour Organization conventions, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Transparency International Business Principles for Countering Bribery

In December 2002, Transparency International, in a joint initiative with Social Accountability International, published Business Principles for Countering Bribery. The principles are intended to be a comprehensive reference for companies on good practices to counter bribery. The principles can be downloaded from Transparency International  (pdf 509kb)