SAI and AKUT Partnership for Fire Safety Emergency and Disaster Management

SAI will work with the Turkish NGO AKUT to enhance SAI's training programs to include a deeper focus on risk and emergency management, and health and safety training

Snapshots from AKUT's Assessment in Pakistan, November 2012 (from left): 1) It is recommended that aisles be clear and wide enough for two people (120 cm) in order for evacuation routes to be adequate; 2) Dundar Sahin stands in front of fire extinguishers in a factory in Faisalabad; 3) In the SITE industrial area in Karachi, the AKUT team had to rely on a hand drawn map on a wall to determine the locations of four factories. For more photos and videos from the AKUT assessment, visit SAI's album on Facebook.

SAI is pleased to announce a more formal partnership with the Turkish NGO AKUT Search and Rescue Association.  SAI and AKUT have been working together for several years and will continue to partner for training curriculum with a deep  focus on risk management, emergency management and health and safety training. This includes conducting trainings, investigations and providing technical assistance.

Based in Istanbul, AKUT was founded in 1996 by 7 mountaineers including an Ashoka Fellow, Nasuh Mahruki, and the association became a national hero in Turkey after its small team of 60 volunteers saved 220 people after the major earthquake in 1999. Later, AKUT became an official member of UN OCHA INSARAG and certified as Medium USAR Team with a global deployment capacity in case of disasters.

One of the volunteers, a Director of AKUT Institute of Training and Research Dundar Sahin, is an SAI Lead Trainer who has done substantial and extensive work to integrate his fire and disaster relief expertise into SAI's training curriculum. Over the past 3 years, Mr. Sahin has helped to lead both SA8000 auditor training courses and fire safety trainings in Bangladesh and elsewhere. He is also the lead presenter of the mandatory fire safety webinar required of all SA8000 and BSCI auditors.

"We are very happy to work with SAI as a partner as it is very prestigious and very necessary for today's fast developing, very dynamic world," said AKUT President Nasuh Mahruki. "SAI's extensive expertise and proven tools for human rights, social security and social justice are a great asset for AKUT. We are very happy to be part of this concept. I am sure AKUT and SAI will quickly develop more dynamic and pragmatic tools to save people in high risk countries by this official partnership. We are proud to be part of such an important human centered project."

"We admire and respect the work of AKUT and greatly value our experience in working with them," said SAI CEO Eileen Kaufman. "SAI looks forward to deepening and widening the work we do together as it helps workers know what to do in emergency situations and reduces the incidence of emergencies."

In the December 2012 newsletter, Mr. Sahin was profiled for his work with AKUT and SAAS in assessing SA8000 certified facilities in Pakistan - in Karachi, Lahore, Sialkot and Faisalabad. The assessment looked at the factories' fire and disaster risk based on five categories - 1) evacuation; 2) fire safety; 3) documentation; 4) management; and 5) health and safety - to help find the incidence of safety fire hazards, root causes, and as a basis for SAAS to decide changes and improvements in the overall SA8000 system.

Rachelle Jackson

The SA8000 Standard is being reviewed in a process conducted every 5 years.  As done in the 2008 SA8000 Standard revision process, extensive multi-stakeholder consultation is being undertaken.

For this month's newsletter, SAI Senior Manager of Research and Stakeholder Relations Alex Katz interviewed one of the experts being consulted, Rachelle Jackson, Director of Sustainability and Innovation at Arche Advisors, about her extensive experience in the social compliance field and SA8000 implementation in China.

China is a major country for SA8000 certifications, with the third-highest number of certified facilities - 517, and of workers employed in SA8000 certified facilities - 322,678.

The interview focused on three areas: implementation challenges, trends and best practices observed.

Alex Katz: From your experience, what are the most challenging issues that factories may have to contend with in order to earn SA8000 certification? 

Rachelle Jackson: In my opinion, perception is one of the biggest barriers for factories contemplating the SA8000 standard. Many factories are familiar with the SA8000 "brand" but not the practical requirements of the standard. We have encountered factory owners that think it is impossible to meet the SA8000 standard, especially the requirements on overtime hours. In actuality, the standard focuses on management systems and continuous improvement that could help lead to real progress on how such challenges are managed, but the misperception remains that it sets an unrealistically high bar.

AK: Out of the nine elements of the SA8000 Standard, what are some of the most challenging to comply with in China?   

RJ: The issue of excessive work hours remains one of the single biggest challenges in China. An inability or unwillingness to manage overtime in compliance with local laws has led to the perpetuation of fraudulent records as some factories try to fake their way through social compliance audits. This is a reflection of very real concerns around economic competitiveness, market realities that differ from the legal frameworks in place, and in many cases, a management team lacking the skills and tools to address complex management challenges. Viewed differently, SA8000 could be an opportunity to help management adopt a new perspective on compliance and gain skills to address these issues more effectively.

AK: Can you describe any remarkable practices you have seen at factories that either comply or would comply with SA8000 in order to address contextually difficult issues?  

RJ: In response to the growing worker shortage of the last decade, China factories are doing more to court and retain workers. Wages are a big part of this. Paying the minimum wage or even above the minimum is critical if a factory wants a full workforce. While overtime pay may still be lacking, wages are increasing overall.

In addition, many factories are appointing a person responsible for social compliance or workplace safety, where these positions did not exist just a few years ago. It may be a sign of change in the market or attitudes toward compliance, or perhaps the need to have full-time staff in order to deal with the myriad compliance demands facing exporters today.

AK: Aside from the labor shortage, comprehensive working hour system (CWHS), and student labor, are there any social compliance trends going on in China at the moment that require auditors and brands to call subject matter experts for interpretation on what exactly the situation is and if it violates provincial law? 

RJ: China's social insurance system - "hukou" - remains a nebulous area for compliance. While the government has passed legislation intended to secure insurance for migrant workers, factories continue to present waivers that preclude these legal obligations. There seems to be an infinite number of excuses for not providing all five required insurances to the entire workforce. Auditors often need to do additional due diligence on this topic to ensure the waivers are accepted at the local government level.

About Rachelle Jackson:  

Rachelle Jackson has nearly two decades experience working on labor, human rights and traceability issues in global supply chains. She has worked in over 80 countries and conducted more than 1,500 compliance assessments across a range of industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, food processing and extractives. She recently served on the USDA Consultative Group to Eliminate Child Labor and Forced Labor on Imported Agricultural Products and is a member of the United Nations Global Compact Advisory Group on Supply Chain Sustainability and the Outdoor Industry Association's Down Traceability Task force. For more information, visit http://www.archeadvisors.com/ or follow Ms. Jackson on Twitter @csrmaven.

Michelle Bhattacharyya, SAI Director of Operations

SAI welcomes Michelle Bhattacharyya to our management team in the new position of Director of Operations (DOO), after a wide-ranging search process. Reporting to the CEO, she is responsible for implementation of SAI's annual plans, providing coordination and management across all departments, inclusive of building and implementing processes and protocols and contributing to culture so as to create more streamlined, efficient, and cohesive operations at SAI. In cooperation with the CFO, the DOO is also responsible for timely budget delivery of all program operations, and heads SAI's development department.

Prior to SAI, Ms. Bhattacharyya worked in the field of Economic Development and Community Entrepreneurship. She assisted the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation (SEEDCO) with program design and development after serving as Director of two Seedco operated NYC Business Solutions Centers in NYC, where she successfully managed tightly budgeted government contracts and aggressive performance targets. Ms. Bhattacharyya's operations experience also extends to the private sector where she served as Vice President of Operations and Marketing for the Emergency Medicine Professional Assurance Company (EMPAC), which she helped grow from inception to a multimillion dollar business with accounts in 17 states.

Ms. Bhattacharyya earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and her Master of Public Administration degree with an international public and nonprofit management and policy specialization at NYU's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. While pursuing her degree she worked on labor issues with Covenant House International, UNDP's BDP Poverty Group Inclusive Globalization Cluster, and the World Bank. Specifically she has had the opportunity to contribute to work on issues of child labor, gender based labor policies, international labor migration, and trade related labor issues in least developed countries. She has a basic proficiency in spoken Bengali and travels regularly to South Asia.

Ms. Bhattacharyya also continues to serve as Board President for Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union.

SAI is fortunate to receive great support from students throughout the year as part of our internship program. This summer, we are pleased to introduce five students - from Wellesley College, Vassar College and University of Cambridge. Special thanks to Beth Smith for her ongoing support towards the Beth K. Smith internship fund at Wellesley College. We are proud to introduce them, in their own words:  

Bridget Dunn: I'm a rising junior at Wellesley College and currently a double major in Economics and Peace & Justice Studies. Within both majors, I have focused on issues of gender in development. Interning with SAI is a wonderful opportunity because of my interest in socially responsible business. I'm excited to gain a greater understanding of labor standards, and of the different stakeholders involved in this global movement.

I'm currently working with SAI's Executive Director, Eileen Kaufman, specifically supporting her on her work with the UN Global Compact. I know a number of interesting projects are in store for the summer, and cannot wait to tackle them head-on!

Michael Pauker: I'm a rising senior at Vassar College, currently majoring in Political Science. I'm interested in international relations, CSR, and public policy. I'm interning at SAI to get hands-on experience and deepen my understanding in these fields. Already at SAI, I've completed the SA8000 2008 revision and fire safety courses online, and researched and edited proposals related to SAI's training and capacity building programs. From my internship with SAI, I look forward to learning more about the nonprofit world, the global supply chain, and the future of CSR.

Sabrina Zurga: I am a rising junior at Wellesley College majoring in Economics and minoring in Mathematics. I am from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and have always been interested in development. Recently I have also starting thinking about the role of social justice in development, which is why I was drawn to SAI. I haven't really had much experience with these two issues together in the past so interning at SAI has been a huge learning experience for me thus far. I'm sure it will continue to be for the rest of my time here. I am currently working with Alex Katz on the Pillars in Practice Program which works in Bangladesh, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe, and I am really excited to use my background in economics to approach critical issues like labor rights.

Katherine Schwartz: I am a rising junior at Wellesley College where I am majoring in Political Science. I am very interested in social responsibility, labor rights, public policy, and human rights issues as a whole. I am currently interning with SAAS, where I am working on analyzing and updating SAAS's SA8000 certification data and helping to develop the new SAAS website. I am also supporting Melanie Bower with research on China, as well as other areas.

Throughout the summer, I hope to learn more about how to use data effectively, how social certifications - such as SA8000 - are applied, the processes involved in social accreditation and how specific labor rights issues are being addressed around the world. In addition, I hope to get an in-depth look into the relationship between citizens, government, and business in regards to labor rights.

Daniel Macmillen: I'm a third-year student at the University of Cambridge, studying Politics and Sociology. My up-bringing in Latin America and my studies have imbued me with an enduring interest in human rights, labor conditions, development and political education, and I am hopeful that my brief yet invaluable time at SAI can help me better understand the difficult and cluttered world of practical social justice. I am currently supporting Jane Hwang with the Brazil Worker Engagement Program, and Joleen Ong with research for SA8000 factory visits and questionnaires.