Work on an international standard on social responsibility is progressing well,
but the large number of interested parties involved remains a concern
What is an ISO standard?
ISO standards set out best practice in various fields, from
specifications for bicycle tyres to the layouts of offices. They are
created and overseen by the International Organization of
Standardization, a federation of national standards bodies from 158
countries, but their use is entirely voluntary. The ISO, through
external auditors, will certify a company against any of its standards.
What’s the point of complying with an ISO standard?
Many businesses find that going through the process of getting
certification to an ISO standard helps them improve their working
practices and management. To that extent they are mainly a tool to
improve performance, but there are also reputational benefits to
certification: ISO standards are widely respected.
What about the new CSR standard?
It’s been christened ISO 26000 and has been under full development
since 2004. But it’s not technically a corporate social responsibility
standard; it will apply to all types of organizations, including
non-governmental organizations,
trade unions and government departments.
When will it be ready for use?
The latest, revised, estimate is that it will be finalized in late
2009, but there may slippage on that. ISO procedures are not quick: a
social responsibility standard was first proposed within ISO back in
2001, and was given the go-ahead in 2002.
Can organizations be certified to the standard?
No. A nebulous field such as social responsibility is unusual territory
for the ISO, which usually covers more technical topics. In recognition
of this, ISO 26000 is being developed as a ‘guidance standard’ rather
than a full-blown certification standard. This means it will only set
out principles and offer advice to organizations. However, sources
close to the process privately say that after publication a full
certification standard may eventually appear.
Who is drawing it up?
Drafts are being prepared by an ISO Working Group on Social
Responsibility, which was set up in 2004. The working group is made up
of experts nominated by interested national standards bodies.
Representation is pretty equally divided between business, NGOs,
unions, governments and consumer organizations, but as a result the
working group is enormous: it currently has 355 expert members from 72
countries, not to mention 77 observers. In addition to the working
group there are ‘mirror committees’ in many countries with similar
breakdowns of representation. Their job is to feed in their views on
the various drafts, while the working group thrashes matters out at
regular plenary meetings. There have been four plenaries so far; the
last, in Australia four months ago, lasted five days. The next is in
November in Vienna.
Why so many representatives?
The ISO is keen to make sure the standard is devised with maximum input
from developing countries and as many stakeholder groups as possible.
Has ISO 26000 got much support?
There appears to be a consensus that it’s a ‘good thing’ and so far it
has the backing of all parties. But there are concerns about the
unwieldy drafting process. The Dutch CSR Platform, a coalition of more
than 35 NGOs and trade unions, has warned that the approach being taken
‘is very participatory, but could also paralyse the process’. There is
plenty of potential for disagreement between civil society and
business, and there have already been some tensions in the plenaries
over whether to use ‘management system language’, which would give ISO
26000 the flavour of a full certification standard. NGOs favour this,
but businesses don’t.
What does the standard look like?
It’s still a long way from completion, but the 75-page second draft has
eight chapters, with three of them setting out social responsibility
principles relevant to all organizations and offering guidance on
implementation. The other chapters largely concern themselves with
definitions, general background, and references to relevant
International Labour Organisation, UN and OECD guidelines.
Chapter six, which sets out core guidance on social, environmental and
ethical issues, is likely to be the hardest to complete, and the
working group has now set up four drafting teams for chapter six to
develop material in areas such as labour standards, community
involvement, the environment, human rights, and stakeholder
engagement.
Where do we go from here?
After the third working draft has appeared, national standards bodies
will have formal voting power to approve or reject the content of the
drafts. At that point, the consensus will be tested.
