U3007

toc

ISO 26000
He Wang

Introduction
In January 2005 ISO, the international Organization for Standardization, has decided to launch the development of an International Standard providing Guidelines for social responsibility(SR). The objective is to produce a guidance document, written in plain language that is understandable and usable by non-specialists, and not a specification document intended for third party certification.

The work is intended to add value to, and not replace, existing intergovernmental agreements with relevance to social responsibility, such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and those adopted by the International Labour Organization(ILO). The standard should be usable for organizations of all sizes, in countries at every stage of development.

The need for organizations in both public and private sectors to behave in a socially responsible way is becoming a generalized requirement of society. It is shared by the stakeholder groups that are participating in the working group on SR to develop ISO 26000: industry, government, labour, consumers, nongovernmental organizations and others, in addition to geographical and gender-based balance.

The guidance standard will be published in 2010 as ISO 26000 and be voluntary to use.

The ISO Standard Development Process:


 * Working Group Route ||  ||
 * stage 1 || New work item Proposal ||
 * stage 2 || Building expert consensus within Working Group ||
 * stage 3 || Building Working Group Consensus ||
 * stage 4 || Enquiry on Draft International Standard ||
 * stage 5 || Formal vote on Draft International Standard ||
 * stage 6 || Publication of International Standard ||

Why is SR so important?
In the wake of increasing globalization, we have become increasingly conscious not only of what we buy, but also how the goods and services we buy have been produced. Environmentally harmful production, child labor, dangerous working environments and other inhumane conditions are examples of issues being brought into the open. All companies and organizations aiming at long-term profitability and credibility are starting to realize that they must act in accordance with norms of right and wrong.

How is the work ?
The experts of the working group are appointed by the ISO members and will include experts representing 6 main stakeholder categories. In addition, interested international and broadly based regional organizations are also able to appoint a maximum of two experts a maximum of two experts each. The stakeholder categories are: Industry; Government;Consumer; Labor; Non Governmental Organizations; and Service, support, research and others.

The working group will develop a draft standard that represents a consensus of the views of the experts participating in the working group. At the same time, it is expected that the member bodies, which nominate experts, will also establish national mirror committees and that these mirror committees will establish national positions on the successive drafts developed by the working group

During the work, broad stakeholder engagement, open communication, trustworthy procedures, other procedures and organizational structure of the work group are involved.

Are not individual companies and organizations the best judge of what has to be done?
Many companies today have their own programs, policies and guidelines for SR, all very different. The head of a company or organization is seldom interested in detailed studies of how each and every one of his/her contacts conduct their business according to their own model. It would mean an unreasonable amount of work. Common basic definitions, working methods and methods of evaluation would simplify things for everyone.

How are developing countries interests promoted?
The ISO Conference on Social Responsibility in Stockholm June 2004 included a pre-workshop for participants from developing countries sponsored by the Swedish aid organization SIDA. When work began in 2005, another workshop was held. It was decided at an early stage that this work would be conducted according to the co-chair concept. Candidates for leading positions would run in pairs-one from a developing country and one from an industrialized country.

How design is specialized?
The SR context in which all organizations operate: This section will provide the historical and contemporary contexts for SR. The section will also address questions arising out of the nature of the concept of SR. Relevant stakeholder issues should be addresses in this section. SR principles relevant to organizations: The section will identify a set of SR principles drawn from a variety of sources and provide guidance on these principles. Relevant stakeholder issues should be addressed in this section. Guidance on core SR subjects/issues: This section will provide separate guidance on a range of core subjects/issues and relate them to organizations. Relevant stakeholder issues should be addressed in this section. Guidance for organization on implementing SR: This section will provide practical guidance on implementing and integrating SR in the organization, including, for example, on policies, practices, approaches, issue identification, performance assessment, reporting and communication. Relevant stakeholder issues should be addresses in this section.

Conclusion
As the result so far, there were meetings 7-11, March 2005 (Salvador), 26-30 September 2005 (Bangkok), and 15-19 May 2006 (Lisbon). Some 300 participants from 50 countries and 20 international organizations participated.

The Santiago meeting, attended by 397 experts closed a stage of this process, opening a period in which national Mirror committees will have a key role, as the debate now progresses beyond the experts. The next meeting of the Working Group will take place in Quebec, Canada. It is expected to have the results of practice work at the national by then.

ISO 26000 standard will be developed by experts of developed and developing countries from all stakeholders involved in this process to ensure balanced representation. And the target date for publication is year 2010.