First social management system auditor
Lead auditor Darren Roberts, of research and technology centre SATRA, became the first person to be assessed by IRCA as having satisfied its minimum requirements for auditors of social management systems.
Darren has been working in the field of management system certification for nearly ten years both as a lead assessor and also in industry for a major footwear retailer. It is in this capacity that he first became aware of the need of social management standards as the company was moving away from traditional UK-based manufacturing to global sourcing. Darren was already certified as a lead assessor for QMSs so, after attending a four-day SA8000 training course run by SGS, the process was fairly easy. ‘I had to provide IRCA with some general info on my experience with ethical trading and social accountability,’ he said.
With many organizations operating and sourcing globally, the use of social management standards such as SA8000:1998, the SATRA ethical trading award, or codes of practice to ensure that workers are not subject to unethical treatment, has become increasingly important.
Ethical policies have been developed because consumers and organizations do not want to buy from companies that exploit workers or that allow their suppliers to exploit workers. By implementing a social management system, or by requiring suppliers to do so, companies can demonstrate their commitment to responsible and ethical trading. The introduction of a social and ethical trading policy goes some way towards protecting the serious risk of damage to their reputations resulting from negative media exposure concerning the possible abuse of workers and their communities.
For more information about IRCA's social systems certification, click here. For more information about research and technology centre SATRA, click here.
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