SA 8000:2001 + ISO 9001:2000 - Combining SA8000 with our ISO system
As management rep for our quality system I have been asked what I think of combining SA8000 with our ISO system. We are currently certified to 9001:1994 and will soon be certified to SA8000.
What the heck is SA8000 you say? Stands for Social Accountability 8000 and is fashioned in a very loose way like the ISO Standards. More info as well as the actual standard is available at CEPAA.org.
Anyway, at first blush my thoughts are "why not"? Anyone else been involved in SA8000. It has it's own manual, requires continuous improvement, audits, management reviews etc.
Thanks Marc. I had already checked into that thread. Seems to be mainly complaints. We are committed to SA8000 for the best of reasons. One of our largest customer demands it. We will have our third party certification audit in a few months. The HR manager will be the Management Rep and asked me the advisability of combining some of the elements of SA8000 with ISO9001 as I mentioned in the earlier post.
Response to this have been underwhelming so far. Maybe I should have posted it in the ISO 9K2K section.
I don't know if it's a matter of the forum you posted in. SA 8000 has just not 'taken off' as ISO 9001 has. For that matter, in the US ISO 14001 hasn't 'made it' either, however auto makers are pushing it by requiring it.
Please do keep us posted on what happens with your effort.
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The best reason I can think of for the lack of response can be found by visiting the humor thread. If you read the posts there, you will find that social accountability is not a strong trait with many members of the cove.
Actually, I have heard of SA 8000, but this is the first I’ve heard of anyone attempting to implement it. When I first heard of it, the thought was that there is too much intrusion on companies as it is.
I think the Cove Forums participants are a pretty good cross-section of how folks feel. Social Accountability is something I'm not convinced can be mandated by a 'standard', but then again - there's ISO 9001 which I think is just good business practices. I think my posts show personally I am very pro social accountability. Most liberals are, I believe. In fact, I see social accountability as a basic premise. This is in large part the reason for my Enron bashing. But again, I don't see a standard changing things.
If you're an ASQ member, there's a good thread on their forums http://www.asqnet.org/perl/forums/ge...l?msg_id=12806 you might want to read. It's titled Corporate Law Inhibits Social Responsibility. You might want to give it a read.
The poster cited Robert Hinkley's article How Corporate Law Inhibits Social Responsibility, Published in the January/February 2002 issue of Business Ethics (see http://www.business-ethics.com ).
Tom, I think another problem is that, like myself, many are unfamiliar with SA8000 and until they learn more - don't feel they should post a response.
I actually was on the dnv site and saw it just recently, but didn't have time to research it though my interest was piqued. After seeing the other thread I'm trying the links provided to review what information is available.
I did find a pdf version and will take some time to review in detail but from the brief cursary look...I have to say that I take for granted that most of what I saw is followed regularly. (kind of like I expect any new car purchased to perform well for at least 100,000 miles!) I know some industries continue to have problems related to some of the requirements, but have always thought that 'mainstream' American companies already followed these guidelines - after all weren't these issues addressed with the start of Unions?
Maybe I'm just too naive for my own good? So how many companies are certified to the standard? Anyone have this information?
A Search is a terrible thing to waste! One Test is Worth 1000 Expert Opinions - The plural of anecdote is not data.
We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. - Unknown
SA 8000:2001 + ISO 9001:2000 - Combining SA8000 with our ISO system
Eileen
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