ISO 26000 – Social Responsibility

jhg csr, management

ISO 26000 – Social Responsibility

A new international standard, ISO 26000, was recently released after several years of development.  ISO 26000 is an ISO International Standard giving guidance on Social Responsibility. It is intended for use by organizations of all types, in both public and private sectors, in developed and developing countries, as well as in economies in transition. ISO 26000 contains voluntary guidance, not requirements, and therefore is not for use as a certification standard like ISO 9000 (9001:2008) and ISO 14000 (14001:2004).

Organizations around the world are becoming increasingly aware of the need for and benefits of socially responsible behaviour. The objective of social responsibility, often called CSR, is to contribute to sustainable development.

An organization’s performance in relation to the society and to its impact on the environment has become a critical part of measuring its overall performance and its ability to continue operating effectively. This is, in part, a reflection of the growing recognition of the need to ensure healthy ecosystems, social equity and good organizational governance. In the long run, all organizations’ activities depend on the health of the world’s ecosystems and organizations are subject to greater scrutiny by their various stakeholders.

The guidance in ISO 26000 draws on best practice developed by existing public and private sector SR initiatives. It is consistent with and complements relevant declarations and conventions by the United Nations and its constituents, notably the International Labour Organization (ILO), with whom ISO has established a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure consistency with ILO labour standards.

Six main stakeholder groups were represented when developing ISO 26000:

  • industry
  • government
  • labour
  • consumers
  • nongovernmental organizations
  • service, support, research and others

as well as a geographical and gender-based balance of participants.

Under the joint leadership of the ISO members for Brazil (ABNT) and Sweden (SIS), it was made up of experts from ISO members and from liaison organizations (associations representing business, consumers or labour, or inter-governmental or nongovernmental organizations). In July 2010, the workgroup for Social Responsibility (ISO/WG SR) had 450 participating experts and 210 observers from 99 ISO member countries and 42 liaison organizations!

Learn more about ISO 26000: www.iso.org »