Pillars in Practice Program
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3. Technical Director Joins SAI Team
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Training Courses
-Getting Started in Your Company
-Building Your Internal Social Performance Team
Bangkok, Thailand
September 22-26
(English)
Sao Paulo, Brazil
September 29 - October 3
(Portugese)
SA8000 Advanced Auditor Training
Bangkok, Thailand
September 17-19
(English)
Tunis, Tunisia
September 24-26
(English)
SA8000 Online Training
SA8000 Online Revision Course
NGOs & Trade Unions
Complimentary seats available for NGO & trade union representatives. For more information, email SAI Training Coordinator Stephanie Wilson at ECrain@sa-intl.org.
View Photos from SAI's Training Courses
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Social Accountability International (SAI) is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established to advance the human rights of workers by promoting decent work conditions, labor rights, and corporate social responsibility through voluntary standards and capacity building.
SAI is headquartered in the United States with field representation in Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, the Netherlands, Philippines, Switzerland, and UAE.
SAI- Human Rights at Work
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SFRR Worker Engagement Program: Brazil
Measurable Success across the Brazil Worker Engagement Program
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Worker manager communication on the factory floor, a goal at the core of the SFRR Program
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SAI concluded a successful pilot of the Social Fingerprint Rapid Results (SFRR) Worker Engagement Program in Brazil in June 2014. In recognition of the remarkable success of the pilot, and thanks to the continued generous support of The Walt Disney Company, the program will expand to Turkey in August 2014.
SFRR is an innovative new program created by SAI and the Rapid Results Institute (RRI). It combines SAI's expertise in labor standards and management systems with RRI's proven change management methodology to drive immediate, practical improvements in health and safety in participating factories. These improvements build the internal capacity of the factory workers and managers to develop a strong communication channel to drive future changes. SFRR is based on the principles of Team, Goal and Process. Workers and managers are brought together to form teams that choose ambitious health and safety goals to pursue over the course of 100 days. To meet the goal they naturally improve their existing processes. The circumstances create a sense of urgency in which people must work together to move past existing power dynamics and overcome barriers to change as they develop innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
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Brazil Team Engaged in Achieving their Goal
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The Brazil pilot included 18 worker-manager teams from 20 companies, in 10 different industries, with factories having from 25 to 6,000 employees. The program directly trained 186 worker and managers and indirectly impacted 17,540 workers and managers in participating business units and 27,175 workers and managers in participating companies overall. Most significantly, 95% of the participating teams achieved their ambitious health and safety improvement goal within 100 days.
SFRR health and safety projects lead directly to improved worker well-being. In many cases, achieving the health and safety goal also generated direct business benefits. For example, one company in Brazil had been seeking to lower the ambient workplace temperature for over 10 years with no success. The 100-day project broke down all preconceived notions of how to make that change, and enabled the worker-manager team to innovate a new solution. The team ended up using recycled materials from the factory to create a ventilation system, which successfully decreased the workplace temperature by 20 �F. This created a significantly more comfortable work environment, which workers and managers believe will lead to lower absenteeism and increased productivity.
100-day program accomplishments at other companies include:
- 70% reduction in worker exposure to chemicals, with a 12% associated decrease in the cost of chemicals
- Fire safety evacuation time reduced from 12 min. 10 sec. to 1 min. 55 sec.
- 60% reduction in worker absenteeism, leading to a 12% increase in productively in peak production months
- 90% of potential burn exposure points eliminated
- 50% reduction of workplace accidents per month
- Over 90% of workers aware of and satisfied with the company's complaint system
Confidential worker surveys administered at Days 85 and 150 through Good World Solutions' mobile survey platform, Labor Link, also illustrate impacts of the program. 75% of workers surveyed believe that everyone at their company benefitted from the project and 83% believe that this technique could be used to address other workplace issues. The project also improved communication channels between management and workers: 58% of workers surveyed said that they would feel more comfortable approaching management about issues in the factory after this project.
These results indicate SFRR's potential to fundamentally alter how workers and managers work together to create a space in which almost anything is possible. SAI looks forward to continuing the partnership with RRI to bring the power of Team, Goal and Process to participants in Turkey.
For more information about the SFRR program contact Director-Corporate Programs and Training Jane Hwang - JHwang@sa-intl.org.
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Living Wage Working Group Publishes Three Reports
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In October 2013, SAI and Fairtrade International released a report written by Richard and Martha Anker, in both English and Spanish, that includes a living wage figure for rural Dominican Republic and an explanation of the Ankers' calculation methodology. This first study has been built on, with four additional organizations joining the initial effort of SAI, Fairtrade, and Goodweave. Now, the Living Wage Working Group that SAI co-founded has released two additional reports, for rural South Africa and Malawi. The reports may be found on SAI's website, here.
The expanded Living Wage Working Group consists of Dr. Richard and Martha Anker, Fairtrade International, Forest Stewardship Council, GoodWeave, ISEAL Alliance, Rainforest Alliance/Sustainable Agriculture Network, SAI and UTZ Certified. The Group's goal is to work on the methodology, promotion and implementation of a living wage for workers covered by our respective labor standards. The long term goal and shared mission of our six organizations is to see significant workplace improvements, including in wages, in the farms, factories and supply chains participating in our respective certification systems and beyond.
Dr. Anker's methodology is groundbreaking. It is an extremely comprehensive method for gathering objective cost of living data from workers themselves by visiting their homes and the markets where they shop. Through a process of onsite field work that includes extensive stakeholder consultation, the methodology is committed to accuracy and validation by the stakeholder groups in the area who rightly have a say in the methodology's components. The reports listed above involved stakeholder consultation with workers, plantations, small holders, farmer cooperatives, union representatives, government officials, engineers and architects, auditors, lawyers and academics. The work is based on a series of studies at factory sites over the last 7 years.
We at SAI intend to make any Living Wage estimates we participate in fully available to the public. This set of projects will ultimately include development of an open source database to host living wage benchmarks for wider usage and also capacity building efforts, which will allow others to replicate our work.
For more information about the Living Wage Estimation Project, visit www.sa-intl.org/livingwage or contact Sr. Manager of Stakeholder Relations & Research Alex Katz - AKatz@sa-intl.org.
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SA8000: 2014 Standard Released
SAI issues revised standard on June 30, 2014
As previously announced, SA8000: 2014 is now available on the SAI website, as is the Side By Side comparison of the Standard with the 2008 version, as well as a Public Consultation paper that discusses and analyzes the more than 900 comments received during the public consultation period. The newest posting to the website is the 2014 Drafters' Notes, listing and explaining the changes made to the Standard. When read along with the 2008 Drafter's Notes, both documents provide auditors, employers, supply chain managers, trade unions, workers and other interested parties with a good summary of the substantive changes made to the Standard.
SA8000:2014 is currently only available in English, with translations underway for: Bulgarian, Chinese (Mandarin), French, Hindi, Italian, Polish and Portuguese.
We are currently seeking pro-bono translation into: Arabic, Bangla, Kannada, Punjabi, Sinhala, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Vietnamese. Our translation policy requires an initial professional translation, which must be reviewed by an individual with significant auditing experience. Translators and reviewers are given credit on the SAI website. If you are interested in offering translation services, please contact Sr. Manager of Stakeholder Relations & Research Alex Katz - AKatz@sa-intl.org.
Two documents under development will strengthen proper interpretation and implementation of the Standard. The first is the SA8000 Performance Indicator Annex, a normative document that sets out the minimum performance expectations for an SA8000 certified organisation. The second is the SA8000: 2014 Guidance Document. It provides interpretations of SA8000 and how to implement its requirements; provides examples of methods for verifying compliance; and serves as a handbook for auditors and for organisations seeking SA8000 certification. Both documents will be freely available on the SAI website when they are published in October 2014.
For more information about the SA8000 Standard, visit www.sa-intl.org/sa8000 or contact Sr. Manager of Stakeholder Relations & Research Alex Katz - AKatz@sa-intl.org.
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SAI Teambuilding at NY Headquarters
Bringing together SAI's international field and headquarters staff
In mid-July, SAI New York Headquarters was joined by international field staff from China, India, Canada, and the Middle East. In order to ensure SAI is guided by informed perspectives from all across the world, Badrinath Gulur - Technical Director (India), Sanjiv Singh - SAI Leader Trainer (United Arab Emirates), Yogendra Chaudhry - Co-Trainer and Content Expert (Canada), Mike Lee - SAI Lead Trainer and Phoenix Zhang (China), gathered together to build the SAI team by sharing their diverse outlooks and building team knowledge to advance human rights at work. During their week-long visit, SAI HQ staff was able to meet with each field staff member for their input and regional insight on various projects.
 | | (Clockwise from top left) Melanie Bower (SAAS), Eileen Kaufman, Savitri Restrepo Alvarez, Joseph Paquette, Rachel Kepnes, Craig Moss, Emily Crain, Christy Daly, Richard Cook, Michelle Bhattacharyya, Saarim Zama, Yogendra Chaudhry, Theresa Bone (SAAS), Stephanie Wilson, Alicia Mara, Sanjiv Singh, Rochelle Zaid (SAAS), Yuna Hahn, Badrinath Gulur, Jane Hwang, Phoenix Zhang, and Mike Lee |
Meeting highlights included a group discussion of SAI's new 5-year plan, teambuilding activities from the Social Fingerprint Rapid Results program, planning of the auditor training SA8000:2014 course and curriculum revisions, Social Fingerprint SA8000 integration, and some sport and beach visits.
SAI New York is very happy to have had the opportunity to meet with field staff and strengthen the organization globally!
Read more about SAI's exceptional staff on our website here.
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Stanford Supply Chain Responsibility Study
SAI Executive Adviser Craig Moss contributes to Stanford Publication
 SAI Executive Advisor Craig Moss contributed to an article published by Stanford Initiative for the Study of Supply Chain Responsibility. Managing Supply Chain Sustainability and Intellectual Property: Are they more Similar than Different? As part of trends to pay more attention to social and environmental responsibility (SER), many companies have been gradually moving away from sole reliance on audits, and instead are focusing more on preventive measures and practices aimed at building supplier capabilities. Simultaneously, intellectual property theft has become more common and costs companies billions.
Intellectual Property (IP) and intangible asset protection are still commonly controlled by the legal department. This traditional approach has had limited success, as is evident by the growing magnitude of IP rights violations worldwide. Thus a change is needed. This article demonstrates the value of basing IP protection on an approach similar to the one successfully used to promote social and environmental responsibility, and on embracing a holistic approach to target social, environmental, and ethical responsibility throughout the supply chain. A Responsible Supply Chain framework includes three main categories: management systems, visibility methods, and response practices. These methods and framework were first applied to address SER and can be successfully applied to bolster IP protection. To read the study click here.
For more information, contact SAI Executive Adviser Craig Moss - CMoss@sa-intl.org
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FAQ on SA8000 Management Systems
Ask the expert: Badrinath Gulur
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Badrinath Gulur
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Badri Gulur, SAI's Technical Director, is a long time Lead Trainer and Senior Accreditation Auditor for SA8000. Mr. Gulur is compiling a Management Systems report that provides clarification and delineation of acceptable processes for auditors in the areas of Management Review, Policy and Access for Verification. The discussion below responds to some questions frequently raised by auditors while assessing workplace compliance to the SA8000 Management Systems' requirements, with practical answers to improve the quality of auditor performance.
The first criterion of the SA8000 Standard's Management Systems is the Policy. According to the requirement, top management shall define in writing, in workers' own language, the company's policy for social accountability and labor conditions. It should display this policy and also the SA8000 Standard in a visible place in the company's premises, to inform personnel that it has voluntarily chosen to comply with the requirements of the SA8000 Standard.
Q: Should the policy and the SA 8000 Standard be displayed in a prominent easily viewable place on the company's premises?
A: Yes. It is important that SA 8000 is displayed in an easily viewable place. This provides a good opportunity for companies to make employees aware of the Standard. Many companies have used this displaying as a tool to creating a climate of belonging and encouraging workers participation on an ongoing basis.
Q: Why is the company required to consult the SA8000 Guidance Document for interpretative guidance with respect to this standard? A: This helps it along the path of implementation, as a key means and mode to understand the elements of the SA 8000 Standard. It is beneficial for companies to consult the SA 8000 Guidance Document for interpretative guidance on the Standard requirements. This ensures that the company and the Certification Body have a common perspective on the interpretative guidance and reduces the misinterpretation of the SA 8000 clauses. Management Review: Another important criterion in Management Systems is Management Review, which states that top management shall periodically review the adequacy, suitability, and continuing effectiveness of the company's policy, procedures, and performance results vis-�-vis the requirements of SA8000 and other requirements to which the company subscribes. Where the review process finds it appropriate, system amendments and improvements shall be implemented. Finally, the worker representative shall participate in this review. Q: What is the periodicity of the management review? A: The frequency of the management review, for a social accountability management system to add incremental value, should be in sync with the surveillance audit schedule. Therefore, management review in SA 8000 should be conducted every 6 months. Access for Verification: This is a substantial criterion and applies to both announced and unannounced audits of the company for the purpose of certifying its compliance with the requirements of SA8000. The company shall ensure access to its premises and to reasonable information required by the auditor. Q: In the case of unannounced audits, what if the company senior management and the management representative are not present in the company or either busy with other audits? Should they still provide access to its premises? A: Yes. The company needs to provide reasonable access to the auditors to conduct the audit. If the senior management and the management representative are not present on the day of the unannounced audit, the company still has the responsibility to provide access to the auditors to conduct the audit. It is required that the auditors also look for reasonable information in terms of documents, records and interviewing staff who are available on the audit day. For more information, contact SAI Technical Director Badrinath Gulur-BGulur@sa-intl.org. Back to top
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SAI Recruiting Bangladesh Based Trainer
SAI Taking Applications Now
 SAI is seeking to expand its training capacity by recruiting an SA8000 Social Compliance and Management System Trainer who is based in Bangladesh. This person will conduct course trainings, assist with promoting SAI courses by identifying potential hosts and students, and maintain consistent communication with New York Headquarters. SAI Trainer applicants must be fluent in Bengali and English, have successfully completed the SA8000 Basic and Advanced courses, have previous field experience in social auditing and management systems, and possess a strong technical background with the ability to teach for 40 hours over a 5-day period in an engaging manner. Please see the full list of responsibilities and requirements on our job posting here. The deadline for applications is September 12th. Incomplete applications will not be considered. No phone calls please.
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Pillars in Practice Project Conclusion
Outputs and Project Wrap-up
The PIP project started September 12, 2012 and ends on September 30, 2014. By then, SAI and its partners will have finalized the following activities and documents:
- Nine total master trainers trained to educate multi-stakeholders audiences on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) in each country (Bangladesh, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe);
- Two multi-stakeholder advisory committees on the application of the UNGPs in each country;
- Two multi-stakeholder training sessions on the UNGPs in each country, with over 150 stakeholders trained in total;
- Two Social Fingerprint� assessments of two companies' human rights management system in Bangladesh and Nicaragua, respectively, and two collaborative assessments with an NGO of the human rights management systems of two mining companies in Zimbabwe;
- Three handbooks on implementation of the UNGPs with chapters specific to the three countries and sectors: Bangladesh (Ready-made garments), Nicaragua (Agriculture) and Zimbabwe (Mining);
- o The Bangladesh handbook will be available in Bangla and English, while the Nicaragua handbook will be available in Spanish and English.
- Three case studies (one for each country) on notable implementation of the UNGPs by a project participant.
In addition, our project partner, the Danish Institute for Human Rights, has published Human Rights and Business Country Guides for Bangladesh, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe on the HRBCountryGuide website, raising the total number of published guides to 12.
This work was made possible by the US Department of State and the collaboration of the project team, and SAI is proud to recognize that team here: DIHR, the CSR Centre (Bangladesh), PASE (Nicaragua), uniRSE (Nicaragua) and ZELA (Zimbabwe)
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SAI From the Eyes of our Summer Interns
A Roundtable Discussion on the Experience of a Summer at SAI HQ
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Thank You lunch for SAI Interns
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Every summer, SAI and SAAS look forward to welcoming participants in our summer internship program. This year, we had the opportunity to work with five interns from four countries - Bangladesh, Malaysia, Colombia and the US - all shared a similar eagerness to contribute with their various academic backgrounds and experiences. This year, we conducted a roundtable with our interns as part of the wrap up for the ten-week internship.
SAI: What did you work on during your internship?
Saarim: Most of the work I did was related to BSCI and SA8000 social certification standards. My work included collecting, organizing and analyzing data related to social certifications, human rights violations, and management of the certification process. In addition, I helped to develop SAAS' website and to design marketing materials for SAAS.
Savitri: I assisted the Training Coordinator, Emily Crain, and Program Assistant, Alicia Mara, in the Training Department to coordinate the auditor training courses which included scheduling courses, coordinating with local hosts, and finding venues. The biggest project I worked on collecting and analyzing data about SAI's trainers, the number of courses conducted and the exam results in the past five years.
Joseph: My main responsibility was to assist the Manager of Corporate Programs & Director of Operations, Christie Daly. My responsibilities included simplifying & updating SAI's internal project management software, drafting development project summaries, preparing market research on relevant topics, researching grant availability and corresponding with companies engaging in the Social Fingerprint program.
Yuna: I assisted the Director of Operations, Michelle Bhattacharyya, to form a proposal for a Honduras project. I also researched on funding for NGOs, living wage and some SA8000 guidelines. Furthermore, I helped to update SAI's website. Lastly, I accumulated data from CSR reports and on SA8000 certified facilities to develop a presentation used during the strategic planning meeting.
Joyce: My main responsibility was to help the Senior Program Manager, Stephanie Wilson, on the upcoming SFRR: Turkey project, which included participating in strategic meetings, completing follow-up items and doing preliminary research about labor conditions and key stakeholders in Turkey. In addition, I helped out with the SA8000 course revision.
SAI: What was your favorite part of the internship?
Saarim: The weekly intern lunches because they gave me a horizontal view of all the different things SAI and SAAS are doing.
Savitri: Being a part of the meetings with the field trainers and being able to present all the work I had been doing.
Joseph: Intern lunches every Wednesday, where we were paired with a staff member to discuss topics related to SAI and SAAS. This provided a friendly setting where we could ask questions and learn more about the staff and their area of expertise.
Yuna: The strategic planning meeting with our international staffs because we got the opportunity to meet and bond with them.
Joyce: I enjoyed the intern lunches largely because we got to know the different individuals at SAAS and SAI and the work they do - especially those with whom we don't work directly.
SAI: How has interning at SAI influenced your career path planning?
Saarim: It reinforced my goal to get into the field of development, or any other related field where I get to work with people and help them achieve goals.
Savitri: It allowed me to have a greater perspective on the type of work I would like to pursue in the future and how to go about it as I received great advice from experts in the field I am interested in. Before coming to SAI, I had barely heard about CSR and everything that goes on down the supply chain around the world. Now, I think it is an important field that I would like to keep exploring in my last two years in college.
Joseph: It has reaffirmed my commitment to work for a human rights NGO. I plan to search for employment in a similar field and eventually pursue a graduate degree.
Yuna: It has opened my eyes to the reality of working in the non-profit sector and has made me more aware of how foundations, governments, and NGOs collaborate. I have now become more interested in the roles and functions of different non-profits, foundations, and CSR departments of large companies.
Joyce: It broadened my perspective on the reality of advocating for a positive social change from the perspective of a non-profit. It also helped me to understand the importance of doing work that is personally meaningful and fulfilling to me.
SAI: What would your advice be to someone interested in interning at SAI/SAAS?
Saarim: Even if you are unsure of whether you want to get into the field where SAI/SAAS works, you should give the internship a shot because it really does open up a lot of doors and you may find yourself discovering new interests of which you were previously unaware.
Savitri: Try to offer help not only to your supervisors but also to others - the key to a valuable experience is to do as much work as you can in order to explore different fields and understand what you enjoyed the most and the skills you can develop.
Joseph: If you plan on interning at SAI, try to familiarize yourself with SAI's mission and what similar organizations are doing in the industry. Also, make sure you review some of the basic components of corporate social responsibility.
Yuna: You should come into SAI with at least a basic knowledge on social responsibility. If you know even a little bit on supply chain management, inspections, labor standards, child labor, or manager-worker relationships, it would definitely be towards your benefit.
Joyce: Do not hesitate to intern at SAI/SAAS even if you're unsure if you're specifically interested in the area of labor rights because there is still much to learn which will indefinitely broaden your worldview. During the internship, do not be afraid to ask questions - even if you think you might sound naive!
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SA8000 Auditor Training Courses
Snapshots from courses that took place in Lisbon (Portugal) and Shenzhen (China)
SA8000 Basic Auditor Training course in Lisbon, Portugal July 21-25, 2014 with SAI Lead Trainer Doug DeRuisseau (top row, right).
 SA8000 Advanced Auditor Training course in Lisbon, Portugal July 28-30, 2014 with SAI Lead Trainer Doug DeRuisseau (top left).  SA8000 Basic Auditor Training course in Shenzhen, China July 21-25, 2014 with SAI Lead Trainer Shirley To (back row, fourth from right).
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Highlights & Announcements
Comment on the new draft of the ASI Performance Standard and Chain of Custody Standard
 The new draft of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard is now out for public consultation and is open for comments until September 7, 2014.
The Standard is intended to define principles and performance criteria for environmental, social and governance practices throughout the entire aluminium value chain. It will be applicable for all stages of aluminium production and transformation. Comments will be reviewed by ASI's multi-stakeholder Standard Setting Group.
You can download the Draft Standard here.
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