Facing a Social Audit: What Should We Prepare and How to Handle Confidential Requests?

Dear Seniors,

Ours is an export-oriented manufacturing company. One of our clients has appointed an independent consultant to conduct a social audit. The report from this audit will be used to finalize a new manufacturing contract.

Could anyone inform me about what needs to be prepared and what falls under a social audit? What authority do the independent auditors have if they request copies of confidential data?

Please help, it's URGENT.

Anagha

Hi Anagha,

As per my knowledge, social audit deals with the basic health, welfare, and safety facilities provided by the company to its employees. The auditor will go to the production floor to check the working conditions under which the people are working. You can find the detailed list of health, safety, and welfare facilities in the Factories Act of 1948. It will be checked how the company keeps its employees informed about regular company policies. You should have a notice board in relevant places in the factory that mentions all the requisite policies such as minimum wages, safety at work, OT policy, leave policy, grievance handling policy, etc.

The auditor may also interview some of your employees to check on how the company has kept them informed.

Apart from this, there will be a check on all your records and registers maintained such as leave register, salary register, safety register, bonus register, etc. So, you are required to keep all the registers updated.

I hope this will help you stimulate your thinking in some way. Please do let us know about your audit results. And don't worry, the consultant will not disclose it to anyone except the party they are hired by.

Good luck,
Hitesh

Your client may be asking for a SA-8000 audit. There are many sources of information about this on the internet. A link at UL is http://www.ul.com &<link updated to site home>&. The BSI link is http://www.bsi-global.com/en/Assessm...hemes/SA-8000/. A seminar was held in Bombay on this yesterday: http://bombaychamber.com &<link updated to site home>&. There is also a new ISO standard in development that covers social Responsibility - ISO 26000:2008. Cheers, bill hefley

Hi Anagha,

I am an HR consultant specializing in meeting various buyer requirements on social accountability. In your case, first, let me know on what code or standard your audit is going to be done. There are different codes like WRAP, ETI BASE Code, SA 8000, etc. Few buyers have their standards like Walmart - a retail giant has its own.

Once you are clear about the buyer requirements, we can easily move ahead.

Regards, P.T. RAMESHAN

Hi,

It is nothing more than checking if you're doing the right things you ought to be doing in your organization and if you are really in for improvement, then there is nothing to worry about. One thing is for sure: at the end of the audit, you'll start correcting all the wrong practices.

So before the auditor comes around, just put your house in order - make sure you have the right records, you don't employ minors in your establishment, you abide by all the labor laws (minimum wage, general conditions of service), you treat your employees like human beings not like pigs, you have the right safety attire and procedures in place, etc.

Ensure that the things that ought to be communicated to employees are properly done.

If you're a manufacturing export-oriented firm and you aim to sustain and grow your export markets, then prepare for more of such audits.

In short, your buyer would want to make sure they are not promoting any bad practices by doing business with you.

All the best,

Nana

Hi Anagha,

I would recommend that you read the WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production) document, which is freely available online. Go through all the clauses with a fine-tooth comb. You will realize the simplicity and beauty of the standard at the same time. This document will clear all your doubts and help you in facing any kind of audits in the near future.

Suryavrat
9999645755

Dear Anagha,

I think this is one of the questions or queries I received when I was working as a Social Compliance Auditor. As some of the CITEHR friends added so many comments and advice to visit a few related websites, I hope you got the full information on the compliance methodology.

I have over 150 audits of experience for different apparel, textile, footwear, pharmaceuticals, toys, and other industries. For different brands like Nike, Reebok, Walmart, Redcats, Carrefour, K-Mart, Tesco, Chicos, Quiksilver, Oshkosh, Coca-Cola India, and so on.

It is mandatory these days after the scenario of the Post 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. The USA Customs also demand compliance with C-TPAT (Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism).

All the importers in the USA have signed their Homeland Social and Security policies. With this, as per the importer's CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), all the suppliers and sub-suppliers should abide by their Code of Conduct and Ethical Laws. Ethical certifications like WRAP, ETI, SA 8000, BSCI will solve this. But if we think as an Indian, it is very unfortunate that the USA importers are commanding us to follow their Code of Conduct and our own laws. Most of the time during the audit, I always discuss this issue with the factory management that Indian laws are far better than any other country, and it is a shame that we are not following them. For example, one of the nine policies that WRAP or SA 8000 speaks about is Health and Safety. Indian laws state that every two months, the facility should conduct a mock evacuation drill to make all the employees aware of fire safety during emergencies. It is very unfortunate that the factory does not follow the law, and the compliance auditor will definitely raise a non-conformity during the audit.

Please open the attached file for a detailed checklist for self-assessment of the factory as of today.

I wish you all the best for the audit, and if you need further information, please email me at karthikms2000@gmail.com or contact me at +91 9966389639.

Dear Angha,

I am KG Gupta, working as a manager of social compliance in an export house. Please follow the advice of Mr. Karthik.

Thank you for providing the correct information, Mr. Karthik. If you need to comply with anything, please contact me at the email address below:
KG Gupta - [Login to view]

Dear Anagha,

I believe this is one of the questions or queries I received when I was working as a Social Compliance Auditor. Some of the CITEHR friends have added many comments and advice to visit a few related websites. I hope you have received complete information on the compliance methodology.

I have over 150 audit experiences in different industries such as Apparel, Textile, Footwear, Pharmaceuticals, Toys, and others, working for brands like Nike, Reebok, Wal-Mart, Redcats, Carrefour, K-Mart, Tesco, Chicos, Quicksilver, Oshcosh, Coco Cola India, and more.

It has become mandatory after the scenario of the Post 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. The USA Customs also demand compliance with C-TPAT (Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism).

All importers in the USA have signed their Homeland Social and Security policies. As per the importer's CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), all suppliers and sub-suppliers must adhere to their Code of Conduct and Ethical Laws. Ethical certifications like WRAP, ETI, SA 8000, BSCI will address this issue. However, it is unfortunate that Indian laws are not being followed, as they are often better than those of other countries.

For example, one of the nine policies that WRAP or SA 8000 mentions is Health and Safety. Indian laws require facilities to conduct a Mock Evacuation drill every two months to ensure all employees are aware of fire safety during emergencies. It is unfortunate that factories do not comply with this law, and compliance auditors will definitely raise non-conformities during audits.

Please refer to the attached file for a detailed checklist for self-assessment of the factory's current status.

I wish you all the best for the audit. For further information, please email me at [IMG]https://www.citehr.com/misc.php?do=email_dev&amp;email=a2FydGhpa21zMjAwME BnbWFpbC5jb20=[/IMG] or contact me at +91 9966389639.

Please search CiteHR and the web using keywords from your query, and you will find your answer.

Hi, I need an Indian factory HR compliance audit checklist for the soft drink industry. Can anyone please help and guide me in the same?