In late June of 2006, TÜV SÜD America announced the addition of Social Accountability 8000 (SA8000) certification to its wide range of certification services. SA8000, the international standard for improving working conditions, is provided through TÜV SÜD South Asia, the Asia-Pacific sister affiliate of TÜV SÜD America.

SA8000 is based on the principles of international human rights norms as described in International Labor Organization conventions, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It measures the performance of companies in eight key areas: child labor, forced labor, health and safety, free association and collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours and compensation. SA8000 also provides for a Social Accountability management system to demonstrate ongoing conformance with the standard. Based on the principles of thirteen international human rights conventions, SA8000 was designed as a tool to help apply norms to practical work-life situations.

The SA8000 solution is designed to ensure compliance with the highest ethical sourcing standards by integrating management tools that serve the needs of workers and businesses alike. This certification provides a public report of Good Practice to consumers, buyers, and other companies and is intended to be a significant milestone in improving workplace conditions.

About Social Accountability International (SAI)

SAI is an international, nonprofit affiliate of the Council on Economic Priorities (CEP) dedicated to the ethical treatment of workers around the world. Founded in 1996, SAI seeks to improve workplaces and communities worldwide by developing and implementing social standards. To fulfill its mission, SAI convenes all key sectors, including workers and trade unions, companies, governments, NGOs, socially responsible investors and consumers, to operate consensus-based voluntary standards. It accredits qualified organizations to verify compliance with its SA8000 standard, which was developed on the basis of experience gained with the ISO 9000 norm on quality management and the ISO 14001 norm on environmental management. SAI systems feature certification of compliance at the facility level and support for all companies seeking to implement its standards.

TÜV is also closely monitoring the planned release (2007-2008) of ISO 26000, the new International Standard for Social Responsibility.

For more information on SA8000, click here, or contact us.