TÜV SÜD South Asia to offer social compliance audit

New Delhi: TÜV SÜD has announced having been accredited by Social Accountability International (SAI) to conduct SA 8000 audits. The certifying agency has also signed a monitoring agency contract with the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) to conduct audits based on BSCI standards.

SAI and BSCI are non-profit organisations dedicated to the ethical treatment of workers worldwide. SAI sets out, builds and refines social accountability standards and guidelines for the independent verification of compliance and examples of good practices. All companies and associations can comply with BSCI to monitor and improve working conditions and social performance in all supplier nations. TÜV SÜD South Asia is accredited to provide SA 8000 and BSCI second-party and third-party audits.

The core elements and standards of all social compliance codes are based on internationally agreed codes of conduct derived from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions of the United Nations. These codes of conduct differ in some areas that define the terms and conditions constituting a non compliance or compliance.

Some of these codes of conduct are more stringent as compared to the ILO norms and the local country laws. They aim at providing a healthy, safe and risk-free work environment to workers across the globe in companies and associations. Social compliance standards are an effective risk management tool for sourcing companies to ensure that their suppliers are adhering to expected global standards of workplace ethics.

Organisations that have been certified as being compliant to SA 8000, BSCI or other social compliance standards can achieve product differentiation based on good workplace conditions.