Tata Steel Earns 4th SA8000 Certification
The company has demonstrated compliance to SA8000 for nearly a decade
Read the article on SAI's website
The certificate was presented by SAAS-Accredited certification body, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) to Tata Steel for demonstrating its compliance with SA8000. The company has achieved four successful cycles of SA8000 certification in 2004, 2007, 2010 and now in 2013 as SA8000 certification must be renewed every 3 years.
"We go through audits every six months for SA8000 and look forward to feedback which helps us keep up with global practices and emerging trends," said H M Nerurkar, Managing Director of Tata Steel. "Now onto the fourth certification cycle, I reaffirm Tata Steel's commitment to improving employee relations practices not just for our own workforce but also in the supply chain we are part of."
SAI Advisory Board member, Mr. Sunil Bhaskaran, Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel and Management Representative for SA8000 Management Review Committee noted that "Tata Steel in the future, in compliance with all existing standards would also focus on the service areas and has already implemented feedback received out of various audits. Also, the SA8000 standard would require to be better communicated to the contractors, suppliers and vendors."
According to Mr. P N Singh, President of Tata Workers' Union, "Tata Steel achieved the certification due to the Joint Consultation and harmonious relationship between the Union and the management and such certification bestows more responsibility to perform and deliver according to the international standards. He added that Union is also taking proactive measures to popularize the best practices in work ethics, safety and welfare schemes."
Tata Steel was one of the three companies profiled in the 2009 joint case studies published by SAI and the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), From Words to Action: A Business Case for Implementing Workplace Standards. The case study focused on the development of Tata Steel's enhanced contract worker and supplier practices regarding training, pay practices, food and water provision, health and safety, procurement and contract management. Additionally, its reflections on its history and experience in implementing SA8000 were captured in SAI's February 2013 newsletter.
About the SA8000 Standard: The SA8000 standard is one of the world’s first auditable social certification standards for decent workplaces, across all industrial sectors. It is based on conventions of the ILO, UN and national law, and spans industry and corporate codes to create a common language to measure social compliance. It takes a management systems approach by setting out the structures and procedures that companies must adopt in order to ensure that compliance with the standard is continuously reviewed. Those seeking to comply with SA8000 have adopted policies and procedures that protect the basic human rights of workers. Learn more: www.sa-intl.org/sa8000
View the article published in the Hindu: http://bit.ly/14DliST. For more information about SA8000, contact SAI Sr. Manager of Research & Stakeholder Relations Alex Katz - Akatz@sa-intl.org.
