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Industrial Initiatives in Social Responsibility

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Overview

Social responsibility, also known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), has become the center of attention for many organizations. In particular large companies, as they have necessary resources and capacities, are increasingly taking social responsibility initiatives. Some companies see these initiatives as a good mechanism to protect and enhance their image and reputation, whereas other organizations really believe they are responsible to be ethical and socially responsible and to contribute to sustainable development.

There’s no doubt that engagement in social responsibility activities creates value to both the company itself and the society. Depending on the industry, organization’s size and nature, business culture, and other factors, companies can address different social, environmental or economic issues. Some of the issues mostly addressed by companies are labor and human rights, ethics, labor practices, health and safety, environmental issues such as pollution and carbon footprint, community involvement and development, education etc. These are also important subjects included in the international standard for social responsibility, ISO 26000:2010 - Guidance on social responsibility.

Social Responsibility Initiative Examples from Industries

As agriculture is a large and complex industry that includes a broad spectrum of agribusinesses and consists of over one third of the world's workers, the ongoing need for social responsibility initiatives in this industry is reasonable. One of the major food industry initiatives supporting the development of sustainable agriculture worldwide is Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform. This non-profit organization has been created by three world leading food companies, Nestlé, Unilever and Danone, to support the development and implementation of sustainable agriculture practices involving the different stakeholders of the food chain.

Another agriculture-related initiative that is worth mentioning is International Cocoa Initiative. It is an organization promoting child protection in cocoa-growing communities. It works with the cocoa industry, civil society and national governments in cocoa-producing countries to ensure a better future for children and contribute to the elimination of child labor. Some of its members such as Mars, Nestlé, Ferrero and Hershey have made commitments towards sourcing only sustainable cocoa beans in the near future.

For textile industry cotton is one of the most important raw materials used in manufacturing. Thus, Better Cotton Initiative is an international multi-stakeholder approach established to make cotton production better for the farmers, the environment and sector’s future, by developing Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity. Among others, world leading clothing companies such as Levi Strauss, GAP, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Adidas and Nike are working together through the initiative.

An organization that supports farmers and producers, especially those in developing countries is Fairtrade International. Fairtrade is an alternative approach to conventional trade and is based on a partnership between producers and consumers. It contributes to sustainable development and empowerment of producers and workers, economically disadvantaged, by offering them better trading conditions.

Responsible Care is an initiative from the chemical industry, first launched by the Canadian Chemical Producer’s Association. The further development has taken it into an international level and has been accepted by most of industry’s multinational companies. This social responsibility campaign focuses on continuous improvement of health, safety and environmental knowledge and performance in the chemical industry.

Social responsibility is not a new topic, but it has gained a remarkable importance in the last decade. The number of companies undertaking social responsibility initiatives is increasing in number every day. This is as a result that organizations’ stakeholders are becoming aware of the need for and are expecting them to behave socially responsible.

PECB (Professional Evaluation and Certification Board) is a certification body for persons for a wide range of professional standards. Among other international standards, it also offers ISO 26000 training and certification services for professionals wanting to support an organization in the implementation of a social responsibility program; persons responsible for social responsibility program conformity in an organization; auditors wanting to master the social responsibility program audit process; and staff involved in the implementation of the ISO 26000 standard.

ISO 26000 and Professional Social Responsibility Trainings offered by PECB:• Certified ISO 26000 Lead Implementer (5 days)• Certified ISO 26000 Lead Auditor (5 days)• Certified ISO 26000 Foundation (2 days)• ISO 26000 Introduction (1 day)

ISO 26000 Lead Auditor, ISO 26000 Lead Implementer and ISO 26000 Master are three certification schemes accredited by ANSI ISO/IEC 17024. Narta Voca is the Heath, Safety and Environment (HSE) Product Manager at PECB. She is in charge of developing and maintaining training courses related to HSE. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact her at hse@pecb.org.

For further information, please visit www.pecb.org/en/training

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