SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY SA8000

The standard SA8000 is an international standard under the broad category of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It has been prepared by Social Accountability International Organization (SAI) in order to set specific criteria and specifications for socially accepted working conditions and has global application and recognition. The standard focuses on securing labour rights and assuring safe and just working conditions, but has also been designed to embrace existing international agreements, including the International Labour Organization Convention, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the UN Convention on Child Rights. Furthermore, it provides transparent, measurable, verifiable elements for certifying the performance of companies in nine essential areas:

Child Labour
Forced Labour
Health and Safety
Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining
Discrimination
Disciplinary Practices
Working Hours
Remuneration
Management System

SA 8000 concerns all companies, regardless of their size and activity that aim at continuously improving labour conditions and communicate their performance to all relevant stakeholders and interested parties. At the same time, it addresses relevant labour issues also to sub-contractors and thus it may influence the entire supply chain.

Because it is one of the few certification bodies globally that has been accredited by the American Accreditation Body SAAS for certification according to SA8000
Because it has long and great experience in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility
Because it has been active in SA8000 certification since many years with an important client list in Greece and abroad
Because it employs expert and experienced personnel as auditors or technical experts conducting audits of high added value for your company
Because you can rest assured that you will have a constant information on any local or international update regarding your certification field
Because EUROCERT may offer you an integrated solution for the certification of your management systems due to its broad accreditation scope

The social accountability management system is compatible to other existing management systems that an organization may have implemented, such as quality, environment and health and safety. In particular regarding ISO 26000, this standard is a guidance document focused on improvement of working conditions and is a step forward before implementing and certifying with SA8000.

relation to other management systens and standards

Provided that the Certification Audit of the organization’s Social Accountability Management System is successful, the Certificate may be issued shortly and uploaded on SAAS global database. The SA8000 certificate is valid for three years during which semi-annual surveillance audits must take place.