Contentious
CONSENSUS
ISO Releases Standard on Social Responsibility
BY JEFFREY HOGUE
November 1 marked the launch of ISO 26000:2010, the long-awaited guidance standard on social re- sponsibility (SR). AIHA® actively
participated in the development of
the standard, which provides guidance to business and the public
sector on the concepts and implementation of social responsibility.
As a voluntary standard, ISO 26000—
unlike other management system international standards such as ISO 9001:
2008 and ISO 14001:2004—is not a typical management system standard and is
not intended for certification. ISO 26000
defines social responsibility by bringing
together the multitude of approaches and
principles already defined in separate international norms, standards and instruments. It also solves the challenge of
putting SR principles into practice when
material SR issues exist in differing organizational contexts. But the standard’s
main achievement is its global relevance:
organizations around the world can look
to the standard for guidance on what
they must do to operate in a socially responsible way.
Long Time Coming
Development of ISO 26000 lasted more
than eight years. AIHA’s participation
began in 2005 in the U.S. Technical
Advisory Group (US/TAG), or mirror
committee, to the ISO Working Group on
Social Responsibility (WG/SR). Participa-
tion in the US/TAG allowed only limited
impact on the U.S. consensus positions,
which were presented to the WG/SR in
plenary sessions around the standards
development process. Because of our in-
ternational membership, AIHA sought a
more prominent role, and in 2007, ISO
approved AIHA as a D-Liaison organiza-
tion to the WG/SR. This designation al-
lowed us to participate in formal
standard proceedings and impact the
text directly through involvement in
drafting groups at the international
level. The last meeting, in July 2010, was
held in Copenhagen and included up to
450 participating experts and 210 ob-
servers from 99 ISO member countries
and 42 liaison organizations.
Although the standard was delayed
several years, the process enhanced discussions around key SR principles. The
hard-won consensus of diverse participants will add to the standard’s credibility and broaden its acceptance globally.
The standard aims to provide guidance to organizations, regardless of their
size, activity or location, on the following topics:
• Concepts, terms and definitions related to social responsibility
• Background, trends and characteristics of social responsibility
• Principles and practices relating to
social responsibility
• Core subjects and issues related to
social responsibility
• Integrating, implementing and promoting socially responsible behavior
throughout an organization and,
through its policies and practices,
within its “sphere of influence”
• Identifying and engaging stakeholders
• Communicating commitments, per-
formance and other information re-
lated to social responsibility
The standard provides a road map
for social responsibility by defining its
relationship with sustainable develop-
ment (Clause 3). With this basis, any
organization can review the principles
of social responsibility described in
Clause 4 to determine their relevance
for that organization. Clause 6 identifies
