Corporate social responsibility guidelines from the International Organization for Standardization will include health and safety practices
Global health and safety standards are coming to the international stage. Corporate social responsibility guidelines to be released later this year by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) will include health and safety practices.
The soon-to-be released guidelines are the result of a Working Group on Social Responsibility established by the ISO in 2005. While modelled after continuous quality improvement standards ISO 9000 and ISO 9001, ISO 26000 does not include certification. Instead, it offers guidelines and best practices for organizations to integrate into their values and policies.
The labour portion of the social responsibility guidelines will include five areas: the employment relationship, conditions of work and social protections, social dialogue, human development and safety at work.
The health and safety portion of ISO 26000 will give organizations common standards to adhere to. For Canadian employers operating internationally, its health and safety standards will provide a basis for policies and systems in overseas operations that can complement or go beyond local legislation, which is often lacking in developing countries.
Health and safety at work is defined as the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers and the prevention ill-health caused by working conditions. There is a premise that socially responsible health and safety practices can reduce costs, improve morale and increase productivity.
In developing countries that may not have the capacity to fully enforce occupational health and safety laws, socially responsible employers may need to consider bringing in health and safety programs from other countries, and then adapting them to local conditions. In this context, health and safety programs will contain many of the same features that are found in the employer’s parent operations. Typically, this means that measures will be in place that:
• Seek to understand and control the health and safety risks involved in a firm’s activities and the proper procedures to follow.
• Analyze work accidents and diseases and problems raised by workers so as to understand and be able to advise on the different ways in which staff are affected.
• Understand and apply principles of industrial hygiene.
• Recognize that psychosocial hazards in the workplace are the cause of stress and occupational ill-health.
• Clearly state no phase of operation or administration of the organization is more important than safety and health, and that safety and health is an integral part of all activities.
• Provide adequate training and capacity building in all relevant subjects to all relevant personnel.
Employers must ensure there are adequate safeguards within health and safety programs to ensure the costs of health and safety are not borne by individual workers, and that workers are not penalized for bringing hazardous conditions to the attention of the employer or for refusing hazardous work.
An employer’s health and safety system should be based on the participation of employees, recognizing and respecting the rights of workers to:
• Receive full and accurate information concerning the health and safety risks and the best practices used to address these risks.
• Freely inquire into and be consulted on all aspects of their health and safety related to their work.
• Refuse work which is reasonably considered as posing an imminent and serious danger to their lives or health or to the lives and health of others.
• Seek outside advice on health and safety issues.
• Report health and safety matters to the authorities.
• Participate in health and safety processes and decisions.
• Be free of reprisals for doing any of these things.
Benefits of Sustainability
Agenda for socially responsible management
Corporate social responsibility is a key strategic consideration for many organizations and is increasingly becoming a source of competitive advantage. Socially responsible employers benefit from public goodwill and development of a positive brand identity that supports marketing efforts; the development of new environmentally and economically sustainable business, product and service delivery models; and the development of productive and engaged workforces with the capacity to learn and to adapt to changing circumstances.
