ISO 26000 Standards & CSR – Definition

ISO 26000 Standards & Sustainable development

The concept of sustainable development is built upon three pillars: economic, social and environmental. The standards recommended by ISO 26000 can, therefore, be considered as a contribution to sustainable development as they focus on the creation of social welfare, which is one of the cornerstones of sustainable development. In the long run, all organization’s activities depend on the health of the world’s ecosystems to thrive, and in this way, sustainable businesses do not only provide products and services are most eco-friendly as possible but they also operate in a socially responsible manner.
As a response to the pressure public pressure on companies to adopt reasonable business practices such as with good working conditions, fair wages and preventing fraudulent accounting, it is nowadays very important to develop integrated social responsibility strategies.

ISO 26000 Standards – Definition, principles, and scope

Any private or public organization wishing to establish the scope of its social responsibility according to the criteria of the ISO 26000 standard must begin by reflecting on 7 central issues:

• Organizational governance;
• Human rights;
• Labor practices;
• Environmental responsibility;
• The fairness of organizational practices;
• Consumer and consumer protection issues;
• Envolving and developing communities

Each topic subdivided into several areas of action that may differ or overlap from one central issue to another. On each of these issues, ISO 26000 provides guidelines for organizations to evaluate themselves and setting goals for improvement. Each topic is subdivided into several areas of action that may differ or overlap from one central issue to another. On each of these issues, ISO 26000 provides guidelines and a guide for the organization to evaluate itself, set goals for improvement, and achieve them.
The guidelines for the implementation of the international standard ISO 26000 apply to the following fields:

• Concepts, definitions, and terminology of social responsibility;
• Origins, orientations, and characteristics of social responsibility;
• Principles and practices relating to social responsibility;
• Central issues and areas of action of social responsibility;
• Integration, implementation, and promotion of responsible behavior throughout the structure and through influence networks;
• Inventory of different stakeholders and setting up a dialogue;
• Active communication on SAR commitments and performance.

ISO 26000 Standards – Benefits

According to the ‘international organization for standardization’, a good organizational performance on social responsibility can have a positive impact in:

• HR, as it attracts and retains workers, members, clients, and users;
• Marketing and customer engagement, since it improves brand reputation;
• Increasing the commitment and productivity of employees;
• The relationships with stakeholders such as governments, the media, other companies and communities and their perceptions on the organization’s performances and commitments.

ISO 26000 Standards & Certification

As we’ve seen, ISO 26000 is a set of recommendations that aim to help organizations to critically review and plan their social responsibility strategies and translate their principles and objectives into effective actions. Unlike some other well-known ISO standards, ISO 26000 does not offer any certification and it works as a framework for reflection and action instead. This means that ISO 26000 provides organizations with guidance, showing them the methods for defining and acting in socially responsible ways but it does not set specific goals that need to be achieved.
Despite the fact that ISO 26000 does not imply a certification process, following it may lead often to the need of getting other complementary (and certifiable) standards such as ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 14001 for environmental management and/or ISO 50001 for energy management.
[box] For information on more ISO standards, take a look into:

• ISO 14001 – Environmental Management
• ISO 50001 – Energy Management
• ISO 9001 – Quality Management  [/box]

 

ISO 26000 Standards – Are they efficient and measurable?