ISO26000 - A new standard formula: Social + Responsibility = Reward

Marc

Hunkered Down for the Duration with a Mask on...
Staff member
Admin
#1
From The International Herald Tribune

Can social conscience be turned into a formula? The International Standards Organization, thinks so, and is working on a checklist for companies that want to measure and demonstrate their adherence to virtue.

Sometime in 2008, the Geneva-based organization hopes to issue ISO26000, guidelines for social responsibility.

The guidelines will be the fruit of a broad consultation involving business, governments and activist organizations such as the human rights group Amnesty International, the environmental activist group Greenpeace and the anti-corruption campaigner Transparency International, said the ISO's secretary-general, Alan Bryden.

Social responsibility is a stretch from the basic ISO business of agreeing and publishing technical norms for industrial processes and products - when work on the guidelines started in 2004 about 80 percent of the people involved had never taken part in an ISO meeting, Bryden said.

But over the past 20 years, the ISO, an independent, nongovernment federation of national standards bodies, has been moving steadily into the higher- profile business of setting standards for management, starting in 1987 with the ISO9000 series on quality management. With its ISO14000 series on environmental management systems, introduced about 10 years ago, the organization stepped squarely into a public interest arena that encompasses such hot-button issues as the environmental management practices and auditing of the nuclear power industry.

Its latest offering, published this month, is IS014064, which sets measuring, reporting and verification standards for greenhouse gas emission management systems - to be followed next year by ISO14065 setting standards for greenhouse gas auditing agencies.

Standards are not regulations. They are products that the ISO sells for a living. Companies are not obliged to adopt them, and if they ignore or breach them they risk no official punishment. Issuing an environmental management system standard, such as the greenhouse gas standard, or a social responsibility standard, has no immediate impact on the environment, or corporate behavior, ISO officials concede.

Still, for companies that want to improve their efficiency, broaden their market and reduce litigation risks, standards are a valuable enabling tool, Bryden said. And it is not clear that regulation, which requires expensive policing and more expensive prosecution, is any more effective.
 
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S

SilverHawk

#2
This is the outline of the proposed ISO 26000 guideline on Social Responsibility.

0 Introduction
The introduction should give information on the content of the guidance standard and the objectives promoting its preparation.

1 Scope
This section shall define the subject of the guidance standard, its coverage and the limits of its applicability.

2 Normative references
This section is for a list of documents, if any, which must be read in conjunction with the guidance standard.

3 Terms and definitions
This section will identify terms used in the guidance standard that require definition and provide such definitions.

4 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 addressed in this section.

5 SR principles relevant to organizations
This 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.

6 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 stakeholders issues should be addressed in this section.
 

Jim Wynne

Staff member
Admin
#3
This idea makes me vaguely uneasy, and seems to be too politically charged for an organization such as ISO to be getting involved in. Whether or not one agrees with the aims of the advocacy groups cited in the article as being instrumental in the construction of the proposed standard, the fact remains that there is a great deal of political controversy inherent in what constitutes "social responsibility," and I'm not sure where ISO gets off in thinking that they're a good repository for management of it. As far as I'm concerned, the further ISO stays away from political controversy, the better. The idea is to establish unity in international standards, and I think we can all pretty much agree that efficacious quality systems and standardized fastener requirements are pretty much non-controversial in a generic sense.

:topic: It's interesting to note that the article represents yet another case of a journalist writing a piece without being understanding the subject matter; the writer refers to the "International Standards Organiztion" and uses the definite article with "ISO," indicating a misbegotten belief that the latter is an acronym for the former.
 

Jim Wynne

Staff member
Admin
#6
RosieA said:
ASQ has also gotten on board with this new standard:
Not surprising in the least, although saying "ASQ has jumped on the bandwagon again" would probably be more accurate. I'm waiting for ASQ to announce a new BOK and certification program: CCD, or Certified Crack Dealer.
 
R

ralphsulser

#7
Sounds like another oxymoron like military intelligence.:D
ASQ is grabbing the coat tails again, certified social auditor:rolleyes:
Just think of all the money the new standard can generate for consultants, auditors, and registrars since ISO9001, ISO14001 and TS16949 have been fairly well covered.
Nothing negative about our friends here, but seems to be a never ending well for creating causes to self perpetuate systems.
Continuous improvement...Not

What for profit corporations are going to demand a registration to this standard?
 
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